"Bill, I am teaching backyard chicken classes all over the city. (I want to move into quail next.) I think of my PDC course very fondly and use my permaculture 'sense' for all types of projects. Thank you for continuing to put permaculture into the hands and minds of others."
Julia Young - 30
St. Louis Permaculturist & Educator
May 2008 Course
Home Page Site Last Updated 8-26-10
Permaculture Education and Training
So, what will it take to create truly permanent-cultures?
Welcome to Midwest Permaculture...
Rebecca Wilson
Co-Founders of
Midwest Permaculture
Bill Wilson
From our observation, It appears that we as the human species, in our western civilizations in particular, have created a culture that is mostly unaware of the damage it is doing to others and to the planet.
Like adolescents, our gaze is fixed upon too many of the distractions & entertainments of our 'made-up world' instead of observing the cause and effects that our way of living is having on the 'real world'.
The times are strongly encouraging our culture to wake up. They are asking us simply to observe the effects of our lifestyle choices, to step into our cultural adulthood, and with the wisdom of our emerging maturity, take the steps necessary to find a way to change what needs changing, heal what needs healing, and make the commitment to leave the planet in better condition when we leave it.
We are being strongly invited to take responsibility for creating more permanent-cultures (permaculture) upon the one world we all live upon.
The purpose of Midwest Permaculture is to support the transition of our society from a culture of consumption,
into a culture of creation.
And what can be created through the use of permaculture design?
- We can revive our local economies and environments buy responsibly and beautifully growing most of our own food instead of shipping it in.
- We can build top soil and fertility while growing this food instead of losing it as happens with our industrial farming systems. - We can provide the homes, clothing, buildings and energy we need from mostly local sources without waste.
- We can transform our suburbs and city neighborhoods into sustainable and genuinely satisfying communities. - We can repair damaged lands and ecosystems;
- We can create prosperity, resiliency and security wherever we live;
- We can include (and employ) just about everyone in this 'job' of preserving and improving the quality of life on this planet;
- And, quite possibly, we can retard or reverse global warming.
Sound idealistic? Seem improbable?
Maybe so.
But it is none-the-less a possibility, a choice, that we as
humans can move towards should we make this decision.
The intention of our permaculture trainings and education is to give our students the observational skills, the knowledge and the practical information to help them become a greater part of this global transition from an energy and resource consumptive culture towards a more permanent and satisfying one.
"Though the problems of the world
are increasingly complex,
the solutions remain embarrassingly simple."
Bill Mollison - Permaculture's Founder - Australia
There are a lot of pictures here - May take a minute to load.
About our Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) Courses...
"The instructors and hosts were truly wonderful. The gifts that were shared this week have really filled me with hope and gratitude." Lisa Armstrong -33- Mom and Small Business Owner
"Bill, your training was the most transformational experience of my life. You engendered more hope for the planet and our future
than anything I have ever come across.
Plus, you let everyone enter at their own speed and in freedom." Douglas Gabriel, PhD - 56 - Charter School Administrative Director - Detroit
Took his Permaculture Training 3 Years Ago... "I still think of my design course experience nearly every day. It definitely changed my life for the better." Dave McMillian - 55 - Pennsylvania
Mechanical Engineer
& New Homesteader
"An extraordinary design course.
Inspiring, helpful, professional, very informative. I felt we were given a strong knowledge base to start
our own Permaculture projects.
Thank you so much." Peter Lynch - 50 - New York Architect
18-Part YouTube Series on Permaculture...Click Here
"This is 'the' permaculture training for everyone interested in permaculture but not needing PDC certification.
It is brilliant, useful, inspiring & practical...!" Student from Detroit 4-day
April 2010
Have you Been to our Permaculture Networking Site Yet? Click on Image above to Network with Permaculture Folks from all over.
"Bill -
I can't tell you how
much of an impact the PDC Course
has made in our lives. We live permaculture.
All the best to you and
Becky."
Mark Klein - June 2010 - Chicago Graduate of Permaculture Design Course - Summer 2008
Quick Access to our Other YouTube Videos Over time, we will continue to post informative and useful videos
that clearly demonstrate simple permaculture applications
. To View What we Have Thus Far:
Click on small arrows < left or right > of screen and then move cursor over the picture
to view a short listing of posted videos. (One video automatically begins to load.) --------------------------------------------------
Permaculture Photo Summaries A Quick Reference to the Permaculture Pictures on our website
8-Day PDC Training in Detroit Charter School
Trains Teachers and Staff
Charter school in Detroit planning to use permaculture as a foundations piece in their educational curriculum and teaching approach.
4-Day Suburban/Urban Training Intensive April 2010 - Detroit June 09 - Purdue University These picture summaries take the viewer through our first two 4-Day Suburban/Urban Trainings. The 4-Day has been designed to give the suburban and urban dweller the essential permaculture tools they need to get started in their own back yards, small plots, apartments and communities.
Join me as I make my way around S.E. Michigan for a 4-day speaking tour. Included are pictures from several WalkAbouts we did as well as some great photos and ideas for implementing permaculture in one's own backyard or community... Bill Wilson
This picture summary takes the viewer through one of our 8-day courses which includes a look at the sustainably-oriented community of Stelle, IL, two permaculture suburban homes, and at several permaculture sites found within the city limits of Chicago, IL.
View permaculture pictures of a small farm that made $25,000 by harvesting the wild plants around them, a greenhouse operation that raises hundreds of pounds of tilapia fish, and a couple of suburban permaculture homes.
One of our webinar students decided to take her full design course from Bill and Geoff. View her email and photos as she works her way through a two week design course delivered by the very man who originated the concept of 'permaculture'.
Continuing Support Following PDC Graduation Students who have completed a Midwest Permaculture design course are then invited to become part of our growing network of graduates. There are three ways we attempt to support our students:
We have a separate networking website where all graduates can connect, share ideas and look for some assistance.
We hosted occasional reunions for graduates and their families .
Graduates may audit any future 72-hour certification courses at half price (provided space is available).
Our objective is to support our students for as long as they need it or want it, and to encourage them to support each other.
Already A Permaculture Design Course Graduate?
We offer a 33% discount to students who have already graduated from another recognized course (from anywhere in the world) who wish to take a Midwest Permaculture course as a refresher. Please email for details.
Free Monthly Emails
If you would like to be kept abreast of the permaculture seminars and full design courses that Midwest Permaculture hosts, as well as other interesting tidbits related to permaculture from around the world, you are invited to subscribe to the 'Friends of Midwest Permaculture' email list. We only send out something about once a month and you may unsubscribe at any time. We sincerely appreciate it when others keep our email address private so we never give or sell our email list to others.
Midwest Permaculture extends its gratitude to Bill Mollison and David Holmgren for their gift of “Permaculture”. Their lifelong work and inspiration is laying a path towards a sustainable and compassionate world.
Bill & Becky Wilson (Co-Founders of Midwest Permaculture)
Bill Mollison
Permaculture Ouroboros
David Holmgren
"Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex,
the solutions remain embarrassingly simple."
Bill Mollison
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