Midwest Permaculture

72-Hr. Design Certification Course
Focus: Small Farm / Suburban Permaculture
Land Stewardship Center, Columbiaville, Michigan
                           (30-Min. NE of Flint / 1-Hr. NW of Detroit)

Saturday Aug. 8 -  Saturday, Aug.15, 2009
8-Day Design Certification Course with 8 Pre-course Webinars

Graduates of the Training

Review Below for Course Description
- - - - - - - -

Key Site Explorations During This Course:

Willows Earth Education Center Charter school, strawbale building with earthen plaster and passive solar, green roof, cob oven,more...	Land Stewardship Center Our camping host with a solar greenhouse, composting toilet, gardens, woods, pond with Trumpeter Swans, more...
Deanne Bednar's Strawbale Studio Deanne is a natural builder and artist having authored and/or illustrated several books on the subject.	Three Roods Farm Organic CSA, vegetables, herbs, berries, sheep, chickens & eggs, ducks, bees, more...

The emphasis of this course is:
   1. Making our small lots and lands economically productive
      2. Increasing their natural health and vitality
         3. Designing long-term, productive systems
            4. Minimizing work and fossil fuel requirements
                5. Creating long term security for ourselves, our                              neighbors and for those who come after us.

Please Note: As always, the full-design course curriculum will be covered to provide students with their permaculture PDC certification.

For an example of what a similar course was like,
click below for a picture summary of our:
Rural/Suburban Design Course hosted in Stelle, Illinois.

Further Details About the Course Site - Columbiaville, MI

This small midwestern town, located on a lovely lake (man made reservoir), is a carbon copy of almost 'any town' USA. As an early established community it has tree-lined streets, a modest downtown district and many small churches and parks. What a student learns at this course can be applied to 10,000 other small communities, farmettes and suburban lots across the northern states.

Our classroom space is being generously provided by the Columbiaville United Methodist Church which is only a mile from our camping host, the Land Stewardship Center. Bring your walking shoe and/or bicycles. We should all feel 'at home' for the entire week.

Our host location: The Land Stewardship Center & Tibbits Nature Sanctuary

Certifying Instructor - Wayne Weiseman Permaculturists Wayne Weiseman brings his years of design and teaching experience to this certification course. Wayne is registered by Bill Mollison's Permaculture Institute of Australia to teach the full permaculture design course and to grant certification.     Read more...   Wayne resides in Carbondale, Illinois Contact Wayne via Email

Additional Details about the Course

This full design course actually begins for each student when they register. With registration comes a welcome email that contains attached handouts to read from the course instructors and with-in a week or so, the arrival of the design course text book via US Mail.

Course Textbook    Included with Registration 'Earth User's Guide to Permaculture' by Rosemary Morrow This gem of a text, shipped to students upon registration, is written by Rosemary Morrow, an Australian, that has taught permaculture around the world for decades. The book is straightforward and loaded with illustrations, depth and substance. It covers theory and also focuses on the practical aspects of how to implement permaculture design. This book is a must read for the serious permaculturist and is a requirement for students of our design certification courses.

Webinars:
This year's live webinars were hosted as part of the first design course held in May. All students receive links to 6 of these webinars hosted by lead instructor Wayne Weiseman which covers a large part of the course text and gives students a great foundational understanding of permaculture in preparation for their on-site training.

Also included with this course are two additional live webinars.

Purchase Webinars & Self-Study Features Separately If one is seriously interested in learning about permaculture but cannot commit to a certification course, the webinars and self-study features of our design courses can be enjoyed as stand alone experiences. Students learn an amazing amount about permaculture and design just by joining in on these aspects of a course. Webinar / Self-Study Package: $195      - Bill Wilson's ' Introduction to Permaculture' webinar                (Includes permission to use teaching slides)      - The 6 Wayne Weiseman 'Foundations of Permaculture' webinars from 2009      - A copy of the course text Earth User's Guide to Permaculture                     (Along with reading assignments as they relate to webinars)      - A copy of the 150-Permaculture Self-Study Questions                (These solidify your permaculture comprehension and understanding)      - 24 Handouts from Bill and Wayne to highlight certain subjects Additional Benefit... Receive Full Credit Toward Future Course Should a student decide to take a Midwest Permaculture Design Certification Course in the future, the $195 is fully credited toward their registration fee. This credit will be carried forward for up to 3 years. When a students takes a future course they get to participate in the new round of webinars as well.   Click Here to Purchase Webinars and Self-Study & Receive Full Credit Towards Design Certification Course   "I won't be able to listen live tonight but will be very interested to listen to the recording later. I've LOVED these webinars. Thank you so much for offering the webinar-only option. I plan to take a certification class within the next couple of years, but these webinars allowed me to really bring together the self-study and in-the-dirt projects I've been working on. THANKS!" Leigh W. (5-13-09) Arkansas http://ozarksalive.org/larrapin/

On-Site Portion of Course:

Daily Schedule
The on-site portion of the course begins on Saturday the 8th at 1:00pm and runs until noon the following Saturday, August 15th. We will have class most days from 8:30 a.m. through 9 p.m. with good breaks for lunch and dinner (you'll want them) and we will schedule an evening off in the middle of the week. As we have shared, this is an intensive training so we ask students to come ready to study, work and learn. There will be plenty of fun too.

Meals
Students receive 3-meals a day along with snacks, coffee, tea and water. Most of the food will be organic and as often as possible locally grown. There will be a vegetarian option at all meals with a meat option at most. Those with other food requirements may be asked to supply some of their own needs.

Camping
As part of the price of tuition, free camping space is available at the Land Stewardship Center, which has a composting toilet and available showers. Students bring their own tent. Remember, even though you are 'camping', your days will be long and you will likely only be spending time in your tent to sleep. No need for pots and pans and all the extra camping gear. Just a tent, sleeping bag and pad will mostly do it. Don't forget your flashlight and rain coat.

Other Accommodations
If you would prefer not to camp, there are local venues that would enjoy hosting our permaculture students. No reason to travel to a motel. One is the historic William Peter Mansion Bed & Breakfast which is just one-block from our classroom space and has shared-rooms (2 to a room) that run about $25-30 a night. If you wanted your own room would be about double this. These prices are without breakfast as we will be serving this as as part of the course.

Another location is a former local retreat center (about 6 miles from Columbiaville - a nice bike ride?) with shared rooms made available to our course participants on a donation basis. Our course host, Peggy, will assist with these arrangements.

Students looking for accommodations other than camping will make these arrangements on their own. We provide a common blog site so that students can communicate with each other regarding shared lodging, travel arrangements or any other such communication.

Your Course Welcome Packet
5-6 weeks before the on-site portion of the course begins, every student receives a welcome packet (by email) which includes a list of things to bring as well as more details about your course, your webinar classes, and your fellow students.

Certification
Students who complete this design course will receive a 'Certification of Completion' which allows one to use the copyrighted word 'permaculture' in the promotion of their work or business. Graduates may also do teaching, offering workshops, lectures and seminars. However, offering full design certification courses and awarding certification to others requires further training and documentation.
                                  Click here for more on certification.

Course Fee & Registration
The price for this course is $1,295.  

Early Registration Discount - Save $100 before June 8th
We appreciate knowing ahead of time what sort of attendance we might expect at a design course. For those who can register in full 60-days before the on-site portion of the course begins will receive a $100 discount on their course tuition.

Group Registrations - Save another $100
2 or more may register as a group and receive a $100 discount each. We've had friends, family members or couples register together and in the weeks before the course, ended up bringing in several more friends, each saving $100.

Call Becky for either more information or to set up a group (815-256-2215).

	Registration      Option 1 Click here to register on-line. We take MasterCard, Discover and Visa.       Option 2 Call Becky to register over the phone at 815-256-2215 with credit card or personal check.      Option 3 Click below for a registration form which you may print out, fill out, and snail-mail in with your personal check.         Word Document (.doc)        - or -        .PDF File Form

Down-Payment / Course Reservation
Our simple e-commerce page is not set-up to handle partial or down-payments. If making a partial payment is an important factor to your ability to participate, please call Becky at 815-256-2215 to work out these arrangements.

Low Risk Cancellation and Refund Policy
Should a student have to cancel their enrollment in the course up to 30-days before the on-site portion of the course begins, there is a full refund less $250. Student retains access to webinars, keeps the course handouts and text book, and receives a full $195 credit towards any future Midwest Permaculture design certification course.

If a student cancels within the 30-day period before the course there will be a full refund less $350 and the student still receives a $195 credit towards our design courses. The credit is good for up to three years.

There are no refunds for cancellations or for withdrawals once the course begins. However, in certain circumstances, we may extend partial credit towards a future design course.

Already A Permaculture Design Course Graduate?
We offer a 33% discount to students who have already received their PDC Certification from another recognized course (from anywhere in the world) who wish to take one of our courses as a refresher. Please email for details.

Still Have Questions?
You are welcome to email Becky at Becky@MidwestPermaculture.com or call 815-256-2215.