ONLINE PERMACULTURE
DESIGN COURSE

A community-based Online Permaculture Design Course that empowers you to enact change in your life and communities.

24-week online course

2023 dates coming soon!

What is this course?

In this 24-week Online Permaculture Design Course, Quail Springs offers you the tools to create meaningful change in yourself and your communities through permaculture design, a system of design for sustainable human settlement based on observation of the natural world and land-based ways of knowing. Guided by the three core permaculture ethics - people care, earth care, and fair share (redistribution of surplus) - this course empowers us to design our lives to create the lasting change that our world needs. We've expanded the duration of this course to 24 weeks to make it less of an intensive and more accessible to participants with busy schedules.

Quail Springs Permaculture Design Certificate Course from Quail Springs on Vimeo.

Why this course?

Constant exposure to stories of environmental and social crises can leave us feeling immobilized and unsure of how we can effect positive change in our world. Many of us are left feeling as if our actions towards positive change aren’t enough under the weight of these ongoing crises. This course focuses on providing you with the scalable tools to mobilize for change - whether it’s in your home garden, your neighborhood, or your region.

This Online Permaculture Design Course takes students through an integrated curriculum that is self-aware, actionable, and community-based. This course is a 72-hour curriculum that culminates in a Permaculture Design Certification upon completion of the course and design project.

" The course content and community that was created exceeded my expectations and I’m sad it’s come to an end, but I’m excited for what the future brings. "

Anonymous

Former online PDC Participant

Why Quail Springs?

Quail Springs has been teaching in-person Permaculture Design Courses for over a decade. More than 1,000 students have gained their Permaculture Design Certification with us and have gone on to do change-making work in their communities and in their own lives.

Our teaching staff are farmers, activists, builders, and thinkers who not only teach, but also advocate at a regional level for policy change from agriculture to building codes. Quail Springs’ teaching staff includes both instructors who are residents at Quail Springs’ site, and instructors who live elsewhere and have contributed their expertise to this Online Permaculture Design Course.

" I do not think that I would have had the same experience had I taken the PDC somewhere else. The instructors, their knowledge, and the information was exceptional. "

Nyakio Kaniu-Lake

Former PDC Participant

Together. Online.

It is with excitement that we bring this Online Permaculture Design Course to the web, and invite you to join us for the experience. Quail Springs is committed to community-building as a core value of this course even when we are sharing space virtually. This course centers on connecting and uplifting the world's greatest resource: you.

Preview of the course curriculum

WEEKS 1 – 7

Introduction to Permaculture

What is Permaculture?
Permaculture Ethics and Principles
Why Permaculture
A Canopy View
Patterns in Nature
Pattern Application in Design
Permaculture Processes in Design
Design Methods
Design Case Studies
The Permaculture Design Process and Project
Permaculture & Science

Climate and Climate Characteristics

Introduction to Climate and Climate Characteristics

Water

Water in the Landscape
Water Ethics
Rainwater Harvesting for Home and Growing Systems

Earthworks

Earthworks for Rainwater Harvesting and Resilience
Earthworks in the Field

WEEKS 8 – 15

Soils

Living Soils
Living Soils Slide Deck
Compost

Cultivated Ecologies

Gardening 101
In the Quail Springs Garden: How-To’s Bundle
Urban Agriculture
Energy Transactions of Trees & Forests
Food Forests
In the QS Food Forests
Pruning Trees
Rooftop Farming
Introduction to Broadscale Landscape Design
Agroforestry
Bonus: Seed Saving as Culture Keeping
Bonus: Introduction to Fungi for Food, Medicine, and Ecological Services

Animals

Integrated Animal Systems
Introduction to Quail Springs Animal Systems
Introduction to Beekeeping

What About Waste?

Greywater Systems
What about Human Waste?
Waste & Bioremediation

WEEKS 16 – 24

The Built Environment

Appropriate Technology at Quail Springs
The Built Environment
Passive Heating & Cooling Site Example
Natural Building Methods and Materials
Housing Advocacy and Building Code
Designing for Catastrophe: Fire Resilience in Our Built Environment
Building Adobes and Rocket Stove: Natural Building Practicum
Naturally Built Structures at Quail Springs

Conscious Social Design

Introduction to Conscious Social Design
Elements of Community Design
Regenerative Economics
Permaculture Network & Projects to Watch

Final Live Sessions

Design Project Submission

Registration

It is part of our mission to actively dismantle the social and ecological imbalances forced upon communities of color. Therefor we are offering a sliding-scale pricing model to provide accessibility to those who need it, as well as providing the opportunity to ‘pay it forward’ to those who can afford to sponsor those in need.

Learn more about our equitable pricing model

Scholarships:

Scholarships and self-determined sliding scale cost options available on a case by case basis. BIPOC and historically underrepresented students will be prioritized. Contact us here to inquire.

STANDARD TUITION

for those who can afford to pay the standard tuition cost.

$750

PAY IT FORWARD

for those who can afford to partially sponsor another person's tuition.

$1000

PAY IT FURTHER

for those who can afford to fully sponsor another person's tuition.

$1500

SLIDING SCALE

reserved for participants with lower relative wealth.

$600

Frequently Asked Questions

All of the above! In an effort to foster social permaculture and community building, we are expanding the standard single enrollment option by offering pair and group enrollments (3-5 people in a group).

Once you enroll, you will follow the course curriculum on your own, with your partner, or your group. For participants interested in a certificate, a completed design workbook is due on week 24. Pairs and groups will work on a single design project workbook for multiple certifications.

There will be several Live Sessions happening throughout the 6 month course. All Live Sessions will be held on Zoom. This is where students will get the chance to interact with the instructors, ask questions, and share resources.

Live Sessions - Saturday morning (PST): curriculum focused (8-10 total)
Live Sessions - Monday morning (PST): design project workbook focused (4 total)

All Live Sessions will be recorded, so if you can’t make them or your time zone doesn’t line up, no worries! You can watch the recordings at your earliest convenience.

The course will be mainly self-guided week to week, with the bulk of the curriculum being written and pre-recorded video content. A core part of this course (and all PDCs!) is the permaculture design project (optional) that you will be creating on your own, with a partner, or in a group. Participants will work on their projects week-to-week on their own with clear guidance.

The content will be available in 4 week segments to keep things more organized and less overwhelming. We understand that not everyone will have the same goals around permaculture. If you are interested in obtaining a QS Permaculture Design Course certificate of completion, we do encourage you to follow the weekly cadence of the course by staying on track and completing the design project work which is due on week 24.

This course will use 4 different platforms.

Main learning platform: (learn.quailsprings.org) You will be asked to create an account when you register and pay for the course. This is where you will follow the written and video curriculum week to week.

Google Docs: This is where you will be working on your permaculture design project week to week. The design project is optional, but required to obtain a Quail Springs Permaculture Design Course certificate of completion. To use Google Docs you will need a Google Account. If you don’t have a Google account, sign up here.

Slack: Our interactive course discussion forum will use Slack (what is this?). This is where participants will get the chance to interact with one another and instructors, ask questions, and share resources and projects! Before the course starts, participants will receive a Slack invitation via email with instructions on how to join - all will be asked to join the course Slack workspace. You can create your account here. Also, here's a tutorial to get you up and running with Slack.

Zoom: Zoom is an audio/video conferencing platform that we’ll use to virtually meet with you and the instructors during the Live Sessions. You can create a free account here. You don't need a Zoom account to use Zoom, but we highly encourage you to familiarize yourself with this platform.

We will have clear tutorials in the course curriculum for how to use all of these platforms, but we highly encourage you to familiarize yourself as much as possible and find other tutorials on them, so that we can all be ready to jump into this together.

Meet Your Instructors.

Abudu Nininger

Project Spotlight: Akwaaba Urban Food Forest in LA

Abudu is a urban farmer, natural builder, garden artist, lover of fungal dominant compost & collective liberation. Specializing in fruit tree care, he spends most of his days working with the Fruitsitute, and tending land & community at Wildseed Farm. He is passionate about helping to restore & re-energize a conscious relationship between people, plants, soil & our many relatives of diverse expressions. Akwaaba Urban Food Forest is his current community empowerment project.

ONLINE PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE