PERMACULTURE DESIGN
CERTIFICATION COURSE
A community-based online permaculture course that empowers
you to enact change in your life and communities.
10-week online course
April 12 - June 4, 2021
What is this course?
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 Certification Course takes students through an integrated curriculum that is self-aware, actionable, and community-based. This course is a 72-hour curriculum that includes a Permaculture Design Certificate through the Permaculture Research Institute upon completion of the course and design project.
Why Quail Springs?
Quail Springs has been teaching in-person Permaculture Design Certification 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 virtual course.
Together. Online.
Registration Information
- Enrollment Opens: February 15, 2021
- Sliding Scale Cost: $700 – $1000 — What is Sliding Scale?
- Alternative pricing options available for BlPOC folks, and need-based scholarship opportunities available. Contact us here with any questions.
- This course will be capped to keep the course connective, and we expect it fill up fast! Mark your calendars, or guarantee your spot by pre-registering below to get exclusive access to early enrollment and discounts.
Preview the course curriculum
Introduction to Permaculture
- Why Permaculture
- Permaculture Worldview
- Ethics & Principles
- Permaculture & Science
Patterns in Permaculture
- Patterns in Nature
- Pattern Application in Design
- Reading the Landscape
Design Methodologies and Process
- Design Methods
- Permaculture Processes in Design
- Resilient Community Design Methods
- Design for Catastrophe
Water
- Hydrology 101
- Water in the Landscape
- Regenerative Groundwater Management
Earthworks
- Earthworks for Rainwater Harvesting and Resilience
- Earthworks in the Field
Soils
- Living Soils
- Exercises for Soil Classification
Trees and Forests
- Forests and Food Forest Functions
- Food Forest Design
- Food Forests in the Field
Growing Strategies and Methods
- Garden Strategies for Water Conservation and Soil Building
- Drylands Strategies
- Kitchen Gardens
- Seeds and Seed Saving
- In the Quail Springs Garden: How-To’s Bundle
- Urban Agriculture
Animals
- Integrated Animal Systems
- Animal Ethics
- Introduction to Quail Springs Animal Systems
- Introduction to Beekeeping
Broadscale Landscape Design
- Agroforestry
- Regenerative Grazing as a Broadscale Technique
What About Waste?
- Building and Using Greywater Systems
- Compost and Vermiculture
Appropriate Technology
- Introduction to Appropriate Technology
- Appropriate Technology at Quail Springs
- Rainwater Harvesting for Home and Growing Systems
The Built Environment
- Natural Building Methods and Materials
- The Built Environment
- Fire Resilience & Housing Sovereignty
- Naturally Built Structures
- Building with Cob
Conscious Social Design
- The 8 Forms of Natural Capital
- Community/Neighborhood Design
- Permaculture Network & Projects to Watch
- Advocate for Our Future: Quail Springs How-To Training Guide on Becoming a Regional Groundwater Advocate
Design Projects
Design Submission
Meet Your Instructors.

Sasha Rabin

Daniel Parra Hensel

Lindsay Allen

Warren Brush
