Free Permaculture Courses, Forums, and More

Grow Food, Make Friends, Heal the Planet

Welcome! This is the place to enroll in the yearlong #freepermaculture course, along with an assortment of shorter courses, writing challenges, and accessible community resources.

Most everything here is free/donation-based, and everyone is welcome to enroll.

Start Here

Permaculture Design Course

For more information about the course go here.

Start Now

5 Modules

Student Hub: Start Here

New PDC students: get your mentor.
Returning students: find important forms and documents.

8 lessons

1 Orientation 2 Student Success Checklist 3 How to Make the Most of this Course 4 Get Your Mentor 5 Join our Forums 6 Facebook Groups 7 Trello Boards 8 What Now?

Unlock module

Foundations: The First Five Classes

Please do these before diving into your design project, and before meeting with your faculty mentor.

6 lessons

1 Introduction to Permaculture 2 Ethics and Principles 3 Patterns and Biomimicry 4 The Home System: Zones and Sectors 5 Invisible Structures and the Inner Landscape 6 What Now?

Unlock module

Your Design Project

Use a linear process to create a tangible project and presentation.

14 lessons

1 Alumni Design Samples 2 Design Template 3 Digital Tools & Design Sets 4 Introduction to Whole Systems Design 5 Goals 6 Observation 7 Boundaries 8 Resources 9 Analysis 10 Design 11 Implementation 12 Maintenance 13 Evaluation 14 Presentation & Graduation

Unlock module

Core Classes: Topics to Inform Your Design

Finish these classes before you move past the observation step of your design project.

19 lessons

1 Big Land and the Economy of Scale 2 The Built Environment 3 Climate, Ecology, and Microclimates 4 Water 5 Earthworks 6 Soil 7 Forests, Gardens, and Forest Gardens 8 Aquaculture and Season Extension 9 Animals, Birds, and Bees 10 Holistic Seed Stewardship 11 The Waste Cycle 12 Appropriate Technology 13 Designing for Resilience: Chaos and Catastrophe 14 Urban Permaculture 15 Re-Imagining Economic Systems 16 Client and Community Relationships 17 Social Justice and Decolonization 18 Pedagogy and Teaching Permaculture 19 What Now?

Unlock module

Advanced Classes: Social Systems Design

Students pursuing the double certificate: study the classes in this section to inform the extension of your design project, so that it includes measurable benefits to families other than your own.

9 lessons