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CPD points: 20.0

About

Laying the Foundations is the first course in Aotearoa Permaculture Workshop’s new seven-course Foundation Programme, drawing on more than 14 years of permaculture education and over 20 years of professional design practice. Designed for people interested in navigating ecological, social and economic change, the course provides a broad introduction to permaculture as a design philosophy and way of thinking about complex living systems.

For landscape architects, designers and sustainability practitioners, the course provides an opportunity to step back from the tools and processes of everyday professional practice and explore some of the deeper ideas that influence how we understand, frame and respond to design challenges.

The course begins with APW’s approach to permaculture and design, and follows with explorations of humanity’s evolutionary journey, the development of permaculture in Aotearoa, our assumptions and paradigms, and permaculture ethics. It then works systematically through David Holmgren’s twelve permaculture design principles, including Observe and Interact, Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback, Design from Patterns to Details, Integrate Rather than Segregate, and Creatively Use and Respond to Change.

Across 18 video lectures, participants are encouraged to develop an ecological worldview, strengthen systems thinking and consider how these principles can inform their own lives, places and professional practice. Learning is supported by live online hui, extensive resources, activities, peer-to-peer discussion and opportunities for place-based learning.

As one previous APW participant described the programme:

“A thorough, rigorous overview of permaculture thinking and practice… This course has had a profound impact on my world-view, relationships and behaviour and fundamentally altered my frame of reference. My working life has also benefitted.” — Gerard

This course is worth up to a maximum of 20 CPD points under Category 1d.