Southern Willamette Valley
August 6 – 26, 2012
The Permaculture Passport Program is a new course offering that goes beyond a PDC at a single institution, as is the norm. It is a collaborative regional permaculture sample program lasting 3 weeks, during which a student experiences many different sites and people implementing permaculture principles in different ways within 40 minutes of Eugene. It will consist of one week at Lost Valley Educational Center, then one week at Dharmalaya, and a final week at Aprovecho. There will also be day trips from each of those hub sites to other nearby projects of note, such as a permaculture homestead, an indigenous sustainability group, and exemplary suburban yards. There will be significant permaculture instruction and hands-on activities based around the strong suits of the host sites. For Lost Valley, this is group bonding at the start of the course, intentional community living, and sociocracy. Dharmalaya will focus on personal development, urban permaculture, and neighborhood transformation. Aprovecho will focus on appropriate technology, sustainable forestry, and natural building. Gardening is a part of all three host sites. Further information about the other two is listed below. If you have questions, contact programs@lostvalley.org, or any of the three host sites.
Course schedule:
Week One, August 6-13, Lost Valley – focus on group building, the social/community permaculture, and sociocracy
Week Two: August 13-20, Dharmalaya – focus on urban permaculture, neighborhood renewal, and inner permacture (yoga, meditation)
Week Three: August 20-26, Aprovecho – focus on appropriate technology, sustainable forestry, and natural building
Dharmalaya promotes dharma holistically in personal, ecological, and social spheres of life. Dharma is the perennial path that brings balance, harmony, and inner fulfillment. The centerfeatures a comprehensive program of personal development through yoga, meditation and service, with an integrated approach to personal development. Dharmalaya is also at the heart of an emerging urban ecovillage in its Eugene neighborhood that demonstrates living with low impact on the earth. Finally, Dharmalaya’s social vision gives importance to decentralized economics, cooperative enterprise, equity, development of human potentials, ecological protection, bioregionalism, and spiritual humanist values.
Aprovecho is a 40-acre permaculture and sustainable living education and demonstration center located outside of Cottage Grove. For 30 years, the staff, residents, volunteers, and students of Aprovecho have collaborated to create a thriving educational community showcasing rainwater catchment, natural building, fuel-efficient cookstoves, aquaponics, ponds, orchards, organic gardens, solar hot water, sustainable forest management, and more. We are excited to offer the opportunity to experience Aprovecho to students in the Permaculture Passport Program, and look forward to meeting you this summer!
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