Food Forest DVD Gets Rave Review
DVDs/Books, Food Forests, Food Plants - Perennial, Plant Systems, Trees — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor February 20, 2009
If you’ve been procrastinating over buying our latest DVD – Establishing a Food Forest – this review from TransitionCulture.org may help hurry you along.
These DVDs have been selling briskly – it’s great to think of the potential impact they’ll be making far and wide.
Order your copy here.
Comments (4)Last Chance!
Courses/Workshops — by Kym Kruse February 16, 2009
 Rosella Waters |
This is your last chance to secure a spot in FreeRange Permaculture’s March PDC, to be taught by the incomparable Darren Doherty. Darren, fresh back from the land of the long white cloud New Zealand, will be teaching his final PDC in Australia for some time. This is your last chance to catch him before he heads off on a world wide teaching tour for the remainder of 2009. We’re very happy he’s chosen to visit us in the Far North as his last port of call!
Our Permaculture demonstration site is Rosella Waters, located near the thriving international tourist city of Cairns. The 2.38H property is situated in Walkamin, on the edge of what is locally known as the “jump-up”, the aftermath of an ancient lava flow. At an elevation of close to 600 meters above sea level and with over 1000mm of rainfall per year, it has a unique climate within our wet tropics region. The property is fronted by 194 meters of the Barron River, which flows year round and is the major river in the region.
Comments (0)Permaculture Ireland
Courses/Workshops, News, Social Gatherings — by Alanna Moore February 12, 2009
We are pleased to announce that our new website – permacultureireland.ie – is now up and running, as we prepare for our inaugral event in Ireland, an Eco-Living Festival at the Drumsna Community Resource Centre, Drumsna, Co. Leitrim on June 6 – 7th, a showcase for sustainable, low-impact living.
Expressions of interest to get involved can email us at sheltermaker (at) gmail.com
The festival will be followed by a series of weekend summer workshops in Leitrim on ‘Permaculture: Food and Shelter’ and ‘Low-Tech Living’, taught by Australian permaculturist Alanna Moore, Irish architect Peter Cowman and guests.
Comments (0)Developing Permaculture Aid Project Skills
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Project Positions — by Sakina Grome February 5, 2009
There are as many people holding different skills as there are species, and this diversity of skills is required to build permaculture projects around the world. As the world heads towards peak oil, peak soil, and peak water, the demand for permaculture education continues to grow, and at the forefront of this demand are people in developing countries who are dependent upon being able to grow their own food and whose livelihood depends on the health of the local soil.
The first Permaculture Project Aid Worker Course conducted by the Permaculture Research Institute was held in November at Zaytuna Farm in NSW, Australia. Geoff Lawton and Rosemary Morrow led the six-day course, which was attended by twenty-three students in total. Lawton established the course as a response to keeping up with the demand for skilled aid workers on overseas projects, as well as a vision to establish a network of permaculture education centres around the world.
Comments (2)Take a Permaculture Design Certificate Course (PDC) in Paradise
Courses/Workshops, News — by Nichole Ross January 31, 2009
PRI USA’s Ho’olehua Permaculture Center, Island of Molokai, Hawaii
Instructor – Andrew Jones
March 30 – April 11, 2009
Be a part of agricultural history in the making as the Permaculture Research Institute USA launches its first PDC at the Ho’olehua Permaculture Center, on the Island of Moloka’i. Hawaii is best known for its endless white sand beaches, lush tropical rainforests and prime surfing opportunities – a place where people go to “get away from it all” and leave the stresses of a modern hectic lifestyle behind. The Island of Moloka’i is the perfect answer.
Arriving on Molokai, also known as ‘the Friendly Isle’, you’ll be greeted with much Aloha. In return, locals expect visitors to respect the island’s much slower lifestyle – “island time”. There are no traffic lights, the highest posted speed anywhere on the island is 45mph (most places less), there are no shopping malls, no building is taller than a palm tree and ‘Aloha’ is a way of life.
Comments (0)Greening the Desert Project Outcomes Profiled
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Conservation, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, Land, News, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Swales, Water Harvesting — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor January 29, 2009
Most readers will be familiar with the awesome, seemingly miraculous work Geoff and Nadia Lawton accomplished with the ‘Greening the Desert‘ project in Jordan (not to be confused with the new Jordan Valley Permaculture Project, where completely new miracles are under way).
Well, this work has now been well profiled in the ProAct Network’s recent release:
The Role of Environmental Management in Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation, Annex I, Case Studies (4.69mb PDF). Jump to page #59 in Acrobat Reader, or #98 if you’re scrolling by page numbers.
If you’re looking for more practical details on what happened, and is happening, there on the ground – this document should hit the spot, as it were.
Thanks to Andrew Jones for bringing this to my attention.
Comments (3)Letter from the Editor
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, News — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor
Howdy. Could you guys all take a seat for a minute? I’d like to have a little chat with you all today on a couple of points. Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble.
Comments (3)Gaia University, One Step West Towards Oceania in April 2009
Conferences, Courses/Workshops, Developments — by Grifen Hope
Ecoescuela El Manzano in the heartland of Biobio, Chile will host Gaia University (GU) International for a series of world shaping events in 2009;
- April 16th – GU Orientation: for new students seeking Bachelors, Masters degrees or Post-Masters Graduate Diplomas in Eco-Social Regeneration
- May 1st – Participatory Processes for Communities in Transition
- May 5th – GU Advanced Workshops for Year Two Students
Both will be facilitated by Liora Adler and Andy Langford, supported by our local team of emerging young leaders, designers, and teachers from Ecoescuela and Instituto de Permacultura Chile.
We want you to be part of this experience; designing and creating a global learning community, a network of living campuses, projects and people applying solutions that work, mobilising communities, leading the way towards a sustainable future.
Comments (0)Food Futures Now – Feeding People & Place Without Fossil Fuels
DVDs/Books, Food Shortages — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor January 27, 2009
 It’s time to pull the world back from the brink — we can do it! |
We live in interesting times, don’t we? We’re currently witnessing a convergence of problems that threaten life as we know it, not to mention our sanity. I say our sanity, as sometimes it can feel that the societal changes needed are on such a scale, and our embedded infrastructure is so established and inflexible, that we can feel like a helpless, captive audience — just along for the roller coaster ride (where the roller coaster is being maintained by a crew focused only on short-term gain…). Those of us with children fear for their future. Indeed, we wonder what life will be like for ourselves over the coming few years, let alone the next couple of decades.
But at the same time as we’re having apocalyptic visions, we’re also seeing a heightened awareness of, and desire for, solutions, and an eagerness and sense of urgency to implement them.
Comments (5)Reality Check one two…one two
Aid Projects, Building, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, Energy Systems, Ethical Investment, Land, Project Positions, Village Development — by Eric Seider January 26, 2009
If you were to get up and walk to the sink and turn on the faucet, there is a pretty damn good chance that water will come out. And if it didn’t you’d be surprised to say the least, more likely pissed off and annoyed at the inconvenience. You’d then wonder who is to blame for this unacceptable turn of events. I mean it is your god given right as a human being to expect water to come out of the tap when you need it….right?
Well…..Salaam Alaykum. Welcome to Jordan.
Beduoin Camp, Dead Sea Valley, Jordan
It doesn’t work like that here.
Comments (6)Courses in Sunny Far North Queensland
Aid Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites — by Kym Kruse January 22, 2009
Rosella Waters |
At FreeRange Permaculture we are focussed on bringing a variety of world-class courses and workshops in a range of sustainable practices, to the Far North.
Our Permaculture demonstration site is Rosella Waters, located near the thriving international tourist city of Cairns. The 2.38Ha property is situated in Walkamin, on the edge of what is locally known as the “jump-up”, the aftermath of an ancient lava flow. At an elevation of close to 600 meters above sea level and with over 1000mm of rainfall per year, it has a unique climate within our wet tropics region. The property is fronted by 194 meters of the Barron River, which flows year round and is the major river in the region.
In November 2008 we held our first 2 week residential Permaculture Design Course (PDC) at Rosella Waters. The course was a great success with 26 people coming from as close as Cairns to as far away as California. A big thank you to both Geoff Lawton and Darren Doherty for sharing their expertise and knowledge and to all the participants for making the event so memorable and rewarding for everyone involved. Needless to say lives were changed, and one young man from Utah booked a plane ticket to Jordan to work on the PRI Jordan project before the course had even finished!
Comments (0)Please Help the Palestinian People in a Time of Tragedy
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, Village Development — by Nichole Ross January 12, 2009
The Jordan Valley Project site is the triangular section in foreground
As Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip escalate, more and more Palestinian civilians are being displaced by damage or destruction to their homes. The need for refugee shelter has become critical. Geoff and Nadia Lawton are currently working on a PRI project in a Palestinian refugee village in Jordan. The project, known as the Jordan Valley Permaculture Project, is an effort to set up a Permaculture demonstration and education center. Due to the increased influx of refugees that will need food and shelter, this project is essential for survival for these people fleeing to the very arid Dead Sea Valley. Geoff, Nadia and others are working at full speed to get this center established as soon as possible so they can train refugees and impoverished locals to set up similar sustainable systems (food, water, shelter).
Comments (6)PRI Site Info Session at Zaytuna Farm
Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, News — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor January 11, 2009
Geoff and Nadia Lawton have been running highly successful courses at Zaytuna Farm in Northern NSW, Australia, for a few years now. Now, with the pressing need to ramp up the pace of Permaculture education to try to help steer this misguided world onto something resembling a sane path, we’re now working towards improving and enlarging the PRI infrastructure and facilities. Click the image below for a larger view with more info. If you live in the neighbourhood, feel free to drop by on Friday the 16th to get the full scoop on developments.
And, whether you live nearby or not, any contributions to this noble endeavour are greatly appreciated.
Comments (1)
Wanted – Permaculture Translators
Courses/Workshops, DVDs/Books — by Ecofilms December 19, 2008
Wanted. Permaculture Translators – People fluent in another language willing to donate some time to translate from a supplied English text transcript of The Permaculture for Beginners DVD into their chosen language. The supplied Word document will be between 40 to 60 pages so if you are up to the challenge, we’d be grateful for your contribution. This is not a simple or easy task to complete in one sitting, so please, only reply if you are fluent in your preferred language, are motivated, self-disciplined and prepared to complete the task and deliver the document within a fixed deadline. This is very important.
Comments (18)Permaculture for Beginners DVD in the Works
Courses/Workshops, DVDs/Books, Developments, News — by Ecofilms December 16, 2008
Editor’s Note: Our creative video genius, Frank Gapinski, gives us an update on the work of Flashtoonz
Coming in 2009 is the DVD we’ve been wanting to do for a long time. Permaculture for Beginners is the fundamental introduction to the Permaculture Design Certificate Course. Its the 72 hour Course boiled down to just over 90 minutes with all the essential points covered. If you are interested in doing the full PDC and want to know more about it – then this DVD introduces the course in a nutshell.
More than just a classroom lecture – each point is covered in practical detail with on the field examples. If you’re new to Permaculture and don’t know where to begin – then this DVD reveals the PDC in all its glory by one of the best, most experienced teachers on the planet – Geoff Lawton. Geoff has taught the course in over 27 different countries.
He’s currently in Iran before travelling to Morocco and then back to Australia in January. Geoff is pretty excited about this title as its a way to introduce a whole new generation of people to Permaculture. The project was scheduled to begin in November but we had another DVD on the boil that needed completion. 2009 should be an interesting year for Permaculture people around the globe.
Harvesting Water has been translated for the Chinese market and other language translations are in the works. We got some big plans and some very exciting fresh films to reveal before the 2009 is done.
More details to come in the following weeks.
Comments (9)
