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Permaculture certification is required to use the term professionally. The course covers principles and domains of permaculture, resource management, and conservation, and features hands-on training. The Permaculture Institute works to ensure a standard curriculum is taught.
While a wealth of information about permaculture can be found online or in books, permaculture certification is required for those who wish to use the copyrighted term “permaculture” for professional activities. Permaculture certification is awarded upon successful completion of a permaculture design course. Design courses are based on the teachings of permaculture co-authors Bill Mollison and David Holmgren and are offered in many locations around the world. The course usually takes about two weeks to complete, depending on the schedule.
Despite some variation in organization and content, a permaculture design course should be based on the concepts and principles first described by Mollison and Holmgren. A common set of principles forms the basis of permaculture design. The three most widely recognized ethical principles are expressed in shorthand as “care for the earth”, “care for people” and “fair participation”. In addition to these ethical principles, permaculture has 12 design principles. The commonly used image of the “permaculture flower” shows how all these principles, represented as the heart of the flower, are applied to a set of seven domains, represented by the petals.
The principles and domains of permaculture are usually the first subject covered in a permaculture design course. Later parts of the course tend to focus on the application of permaculture design across the seven domains. Courses typically cover the following broad areas: understanding natural and cultural patterns; understand landscapes and climate zones; resource management and conservation; agricultural planning and design; built environment planning and design; and economics and marketing. Each of these areas covers a range of more specific topics. Resource management and conservation, for example, can include renewable energy, energy conservation, water harvesting, and waste management, among other topics.
In addition to traditional classroom learning, permaculture certification design courses tend to feature hands-on training. Students can apply what they are learning by working with plants or animals on a farm or helping build a sustainably designed home in a permaculture community. Completion of one or more design projects is also a common requirement for permaculture certification.
Although permaculture design originated in Australia in the 1970s, certified instructors and design courses can be found all over the world. Some instructors have expressed concern that the standards of content and depth of learning set by Mollison and Holmgren have been diluted by the growing number of certified instructors and design courses. The Permaculture Institute of Australia and its sister organization, the Permaculture Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico, work to ensure that a standard curriculum is taught in courses that award certification in permaculture.
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