June 24 - July 7, 2012

We invite you to join us for a certified 72-hour Permaculture Design Course (PDC) taught by experienced permaculturalist John Champagne.  John brings years of experience to his third time teaching with the team at Panya. Come join us for this incredibly inspiring course.

This full72-hour certified Permaculture Design Course will be held at the site of a new and exciting permaculture project to the NE of Bangkok, in the province of Korat.  The project will have recently had a full integrated permaculture design completed for the farm, and will be in the beginning phases of implementation on that design.  This backdrops allows for an amazing place to host a PDC course as the work will be happening all around you during the course.  You will have the opportunity to participate in a number of aspect of that implementation, including the construction of zone one garden beds, the planting of food forest, and the ongoing improvement of this exciting project.  In fact, right when this project is being held is the perfect time to start planting trees as it is the beginning of the rainy season, so everyone in the course will have ample opportunity to get their hands into meaningful projects on the land.

The course will consist of a broad range of topics applicable to life anywhere on this planet, yet will be tailored to the needs of the students present as well as the location at hand.  Participants will help to co-create the design of tropical food forests, permaculture-style gardens, natural buildings, water catchment and irrigation systems, work with swales and dams, as well as take part in permaculture activities on the hosting land.

The course will be conducted in the internationally accepted manner.  The 72 hours of course work required to receive a Permaculture Design Certificate, will be covered over a two week period, mixing hands-on with plenty of in classroom studies.  All students are required to be present for the full two weeks if they wish to receive the certificate.

Permaculture courses are fairly standardized as far as content.  We will cover every major topic in Bill Mollisons: Permaculture: a Designers Manual.  So quickly what that includes is the following:

1. Philosophies and Ethics underlying permaculture.

2. Basic permaculture principals.

3. Patterns in Nature and how to use that in design.

4. Methods of design.  How to go from a damaged piece of land to having an idea for how to move forward with it.

5. Climactic factors. 

We will cover all the major climates and how to work with them.

6. Trees, forests and why we want to mimic their systems.

7. Water: catchment, usage, importance, and conservation.

8. Soil, minerals, microorganisms, building new soil and preventing erosion.

9. Earthworks: how to shape the land to help it achieve the goals we are aiming for.

10. Aquaculture

11. Natural Building

12. Alternative systems: community living and other ways of choosing to live differently that works well for people and the planet.

Each of these categories has subcategories and each teacher also has their own additions and certain topics that are stressed over others.

The Panya Project was set up to provide an active example of sustainable living in northern Thailand.  Panya recently entered into a partnership with this new farm in Korat Thailand, and we are excited to have a second location to be transforming a conventional farm into an integrated example of permaculture in action!

We would like to  continue to offer an extremely low fee for people working with NGO’s.  We appreciate what you do and this is just one way we can thank and support you. We are looking forward to expanding our own knowledge and depth of permaculture, creating an amazing example of it ourselves and sharing the bounty with the global sustainability community and beyond!

(The costs for courses at this new site are higher, because we believe that at this critical time in the projects life, it offers an amazing learning environment for the PDC student, but also there are two other reasons for the higher prices.  One is that it is a new site, so lots of money has to be spent on infrastructure to make it a very functional educational space, and that is being done.  The second is that the US$ is losing value.  The change in US$ price reflects the fact that the dollar is dropping in value and thus we have to accept more of it for equal value.)

Costs: The two week certified PDC course:

Regular course price: __________29,700Baht (US$990)

NGO special price*:_________14,700Baht (US$490)

*If you work for an NGO and believe that permaculture could help your organisation achieve its goals, please contact us about the NGO discounted rate.

These prices include all meals and a place to stay for the duration of the course.

We ask all registrants to make a deposit of US$200 to secure your spot.

The Panya Project

About the Instructor:

Since completing his PDC in 1992, John Champagne has been active in many areas of permaculture for 20 years. He established a family property on 11 acres in the Bega Valley of NSW in Australia that today is a demonstration site and one of permaculture's best examples of cool temperate design.

He was the co-originator of the South Coast Field Days in 1995 that was Australia's first public event that focussed on sustainable landuse and living. John was a founding member of BEND - Bega Eco Neighbourhood Developers that established a 21 block housing subdivision on Community Title that utilised permaculture principles throughout the design. He also initiated Transition Towns in his region in 2009 that continues today.

He began teaching Permaculture Design Courses in 2004 and has now taught over 20 in his local area, throughout Australia and recently in Asia.

John's permacultue work these days is as a bioregional strategist. As President of SCPA - South East Producers, he is focused on liaising with Government and community groups toward regional food security initiatives and policy direction. He is currently a Director on the Board of Permaculture Australia.