Full Permaculture Design Course

BOOKING FORM

Terms and Conditions

By purchasing a place on this course, you are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions.

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What can I expect?

A holistic exploration of an integrated, simple and commonsense design approach to low-impact living, through the application and practice of Permaculture Design principles. Discovering how we may meet our needs for food, shelter connection, and fulfillment, in a way that is truly regenerative and joyful.

We also challenge ourselves to explore the big questions of our time, and create space for emotional expression around grief. This course provides a lovely opportunity to meet others who are passionate about sustainability, regeneration, learning from nature, and skill development.

Topics:

• Permaculture Ethics and Philosophy
• Permaculture Principles
• Permaculture Design* - spirals, linking, zone & sector, observation, mapping & surveying, design frameworks, stakeholder Interviews, limiting factors
• Permaculture in action in the home & garden; soil, compost, applying Nature's patterns to growing, green building and energy usage
• Permaculture in action in the community; social permaculture, appropriate technology, permaculture economics, group skills
• Signposting and Next Steps - development pathways

Teaching Methodology

The course is taught through chalk & talk, audio visuals, individual reflective exercises, discussions, and design projects in small groups. You will be given a range of art materials to work with and a comprehensive course handbook with resources and handouts. We aim to teach in a non-traditional way - with more balance in our heart, head and heads.

Community Design Projects

We have a strong belief that 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts' and our design project work is carried out in groups; each student bringing a unique perspective and skillset to the task. We also believe that permaculture can be a powerful tool for empowering and meeting needs within the community. We find 'real life' green spaces in the network of Bristol for our design project sites; ensuring students learn to design within the context of complex, living systems of people and land.

Field Trips

Through visiting a variety of inspiring local projects and people, PDC students see 'permaculture in action' and can begin to identify how permaculture principles can be applied / recognised in healthy, abundant systems. They can also hear from those on the ground the challenges they have/are facing, and what has been helpful for them. This local and 'place specific' wisdom gives students a rich understanding of the larger socio-economic system of Bristol, which in turn supports them in becoming responsive permaculture designers.

Accessibility

Our permaculture tutor Tammi leads a working group on Disability, Accessibility, Inclusion and Equity (DAIE) as her part of her Trustee role with the Permaculture Association (Britain). She is also neurodivergent, and has had chronic health challenges for many years. She is passionate about creating teaching safe spaces and cultures that authentically support individual needs and self expression.

Through our onboarding process onto the PDC, those facilitating the PDC will learn about you and your needs, and be able to take steps to ensure they are met to the best of ability and capacity.

The teaching space/venue is fully accessible by wheelchair, as are the toilets. There is residential on street parking outside of the venue, and parking on site can possibly be pre-arranged if needed.

Where, When & How

Shift Bristol's full permaculture design course is tailored for those leading busy lives, as you join us for weekly evening classes, plus learning and field trips over some weekends.

Accreditation: In order to obtain PDC certification from the Permaculture Association, students must complete 72hrs of study through;

• Attending all Monday evening sessions (or catching up on missed sessions through homestudy if unable to attend)
• Attending a visit to Royate Hill Community Orchard with permaculture teacher Mike Feingold.
• Attending a Mapping Skills day at Worthy Farm (with the option of camping over for the weekend, and partaking in a work weekend at the permaculture area of the Glastonbury festival site).
• Attending 2+ other field trips to local projects demonstrating aspects of permaculture, for a tour, and some additional practicals. Each lasting approx 4hrs with travel time either side.
• Contributing a minimum of 6hours to their group design project.

Dates & Timings

14 x Mon evenings: 6.15 - 9.30pm (Doors open at 6.00 for a cuppa)

• Sept 1 / 8 / 15 / 22 / 29
• Oct 6 / 13 / 20 / 27
• Nov 3 / 10 / 17 / 24
• Dec 1

Weekend dates

Mandatory study days:

• Sept 13 or 14 Royate Hill Community Orchard Field Trip : 10-2
• Oct 11 or 12 Mapping skills Days : 10-3.30

Each student chooses 2 or more field trip days to attend: (field trips are usually organised between 10-2)

• Sept 27 / 28
• Oct 25 / 26
• Nov 8 / 9

Venue : The Pickle Factory, 13 All Hallows Hall, Easton, Bristol BS5 0HH

Costs

• Full Fee: £495
• Part-Concession: £395
• Full-Concession: £295
• Community Group Members rate* £295 (please purchase a full-concession ticket)

Visit the Green Bottle Sliding Scale as a guide to deciding what tier of course fee you should pay. We no longer ask people to prove which tier they fall into, and instead trust students to choose with honesty.

*Anyone coming on behalf of their voluntary / not for profit / charitable community group or organisation can join the course at the full-concession rate. With the intention of sharing their new found knowledge and skills with the rest of their group.

There is also the option to pay for the course fees in installments (over 3 / 6 / 9 or 12 months). Visit here to find out how!

What to bring

• A notepad
• Suitable warm & waterproof clothing and footwear (not flip flops/ugg boots etc) for field-trips.
• Anyone not wearing suitable clothing & footwear on field trips will be asked to leave, as this does not adhere to our risk assessments / insurance criteria.
• We provide tea and coffee refreshments throughout the course, but we encourage students to bring veggie food/snacks to share within the group (please label all ingredients if homemade).

Where next?

The PDC is accredited by the Permaculture Association; each student receives a certificate of completion which is globally recognised within the permaculture community.

Many students go on to create inspiring designs for their own gardens and greenspaces. Others join, enhance and support existing projects and organisations with their new insight and skills. Some even feel confident to purchase land or set up a social enterprise.

We have been teaching permaculture courses in Bristol for almost 20 years, and have a wide network of past students, tutors and practitioners who form our extended 'Shifty' network. We have internal social media groups, which regulary share news and opportunities of things going on in Bristol and beyond. Whatever your passion or idea, we will be able to signpost you to a useful person or resource that will help you on the next stage of your journey.

For those wishing to take on further training and education afterwards, there is the option for signing up to Shift Bristol's Year-long Practical Sustainability Course , running from Sept 2025 to July 2026. Or you may wish to embark on the Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design with the Permaculture Association. Which may lead to a career in teaching permaculture, or becoming a permaculture design consultant.

Permaculture Tutor : Tammi Dallaston

Tammi is a multitalented, dedicated, Permaculture practitioner. Alongside her teaching, she is;

• A Permaculture Association (Britain) trustee; leading a working group on Disability, Accessibility, Inclusion and Equity (DAIE).
• Manager of Field Families (permaculture at events) - which includes the coordination of Glastonbury Festival Permaculture Gardens and permaculture areas at the Green Gathering and Northern Green Gathering. Lead within Dyfi Permaculture - a local voluntary group that meets each month.
• Working for Cambrian Wildwood, a rewilding charity in Wales; Cefn Coch Farm, an agroforestry farm; and CiP - Children in Permaculture.
• Director of Mach Maethlon - a co-op encouraging local food projects in the Dyfi Valley, Wales.
• Founder member of Permaculture Wales (Paramaethu Cymru). Director of Mach Maethlon. Now managing the inception of a community woodland project - Teulu'r Goedwig - near Machynlleth, and Planna Fwyd! community food resilience project.
• One of the founder members of Brighton Permaculture Trust. Former manager of Ragman's Lane Farm. Ex-Chair and trustee of Moulsecoomb Forest Garden Wildlife Project.

Permaculture Facilitators

Rosie Fieldhouse : Introduction and Full courses

Supporting Tammi in running the course will be the very warm and welcoming Rosie.

Rosie has recently completed Shift Bristol's Practical Sustainability Course and feels she has seen "the value and power in small acts with a community as a way of building hope and resilience".

She's a craftsperson and maker, specialising in natural building and traditional heritage crafts and runs workshops for children and adults. She also works as a play worker around Bristol and is curious about how play can be a fundamental way of learning about the world and our surroundings. She often combines play with craft to show people that these traditional crafts aren't just fossils from the past, but sparks for the future to ignite new ideas and engagement.

The Practical Sustainability Course opened up a number of doors including becoming a co-founder of a new community composting scheme; Bristol Living Soil, with Shift Bristol tutor Danny Balla.

Facilitating courses in a new opportunity to apply Rosie's natural aptitude for supporting groups of people to learn in a relaxed and inclusive environment, and she is looking forward to helping others on the journey that she herself has travelled.

Jazz Dennis : Introduction courses

Jazz has recently completed Shift Bristol's Practical Sustainability Course and "has so much love for the community and empowerment in the beauty of our earth that shift creates! I only moved to Bristol to start the course in the Autumn of 2023 and feel like I’ve found my family".

She has a background as a maintenance gardener, and now manages an allotment for Roots on the edge of Bristol. "It’s such a joy to spend my days with my hands in the earth, chatting about growing veg. Spreading the good word of a localised, sustainable food system and sharing what I’ve learnt with shift!"