Course Name: Permaculture Design Course (PDC) – Evening
Course Location: Loulé, Portugal
Duration: July to December 2015
This course is completely free, thanks to the support of the Municipality of Loulé!
Registration is mandatory, and priority will be given to residents of the Municipality of Loulé.
The course is part of the project to revitalize three neighborhoods in the city of Loulé – Bairro Municipal, 56 Fogos, and Santa Luzia. The course is facilitated by André Carvalho, supported by Nuno Mamede Santos and a multidisciplinary team that coordinates the practical parts in occasional workshops integrated into this course.
What is Permaculture? Permaculture was developed in the 1970s by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. The word “permaculture” is a combination of “permanent culture” and “permanent agriculture.” Permaculture focuses not only on how to satisfy our needs as individuals, families, and communities, but also on how to care for the health of nature, its ecosystems, and the different species that make it up.
Permaculture is for everyone. We are part of the solution. In permaculture, we closely observe how nature works, studying the different connections and interdependencies between plants, trees, insects, birds, people, soil, etc. Knowing these connections allows us to make decisions that improve our quality of life and the health of the nature around us. With permaculture, we can optimize our impact and align our creativity with our actions to regenerate nature and our lives.
A new way of looking at the world Recent studies indicate that our negative thoughts affect how our brain functions, causing it to “sleep” the parts of our brain that invent, design, and solve problems. If our minds are overflowing with sad and negative ideas, it becomes very difficult to find solutions to the social, ecological, and economic challenges we face today.
In permaculture, we closely observe nature and how it works. In nature, any disturbance or “crisis” brings with it new cycles, niches, and opportunities for species of plants and animals to thrive. Permaculture helps us do the same with our challenges, to understand the problem and then see the possibilities to solve it. With practice, it becomes much easier to deal with problems and solve them.
Permaculture is multidisciplinary Permaculture is a combination of design, engineering, physics, biology, anthropology, and architecture. Obviously, we do not become “experts” in all of these fields just by studying permaculture, but it is possible to acquire solid foundations in these disciplines while gaining perspectives on how we as human beings fit into this planet. With these comprehensive foundations, we can begin to design around the needs of our lives while creating positive change.
“A good way to predict the future is to design it” Buckminster Fuller, visionary, designer, architect, inventor, and American writer.
Schedule and registration by email info@terracruadesign.pt
And now here are some photos of the course!
