Jul
27
to Jul 28

Create Your Own Food Forest!

Surround yourself by beauty, biodiversity and an abundance of food, medicine, fuel, building materials, and more through the ancient art of food forestry.
This workshop will take us through all the steps you need to create your very own urban or rural food forest: design, plant guilds and types, planting technique, succession,  soil fertility, low maintenance planning, and transitioning your yard from lawn or garden into a thriving food forest! All students will receive a master handout of plants for food forests in our bio-region.
Friday night will be in-class theory and Saturday will be hands-on as we install a small new food forest in the Cranberry community.

When: Friday July  27 6:00 – 9:00 pm & Saturday July 28, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Where: Cranberry Community Hall

Cost: $60.00 (subsidies available)

To Register: Email theurbanfarmer@shaw.ca by July 24th
For More Information: Call 604 223 4800 or email above

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Apr
21
10:00 AM10:00

Restoring Paradise in a (Post) Pulp Mill Town

Through a unique community permaculture partnership, the Anglican parish of St. David and St. Paul’s in Powell River, BC has transformed its outdoor space and its inner life while generating an abundance of food, biodiversity, community connection, reconciliation and renewed spiritual practise honouring all of creation. Rev. Ron Berezan will share the story of this process and how permaculture, creation care and liturgy can be dynamic and restorative partners.

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Food, Farms & Forests 2018
Feb
11
to Feb 26

Food, Farms & Forests 2018

Cuba: Food, Farms and Forests 2018 will provide a unique opportunity to explore Cuba’s organic revolution in a manner not normally available to tourists. In close partnership with key Cuban organizations in the organic agriculture and permaculture movements, we will have direct access to the heart of Cuba’s organic transformation.

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Apr
4
10:30 AM10:30

Food Forests for Colder Climates

Forest gardening is an ancient approach to creating diverse perennial plant systems that provide an abundance of food, medicine, fuel, building materials, biodiversity and beauty for generations. Find our how you can transform your urban yard or rural property into a forest garden including the best species for colder climates..

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Apr
4
10:00 AM10:00

Got Permaculture? Local and global examples for creating community, fostering food security and transforming the world!

Keynote Speaker at the Modern Homesteading conference, Fairview College, Fairview Alberta. Permaculture offers us an incredible path towards reweaving ourselves into healthy relationships with the Earth and with each other. Together we will explore some powerful local and global examples of permaculture in action for community resilience and ecological restoration.

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Apr
3
2:30 PM14:30

Backyard Biochar - Creating Sensational Soil and Saving the World!

Biochar is a specialized form of charcoal used for thousands of years around the planet to create some of the most fertile soils ever known. Biochar also shows great promise for carbon sequestration, sustainable energy, and waste diversion. Learn how biochar can bring your soil to life and how you can use local waste materials to make it in your own back yard!

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Holistic Health Cuba 2016
Nov
21
to Dec 1

Holistic Health Cuba 2016

Experience Cuba’s world-renown holistic health
and organic agriculture!

Holistic Health Cuba 2016 will provide a unique opportunity for you to explore and experience Cuba’s organic agriculture and holistic health movements in a way that is not normally available to tourists. Working in close partnership with Cuban organizations in the health and agriculture sectors, we will have direct access to leaders on the cutting edge of Cuba’s agro-ecology and alternative health movements. You will not only learn about these movements, you will experience them directly!

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Apr
3
11:30 AM11:30

Edible Forest Gardens for Cold Climate Gardeners

Forest gardening is an ancient approach to creating diverse perennial plant systems that provide an abundance of food, medicine, fuel, building materials, biodiversity and beauty for generations. While forest gardening has traditionally been more common in the tropics, the past few decades have seen versions of this practice multiplying throughout the temperate and colder regions of the planet. Find our how you can transform your urban yard or rural property into a forest garden including the best species for the Prince George region.

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Apr
3
10:30 AM10:30

Backyard Permaculture: Creating abundance wherever you are!

From its humble beginnings in Australia 30 years ago, permaculture has blossomed into a growing movement supporting families and communities all over the world. Through following ecological design principles we can create resilient systems that provide an abundance of food, water, energy, bio-diversity and beauty with much less work than traditional gardening approaches. This workshop will explore how to bring the wisdom of permaculture into your yard, acreage or farm in the Prince George region.

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Permaculture Design Cuba 2016!
Feb
8
to Feb 29

Permaculture Design Cuba 2016!

  • Experience the incredible resilience of the permaculture and agro-ecology movements in the heart of Cuba!
  • Gain the knowledge and the skills to support the critical needs of your family and your community!
  • Earn your internationally recognized Permaculture Design Certificate!
  • Work hand-in-hand with an amazing group of international learners and passionate and inspiring Cuban permaculture leaders!

Over the past 8 years, I have had the great privilege of facilitating 19 different permaculture and organic farming programs in Cuba for over 300 Canadians and others. Each one of those programs have been a tremendous learning experience and have resulted in deep connections between ourselves and our inspiring Cuban partners. The agro-ecology and permaculture movements in Cuba continue to broaden and deepen and Cuba’s example to the world of how we can and must create a more humane and ecological food system is more important than ever! I am very happy to share with you the information for the Permaculture Design Cuba 2016 program planned for February 8 - 29, 2016.

While most visitors to Cuba spend their time enjoying Cuba’s wonderful beaches and rich vibrant culture, they do not have the opportunity to become intimately connected with the visionary people at the heart of Cuba’s local food transformation. By working side by side with Cuban permaculture leaders, this program opens the door for us into this fascinating movement and into the lives and hearts of our many Cuban friends. 

Please take a moment to have a look at the attached brochure. You will note that this program offers you an internationally recognized Permaculture Design Certificate as well as a rare cultural immersion into Cuban life and society. I am very pleased to be working once again with Canadian permaculture teacher Javan K. Bernakevitch who will be the co-facilitator of this program for the third year in a row. Thanks to our longterm Cuban partners and colleagues, we have another amazing program planned for February, 2016.

Last year our program filled up within a few weeks and we had more than a dozen folks on a back-up list. Register soon and receive a $300 “early-bird” discount off the cost of the program.

I couldn’t imagine a more interesting time to be travelling to Cuba with such an interesting new chapter unfolding in the country’s incredible history. I hope you may be able to join us this year for this wonderful adventure!

“Ron and Javan did an amazing job of leading this program. The warmth, resilience and innovativeness of the Cubans we met really blew me away and humbled me. I came away equipped with new ways of thinking, a big tool box of ideas and methods, and a network of amazing people that will inform and influence what will play out in my life.”
— Naomi DeVille, 2015
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Oct
25
11:00 AM11:00

Make Your Own Biochar!

Biochar is a form of charcoal created with high heat in a very low oxygen environment. It has been used for centuries as one of the most effective soil amendments known (ie Terra Preta soils in the Amazon) and is currently being explored around the world as a carbon sequestration strategy. This workshop will lead you through the simple steps of creating your own DIY small scale biochar cooker made from a paint can, a coffee can and a few other items.

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Mar
14
10:30 AM10:30

Build Sensational Soil With Biochar!

Biochar is an ancient form of mixing a specially prepared charcoal with organic nutrients to create some of the richest soils known anywhere on the planet. These soils are highly fertile, resistant to  erosion, and hold a tremendous amount of water. They also sequester a fantastic amount of CO2 from the atmosphere.  Learn how you can make and apply your own biochar here in Powell River,  and get free energy at the same time!

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Jan
27
11:00 AM11:00

The Real Black Gold - Growing Soil Fertility in Small Spaces!

When dealing with urban yards or smaller rural properties, we may have limited space to devote to creating our own soil amendments. Fear not!  From bokashi to biochar, intensive  hot compost piles  to EM, there is plenty we can do to generate incredibly vibrant, fertile living soils wherever we live. Come and find out how!

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Nov
24
to Dec 3

Pre-IPC11 PDC - International Permaculture Convergence

The Permaculture Design Course (PDC) is internationally-recognized, has 72 class hours and a very comprehensive curricula and on completion students will receive a Permaculture Design Certificate. It provides an introduction to Permaculture design according to Bill Mollison, the founder of the movement. The PDC is the base for further Permaculture work and study, including Advanced Courses and Diplomas. Several universities of the world give credits for this course.

As is tradition, one special Permaculture Design Course is offered before the begining of the main IPC event. This time, in Cuba, an international group of teachers will run a bilingual course (Spanish and English) and highlight the following elements:  Islands, cities, food systems, and energy towards building hurricane proof Permaculture Urban Systems. The course also includes the application of Permaculture principles to food production, home design, construction, energy conservation and generation, and explores alternative economic structures and legal strategies that support sustainability.

With the added benefit for the students to live and work together for 15 days before the main IPC11 events start, this course is also aimed to develop practical skills and reinforce collective vision about the challenges that Climate Change pose for our communities, especially the small tropical islands of the planet. The Cuban Permaculture movement has also made improvements to the sustainable chemical free intensive urban food systems that have been in operation in the country since the early 90´s and made Havana famous. Visiting some of our model sites is also part of the course.

Many people that pass a PDC say it is a life changing experience!
NO previous Permaculture Training is required.

 

About the teachers:

Ron Berezan, The Urban Farmer, Canada
Ever since his first "accidental garden" as a university student over 25 years ago, Ron has been exploring strategies for growing food in urban areas.

Brock Dolman, USA
Brock is a co-founder of the Sowing Circle, LLC Intentional Community & Occidental Arts and Ecology Center (www.oaec.org), where he directs the Permaculture Program and the WATER Institute (www.oaecwater.org) in Sonoma County, California.

Roberto Pérez Rivero, Cuba
Environmentalist, sustainability activist and educator. Roberto has been part of the Cuban Permaculture Movement since its introduction in the country in 1993.

Paulo Mellet, UK
After 10 years as an environmental activist, Paulo decided to focus solely on the positive solutions to our problems: Permaculture.

Eric Toensmeier, USA
Eric Toensmeier has spent twenty years exploring edible and useful plants of the world and their use in perennial agroecosystems. He is the author of Perennial Vegetables and co-author of Edible Forest Gardens with Dave Jacke.

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20130330182339/http://www.ipc11cuba.com/en/pre-ipc11-design-course.html

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