Term Challenges

Aardwerk: PDC course in 2012

This post comes to you from Cultura21

Netherlands (Special Municipality of Sint Eustatius)
Aardwerk: PDC course in 2012

For the time from the 1st of May to the 21st of May 2012, Aardwerk offers an international PDC course in a remote place, so that participants are able to see their environment in a new way. Instead of offering ready-made solutions, the course enables its participants to face the everyday challenges as well as the long term challenges they are faced with through their own strenghts and the collective intelligence of the group. The courses aim is to provide a new way of thinking: Rather than seeing problems, participants will be able to see opportunities.
Creative teaching methods and lots of practical field work will be part of the course. In the end graduates will receive the internationally recognised PDC certificate, which opens all possibilities for further work concerning permaculture.
There is the offer of several volunteer positions at local organic farm and nature management projects, for participants who would like to stay longer.
Benefits for participants is the development of skills throughout the course, among others the following ones:

  • greater food sovereignty
  • food and drinking water security & quality assurance
  • more efficient use of natural resources
  • energy security
  • more sustainable an resilient community life
  • practical community development & social cohesion
  • teaching traditional culture, knowledge & skills
  • more autonomy and security in essential services, products and materials
  • ways of social organisation that suit your own community’s needs and abilities

Participants will learn that following the patterns of Nature is  more satisfying and rewarding than e.g. switching Nature off and taking on the burdens of providing ecosystem services.
Furthermore the participants will contribute their share for Statia in terms of climate forest, local food security, healthy economic development and cultural enrichment.
The detailed programme, information about the location and the teachers can be found on http://aardwerk.org/school/international-pdc-2012/
Registration will be open from 1 December 2011 till 1 April 2012.

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