PERMACULTURE & ORGANICS
SKILLBUILDING IMMERSION
- an internship style course at Tui Community, Golden Bay,
Aotearoa/New Zealand
6 WEEKS: Sun 24 SEPT - Sat 4 NOV 2006
This is a very practical hands-on course where
participants put directly into practice in-situ on Tui land what they
learn theoretically. Teaching style is interactive, energizing and
fun. It is a balance of head, heart and hands! The main tutors are
Tui Community residents, Robina McCurdy and Huckleberry Leonard. For
their backgrounds, check out their website:
www.greenworld-earthcare.org
>From time to time, other residents of Tui Community and Golden
Bay may also tutor in their specialized fields.
The course includes covering the standard international two week
Permaculture Design curriculum, spread in an integrated way over the full
duration, culminating in a main design project, applied near the
residential area. A permaculture Design Certificate (from Earthcare
Education Aotearoa) will be issued. For newcomers to Permaculture,
this is a very grounding way to learn it 'in your bodies'. For
participants already holding the Permaculture Design Certificate, this
will be an excellent refresher, with the possibility of also doing a
little tutoring. During the course, participants will be given guidance
in the designing of their own properties/a property of their choice, and
will be given research to do in this respect, in advance of the course.
Course programme broadly covers:
- organic
growing (emphasis on vegetables),
- rural
land management (eg orchards, pastures, trees),
- permaculture
design & implementation
- intentional
community integrated land-use (this community being one of the models
amongst many)
- personal
& community development/empowerment,
- bioregional
wildcrafting, outdoor adventuring & nature connection.
The home-base for this residential course is in the Tui Treefield - a
separate cultural & education area in a land-based community operated
by a Charitable Trust. The Treefield is a purpose-created outdoor
events field, with kitchen-dining room area, shower-toilet facilities,
two gathering centres/classroom spaces, plus some tipi, dome &
caravan accommodations.
Internet access will be provided, and there is an excellent library of
relevant books available. To find out more about Tui Community and Tui
Trust, visit:
www.tuitust.org.nz
It is planned for the first two weeks of the course to happen elsewhere than Tui, with the first few days in a retreat type situation to begin building our learning community and establish the basis of learning, followed by a tour of Permaculture and organic properties in the top of the South Island.
Whilst on Tui, the course will operate Monday to Friday, and every alternate Saturday morning. The rhythm of each day would be shaped somewhat as follows:
Early Morning: Community-building time & introduction to theme of the day
Mornings: Outdoor hands-on learning
Early Afternoon: Own time/self study
Mid Afternoon: Indoor tutored session on the theme of morning's practical activity
Some Evenings: relevant slideshows, videos, cultural experiences.
Number of Participants: 8 - 12, full time.
Cost: Aiming to be affordable. Course is still being budgeted.
This is the first course of its kind on Tui, and so is somewhat of a pilot for us. However, the organiser has had substantial experience through running the year long course 'PLANET Organic', in Golden Bay in 2002 and 2003, and is applying the learnings from that to create this new programme. We plan to run this course twice a year, and possibly to increase its duration. For further information, contact Robina McCurdy: robina@win.co.nz Phone 03 5258399