To accommodate majority of students traveling to this class from all over the world, we are offering this course in a new format: Two-week long Permaculture Design Certificate Course (PDC) + an OPTIONAL One-Week Practicum in permaculture applications. See Permaculture Design Course Syllabus here.
This format allows class participants to enjoy a (slightly) more relaxed class schedule, opens up time for occasional exploratory trips to see the region, to take hikes, and to do more hands-on work. Participants are encouraged to enroll in both PDC and Practicum when registering for a complete experience. Drop-in Practicum students are charged higher fees.
In permaculture course, there are short daily on-going small scale hands-on projects in addition to classroom learning. Entire Practicum is devoted to working on the land. All efforts are made to provide attendants with meaningful opportunities to contribute labor while learning, students are not used as source of free labor. In-depth discussion and explanation precedes working on projects; students are informed about design process and all other factors before engaging in the project.
Sample projects for Practicum:
- Composting Toilet Design & Construction
- Building Swales, Check Dams, Coconut Dams and other small scale erosion-control installations
- Building Soils with Micro-organisms, Composting, Mulching, Cover Cropping
- On-contour garden bed layout and building and more....
Permaculture Design Course: February 12 - 26 (arrive to site February 11; leave February 27); there are two days off
Practicum: February 28 - March 4 (leave site March 5)
Upon enrollment we send you a complete package with details, trip logistics(including recommendations on planning your trip), course information, reading materials and more.
PLEASE do not buy your airplane tickets without registering and getting that information first.
We encourage participants to create flexibility in their departure plans. Quite often we see that people end up wanting to stay in Costa Rica following the class. Keep this in mind in making your plans. There will also be a potential option to stay at class location and other local communities following the course; you need to make arrangements directly with the location owners.
PLEASE REGISTER EARLY - CLASSES FILL FAST. Fee includes: instruction, three meals per day, camp-style lodging (in your own tent), field trip transportation; transportation to beach and local waterfall on the days off (two occasions).
Fees DO NOT INCLUDE: transportation from and to airport. There are screened bunk houses available for extra rent, limited space.
LOGISTICS:
Course is offered at the Uvita Tropical Studies Institute location at Finca Carolina in Uvita, 300m elevation on the South Pacific coast overlooking Parque Nacional Marino Ballena. Finca Carolina contains a beautiful river, amazing waterfalls, trails, and views of the Pacific coast from along ridgetop road. Finca Carolina hosts primary and secondary rainforest, mixed species agro-forests, a web of hiking trails, and extensive organic gardens. Wildlife abounds as the farm is surrounded by several large tracts of land in various conservation regiments.
Classes are held daily. Permaculture Design Course is held 9am till 5pm with a generous break for lunch and siesta in midday heat. There are two days off to rest and explore the region. Practicum activities take place in the morning for 4-5 hrs, until the heat of the day sets in. After siesta, students have free time for beach and town time. Since there is an incredible amount of material to cover, we ask that students come prepare to spend a good amount of time in a classroom setting; working on the land and hands-on component starts about midway through the class. Days are full of learning, conversation, contemplation, journaling, classroom time and time on the land. We ask that students come prepared physically and emotionally to be fully present through this experience.
ACCOMMODATIONS:
Please read more about Finca Carolina and town of Uvita HERE. Bunk houses are available for rent; if you wish to camp (with your own gear) there are no additional camping fees. There are ample campsites (camping equipment is required). There are two simple bath houses; dry toilets; and a kitchen house that also functions as community house in the evenings. Building are lovely and simple.
FOOD:
Three meals per day are served in the kitchen house; mostly fruit, veggies, fish, eggs, breads, salads, grains. Meat or fish are served 4 times per week. Occasionally, sweets are served. When ripe, local fruit is gathered and made into drinks/juices.
Raw-food, vegetarians, vegans and gluten-intolerant people are able to find enough food to eat; however you should inform us about your dietary needs and we may advise that you bring snacks to stay happy. However keeping snacks in the tropics is very hard, therefore flexibility and open-mindedness is highly advised. NOTE: all efforts are made to get locally grown chemical-free food (greens are supplied by Finca Carolina + local farmers’ market); HOWEVER this is a third-world country, and students should come prepared to deal with it. For example there is no organic meat, eggs or dairy products. In fact, Costa Rica does not have an equivalent of organic certification process used in the US, so even food labeled organic may be produced conventionally.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:
The course is held in a tropical forest. In addition to all things beautiful, there may be (and will be) such things as: sudden rain, big bugs, red mud, mold, monkeys, ants, slippery trails, thorns and other things that take time getting used to. Mandatory are good quality hiking shoes or their equivalent (closed toes); we suggest rain + sun gear. White and light colored clothing tends to get ruined. List on what to bring is provided upon registration.
Due to high third-party credit card processing fees we will be charging extra on all credit card transactions, to encourage payments by checks.
Non-refundable deposit is due upon enrollment; total fee minus deposit is due ONE MONTH before the class.
Essay shall be submitted at the time of payment, electronically only please. Mail your checks to Permaculture Institute, PO Box 3702 Santa Fe NM 87501 with your full contact information and name of the class; we will confirm with you by email the receipt of your payment.
Space is limited to 35 participants. A non-refundable deposit of $300 will hold your space. Please note, this deposit is non-refundable
LAST DAY TO ENROLL three days before the class start date. This class tends to fill up quickly.
CANCELLATION REFUNDS: We don’t issue program refunds unless the program is canceled by us. Please plan your attendance accordingly!
CONTACT US For additional questions about this program, please contact , or call me at number listed at the very bottom of this page.