Courses

Upcoming Courses

For more info visit www.casalinho.com 

This year we are going on another magical mystery tour of courses as we return once again to Casalinho for two courses.

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Please contact us for more information and bookings at fozdacova@gmail.com or call +351932039085

      Our Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) Course

This course is relevant to people from all origins and walks of life.  It includes an in depth understanding of the different applications of permaculture and provides the relevant knowledge and experience for anyone wanting to start a vocation as a permaculture designer.  It is equally appropriate, however, for someone who simply wants to step further into permaculture design in their own lives.  No previous experience is required but we recommend if you have had no previous contact with permaculture and simply want to know what it is you may benefit from doing an introductory course first.  This course is very intensive and involved and can be challenging if you are totally new to the subject. 

We use a wide range of teaching methods to create an engaging environment which includes all participants and their individual learning styles.  This includes practical activities, discussion/constructive debate, games, white board sessions, digital presentations, videos, observation exercises, guided walks and working in groups. 

We start each morning with a short energiser session, including many different activities and games to wake everyone up, get moving, focus and ready ourselves for a day of learning.  Activities include:

·         Yoga/warm-up stretches

·         Different games, to illustrate ideas and to build group cohesion and trust

·         Circus skills

·         Observation/Site walks

·         Meditation/Inward focusing

The course culminates in a two day design workshop and a presentation of the groups’ designs in which participants can illustrate what they have learned.  On completion of the whole course and after this presentation, participants will receive the internationally recognized Certificate in Permaculture Design, accredited by the UK Permaculture association. 

Course Contents:

The course is based on an international syllabus covering the following:

Introductory:

- Permaculture ethics
- Approaches to design
- Guiding Principles of Permaculture
- Biodiversity
- Learning and Study strategies
- Pattern in Design
- Wilderness and wildlife

Cultivated Ecology

- Permanent Pasture
- Forest Gardens
- Horticultural techniques
- No-till cultivation
- Biological pest control

Climates

- Strategies for different Climates
- Micro-climates

Buildings and Structures

- Urban Permaculture
- Appropriate technology
- Waste reduction
- The home and workplace
- Energy efficient planning
- Waste recycling and disposal

Soils

- What is Living Soil?
- Soil regeneration techniques and Soil Conservation

Water in Landscape

- What is Living Water?
- Water conservation, collection and storage
- Waste water and sewage treatment
- Aquaculture

Forests and Trees

- Energy transactions of trees
- Woodland establishment
- Types of forest
- Woodland management

Invisible Structures

- Real Wealth
- Land access
- Formal/informal economy
- Community development strategies

Design Workshop

- Design process and Presentation Skills
- Maps and Overlays
- Surveying
- Project Planning

As well as this, we include many other relevant subjects and a range of practical exercises which aim to give each student a tool kit of basic skills, making them both competent designers and confident in the implementation process of design.

Additional Practical sessions which you may find on our courses

Grafting and pruning
Worm compost 
Sheet mulch &  hugel  beds
Herb spiral    
Portable rocket stove   
Swales
Wild food and medicinal plant walk
Soil analysis
Low maintenance tree planting
Net and pan irrigation



 

  

Our Bio

We have been studying Permaculture since 2006 when we attended an introductory course in Cornwall, UK.  In April 2009 we organised and attended the first Permaculture Design Certificate Course held at Mount of Oaks in central Portugal with Lesley Martin.

Since then we have been creating designs for many different sites in Portugal and the UK and learning constantly, broadening our knowledge and skills base.

Whilst studying for the Permaculture diploma, we gained diverse experience in facilitating Permaculture courses by working alongside various different teachers and have learned many different approaches, techniques and exercises.  We combine this with our previous experience of working with adults and children in both teaching circus skills and care work to make our courses as informative, enriching and supportive as possible.  We accredited as diploma holders in 2011 and are now offering introduction and full Permaculture Design Certificate courses, (certificated by the UK association).  If you would like to read more about our previous courses please have a look at our blog www.nurturingournature.blogspot.com  

Also on this web site you will see a portfolio with examples of our design work and some information about our home and lands in Foz da Cova, a tiny mountain village in the Serra of central Portugal.  When we arrived in November 2011 it was almost totally abandoned and, step by step and with much help and increasing numbers of inhabitants, we are bringing it back to life.

 More information and dates will be updated soon