Introduction to Permaculture

Overview

Students will have access to a PDF of each week's lesson along with any additional support materials as needed. These resources can be accessed at your convenience and a minimum of about an hour will be needed to comprehend the content weekly.

Additionally, there will be a group seminar to practice the key concept(s) from that week, at a time to suit the group. These will be optional, but we encourage attendance so that you can get to know your fellow students.

Participants will need to be familiar with the key concepts before the weekend at Denmark Farm Conservation Centre, which will include practice sessions and site visits to deepen your knowledge of the permaculture design approach.

This course gives a basic but wide-ranging introduction to permaculture as an approach to designing more sustainable and regenerative ways of living and working on the earth. It will give a good grounding in the core elements of a permaculture approach including the ethical framework and values that underpin it; the principles from nature that it draws from; and a design framework for applying these principles. Learners will be encouraged to explore and consider the issues that matter to their own life and work, as well as experiencing practical examples of permaculture in action. The course includes a 2-day fieldtrip to a well-established permaculture site in west Wales, where an experienced designer will provide an insight to the work undertaken as well as guiding and supporting learners in practical investigations and designs of their own. 

This blended-learning course lets you study from home while connecting with a vibrant virtual community of fellow learners. The majority of the course is delivered through Blackboard, our online learning environment, and any live online sessions will be hosted via Teams. The 2-day field-trip will be held in a venue in west Wales. It can be studied as a stand-alone course, and it is also an optional module for the Certificate of Higher Education in Field Ecology at Aberystwyth University. The course is suitable for those with a general interest in sustainable living and design and is the first in a series of courses to obtain the Permaculture Design Certificate accredited by the Permaculture Association of Britain.

Programme

Online Seminar 1: Permaculture Ethics, Inputs and Outputs

Online Seminar 2: Permaculture Principles and Patterns

Online Seminar 3: Observation and the Design Cycle

Online Seminar 4: Mapping, Zones and Sectors

Online Seminar 5: Client and Site Survey

Online Seminar 6: Your Design Project

Field Days:- 

Day 1:  Observation and Fieldwork which will include group exercises in ethics, principles, zones and sectors, client interviews, and soils. 

Day 2: Observation and Fieldwork which will include: microclimates and reading the landscape, using survey tools, a group design exercise, presentations and feedback.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able to:

1. Describe and apply permaculture ethics as a framework that governs and guides all design decisions.

2. Describe and apply permaculture principles as tools to assist in and guide the process of design and decision making.

3. Apply the role and application of zones and sectors in sustainable design.

4. Prepare a simple design for a permaculture project (usually land-based)

Assessments

1. Permaculture Design Project - 2000 words (100%)

Reading Suggestions

Richards, Huw (2025) The Permaculture Garden
Whitefield, P (2010) Permaculture in a Nutshell. Permanent Publications.
Aranya (2012) Permaculture Design. Permanent Publications.

Entry Requirements

This course is for everyone. No previous experience is needed and there are no formal entry requirements. 

What Do I Need?

As this is an blended course, you would need the following:

• Internet access.
• Access to a laptop or computer with a web camera and microphone; the use of headphones might also benefit.

Use of the Chrome web browser where possible.