​Our Permaculture Design Course is your gateway to a world of sustainable possibilities.
'Take action and create the world you want'.
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Immerse yourself, for two weeks, on a 30 year old permaculture property, with the designer, John Champagne.
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John, who has taught over 50 PDC's and leads this course and is joined by a number of guest presenters all experts in their fields.
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Information is delivered in a variety of styles including lectures & powerpoints, hands-on exercises and design group work.
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Two days of site visits around Bega and Cobargo demonstrates permaculture principles applied to many scales including suburban backyard, family rural acreage, eco-neighbourhood development, small business enterprise and social enterprise.
Features of the course
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Design Skills Focus
With 50 Permaculture Design Courses (PDC) completed, John has developed a course strucutre that culiminates in you working on the design of a property and practicing permaculture design techniques with some of the most experienced designers and practitioners to support you.
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You will learn from design to detail. We start with the principles of permaculture and how they can be used in all aspects of your life before moving to the detail – when, why and how to apply them ethics, principles and strategies is thoroughly covered.
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We have taught students across the world, from many cultures and bio-regions and we know that this solid grounding allows PDC graduates to return to their life confident in designing systems that work.​
You learn how to get your design onto paper from one of the leading permaculture designers in Australia. Aaron Sorensen is recognised for his exquisite and practical design work throughout Eastern Australia. With accredited design skills behind him, and teaching qualifications, as well as a strong artistic bent, he will teach you how to design no matter what the situation
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Great Teachers
All of our teachers have authentic, real life experience
​​​​​​​​​​John Champagne is with you from the beginning to the end of the course.
Our other teachers all have experience, enthusiasm and passion for permaculture. We are fortunate to have the likes of Aaron Sorensen, Thea Constantarids, Dean Turner,,Callum Champagne and Ben Buggy to draw from in our local area, as well as other guest teachers and site visit hosts
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All of our teachers are Permaculture Design Graduates who bring with them a wealth of real life experience in permaculture
Your teachers are more than teachers. They all have strong community involvement and connections built over many years of volunteering and passing on permaculture skills and knowledge for a diverse range of organisations in our communities -to us permaculture is more than a business.​
Creative teaching techniques are used throughout the course ensuring we meet the needs of different learning styles, the information is best retained and that each section of the course is new and exciting.
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Fully Immersive
"We are one of the few courses in NSW which offers the traditional, fully immersive Permaculture Design Certificate Course experience"
We offer face to face learning over 13 days on a 30 year old Permaculture Designed property.
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We believe that a fully immersive 13-day program is the best way to absorb the learning, as it provides a unique opportunity for bonding with others while empowering yourself .
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Site visits
We spend three days of seeing permaculture in action on site visits.
Everyone learns in different ways and and has different visions for their permaculture future. We know that visiting, talking to and experiencing the way others are 'doing' permaculture is the equivalent of "a picture is worth a thousand words".
Site visits are often identified as one of the highlights of the course.
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What we cover in our Permaculture Design Course
All Permaculture Design Courses are based on Bill Mollison’s book ‘Permaculture: A Designers Manual'.
At Brogo Permaculture Gardens we use this curriculum and also incorporate the work of David Holmgrean and Rosemary Morrow as well as our own experiences over nearly 30 years together with proven examples from around Australia and the world to demonstrate the effectiveness of permaculture.
Topics include:
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Origins, Development, Ethics & Principles of Permaculture
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Climate, water, soils & trees.
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Pattern Understanding
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Design Methods & tools for creative design and process.
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Food Production systems, urban to rural scale & animal integration.
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Aquaculture
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Appropriate Technology.
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Designing for different climatic zones & disaster mitigation strategies.
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Energy Efficient Housing & Eco-Village design.
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Bioregional & Local strategies for community resilience
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The course has a theoretical basis ( so bring your books and pens) which is supported by practical exercises and experiences (so bring your boots, hat and water bottles) and fun (so bring your sense of humour!)
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Cost
The price for the course is $2000 per person.
Couples or friends booking together the price is $1900 pp.
The investment includes a copy of Rosemary Morrows new book "Earth Restorers Guide to Permaculture' valued at $75.
This price covers the following catering: simple breakfast, morning and afternoon teas, lunch. Dinners will be prepared by small groups of participants from food supplied by participants.
Accommodation costs are minimal and reflect the cost of setting up and maintaining facilities.
Options are Bed in house (1 double bed available @ $20 pp pn), Belle tent (1 double bed @ $30pp pn), tentsite (bring all your own sleeping gear @$10pp pn)
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A deposit of $300 pp must be paid when booking and the final payment made 6 weeks ahead of the course date or earlier. You can make arrangements to pay for the course over time.
Accommodation and Catering
Accommodation will be camping onsite or you can book, at your own expense, accommodation in the area. You can also travel to the site daily if you live locally. There are limited bedrooms in the house which can also be booked.
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If booking a camping site you will need to bring your own tent, sleeping gear etc.
Camping at Brogo Permaculture Gardens will allow you to fully immerse yourself in the natural beauty of the property. You'll wake up to stunning views each morning and be surrounded by the sounds of nature. It's the perfect setting to disconnect from the stress of everyday life and connect with the natural world.
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Facilities and accommodation will basic at Brogo Permaculture Gardens, and we are keeping the numbers lower for this reason. Bathroom facilities will be basic, and showering every day will not be an option (although there will be showers available for more limited use, and both the Brogo Dam and Brogo River are 10 minutes away to swim in).
A simple breakfast will be provided each day. Additional breakfast needs should be brought with you.
Morning teas, lunch and afternoon tea will be provided and coffees and teas will be provided with these.
Dinners will be prepared by small groups of participants from food supplied by participants.
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​Brogo Permaculture Gardens Refunds Policy
We appreciate that there can be legitimate reasons for plans changing and you may not be able to attend the course.
If you notify us :
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at least 30 days prior to the commencement of the course, your options are: a refund of your course fee, less an administration fee of $100 or a credit of the amount paid towards any future course organised by Brogo Permaculture Gardens
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14-30 days prior to the course commencing your options are: a 50% refund of the course costs (note that if you have paid less than 50% of the total course costs there will be no refund)​
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Refunds + credits are not available within 14 days of a course commencing.
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If we have to cancel for any reason a full refund will be paid.
We live permaculture....and have done for over 30 years