12 day – Permaculture Design Course

Foundation Ura Gora invite you to our October 2015:
Intensive Permaculture Design Course (PDC), certified by the Permaculture Association Britain.

DATES: 3rd to 15th October (12 days, full time, with one day off on 9th October)
LOCATION: Project Ura Gora, Strandjer region, South Bulgaria
FACILITATOR: Rakesh “Rootsman Rak”
PRICE: Between €200 and €300* (includes teaching, food, facilities and camping accommodation)
PLACES AVAILABLE: 20 (as we believe 20 is the optimum number of people you can deliver a quality course to, and we aim to deliver the highest quality possible)

*The more people who come, the cheaper the course will be for everyone. Lowest price will be €200 and highest price will be €300. We expect it will fill so we expect it will be €200 each. In the slim chance these is a shortfall (i.e. we do not get 20 people), the shortfall will be covered via a magic hat, so you only give what you can afford.

For any questions, please get in touch with:
Ura Gora Foundation: uragorafoundation@gmail.com
Bulgarian GSM: +359988989512
Rakesh: Rakeshaji@gmail.com

Open your mind to a world of possibility by designing like nature…
Permaculture is sustainable land use aimed at harmonising habitats and creating richly productive food systems.

Food Forests // Water harvesting // Community // Earthworks // Natural Building and much more!

Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment.
If you wish to enrol on the course, please fill in the form and pay your deposit by the end of May.

** follow this link for details of payment system and online enrolment: **
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1nGiFP4nOuHQzENSCyMKobIMb3I0ohCD4cXW3w7G3Pq8/viewform

____________________________________________________

Join us for a transformational experience, acquiring new skills and applying practical Permaculture design and theory. Involve yourself in a community focused on harmonious relationships with our planet and natural systems.

This course not only provides you with the chance to nourish your mind, body and spirit but provides you with the tools to go out into the world ready to design and create with intention, confidence, and a new perspective.
It is a wonderful educational opportunity and investment in your future. On completion you will be a certified Permaculture designer, a qualification that is internationally recognized by the Permaculture community. You will also have the knowledge and practical skills required to immediately begin designing and creating Permaculture projects and sustainable landscapes, for yourself and others.

We are pleased to offer this valuable experience at a very accessible price. The course is led by Rakesh ‘Rootsman Rak’ who not only teaches about alternative community and financial systems, but puts them into action! We are passionate about making permaculture accessible to all and are open to barter and sliding scale payments.
Location

The course will be held in the peaceful natural setting of our community project in Southern Bulgaria. With Camping accommodation and tasty vegan food. We will also have the chance for hiking and relaxing in the local nature.
We are completely off grid, 20km away from the nearest town, and with access from the main road by dirt road. We have compost toilets, solar showers, mobile reception and electricity from solar panels. Our site is vegetarian and no smoking.

This is a great opportunity to experience simple living, close to nature and practise together permaculture in action!
Facilitator

Rakesh Rootsman Rak
Rakesh is an experienced low impact living designer and teacher from the UK, specialising in community resilience, permaculture, creating food forests and low maintenance food growing systems. He has worked as an advisor to several community projects in London and throughout Europe and has taught in many countries around the world. Rakesh has turned his dyslexia to his advantage by developing a talent for observation and hands on learning and teaching methods. At a young age he established a successful computer consultancy and, after achieving financial independence, acquired skills as a homeopath and yoga teacher which he put to use in Ananda Marga humanitarian relief projects in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. Along with Permaculture Rakesh focuses on the human skills of communication and planning so necessary for successful communities.
Website: www.ecologicaldesigns.co.uk

What is Permaculture?
Permaculture is an ecological design system for sustainability in all aspects of our lives. Permaculture teaches us how build natural homes, grow our own food, restore diminished landscapes and ecosystems, catch rainwater, build communities, take care of waste and much more. The word ‘permaculture’ historically comes from ‘permanent agriculture’ and has evolved into ‘permanent culture’ – it is about living lightly on the planet, and making sure that we can live in harmony with nature while sustaining human activities for many generations to come. Permaculture is a rigorous and systematic set of tools, ecological principles and methodologies, underpinned by ethics, which help us to design and create this culture of permanence. A culture that allows us to design how we cater for all our needs and the needs of the planet and all its creatures, without exploiting or depriving others of their needs. The ultimate goal is to create systems that create abundance for all humans, creatures and mother earth. With permaculture insight we can design our inner tranquillity, it can be applied to creating integrated and supportive communities, building or retrofitting houses to be more energy efficient, creating ethical businesses and livelihoods, as well as creating rich abundant low maintenance food growing spaces.

PDC Course Syllabus:
The course is primarily theoretical and will give you an overview of the permaculture ethics, principles and approach to challenges. You will be given a comprehensive yet simple set of tools, which you can use and adapt to any design scenario (buildings, food growing, economics, community, etc). We will do practicals and hands-on work, which richly emphasise and reinforce the patterns and concepts that are applied in permaculture.

Principles of Natural Systems
Sustainable Design Methodologies
Patterns in Nature, Culture and Society
Reading the Land & Understanding Natural Processes
Large Scale Land Restoration Techniques
Water Harvesting Techniques
Design Principles of Sustainable Human Settlements
Grey Water Recycling
Natural Building Strategies
Cultivated & Productive Ecologies
Food Forests, Plant Guilds, Gardens for Self-Sufficiency
Energy Conservation Technologies
Appropriate Technologies and Renewable Energies
Urban Environment Permaculture
Wildlife Management and Biological Pest Control
Community Activism
Invisible Structures: People, Community, Economics, EcoVillages
Creative all inclusive decision making for communities and group projects
Community Supported Agriculture
Strategies for an Alternative Nation
At the end of the class, students engage in a group design project.