2012 Courses, Workshops & Events

Following is a listing of our previous and featured courses, workshops, and events both produced by Living Mandala and by our affiliated partners and friends. If you are interested in working with Living Mandala to produce or promote a course, workshop, or event contact us.

For Upcoming Courses, Workshops, & Events Click in Permaculture, Ecovillage Design, Sustainable Living Skills, & More Click Here.

For 2014 Courses, Workshops, & Events Click Here.

For 2013 Courses, Workshops, & Events Click Here.

For 2012 Courses, Workshops, & Events Click Here.

For 2011 Courses, Workshops, & Events Click Here.

For 2010 Courses, Workshops, & Events Click Here.

For 2009 Courses, Workshops, & Events Click Here.

For 2008 Courses, Workshops, & Events Click Here.

FREE WEBINAR

With Starhawk

Tues, Dec 18, 5 - 6:30 pm PST

Magic and permaculture are both based on the understanding that all life is connected. Yet connecting with the people in our circles is often the hardest part. Co-creative and collaborative groups can be empowering and inspiring, but they face unique challenges. So often we come together full of enthusiasm, only to founder on the rocks of conflict and poor communication. Drawing on insights from both permaculture and magic in her latest book, The Empowerment Manual, Starhawk will explore how the principles of ecological design apply to people-care as well as gardens.  When we learn to work together more skillfully, we can be even more effective agents of change. Read More.

Chichen Itza

Yucatan, Mexico

December 20 - 23, 2012

When buying ticket, insert Promo Code XM2012 for Free Gifts!

Synthesis 2012 festival is a global gathering, world music festival and spiritual celebration in Piste pueblo and Chichen Itza in the Yucatan. This 2012 festival will occur at the end of the Mayan Calendar on Dec 20th to 23rd this year. We will arrive on the 20th and participate in the global gathering on the Winter Solstice on the 21st. The Synthesis 2012 festival team is working directly with the local Mayan people, event producers in Mexico to produce this historical event. Imagine yourself here at Chichen Itza in the Yucatan with the Mayans and thousands of others at the dawn of the new age and cycle this December. Read More.

Embodying Authentic Community

January 4 - 16, 2013

Peruvian Amazon Rainforest - The Paititi Institute

As we take our first breaths in 2013 it is time to take active steps in rethinking how we live on this planet together. What does it look like to intentionally co-create healing human communities that are rooted in healthy relationships between humans and nature, humans and humans, and humans and spirit? It is our experience and understanding that being deeply rooted in personal relationship with spirit and understanding of our place in the cosmos, aided and accelerated by indigenous ancestral plant medicine ceremonies, allows for transformational personal and cultural healing and empowers the emergence and creation of vibrant communities. How does relationship with spirit, with indigenous ancestral plant medicine ceremonies and with deep commitment to healing one’s self and the planet empower the creation of vibrant communities? Read More.

Jan 6 - 20, 2013

Cazadero, N. California

This unique permaculture design certificate course has an additional focus on earth-based spirituality, organizing, activism, and social permaculture. Learn how to heal soil and cleanse water, how to design human systems that mimic natural systems,  how to use a minimum of energy and resources to create real abundance and social justice.  Explore the strategies and organizing tools we need to make our visions real, and the daily practice, magic and rituals that can sustain our spirits.  This course is participatory, hands-on teaching with lots of ritual, games, projects, songs, and laughs along with an intensive curriculum in ecological design. The course is facilitated by facilitated by Starhawk, Erik Ohlsen, and a host of special guests. Read More.

Embodying Authentic Community

16

Wednesday, Nov 28, 6:00 - 7:30 PDT

What does it look like to intentionally co-create healing human communities that are rooted in healthy relationships between humans and nature, humans and humans and spirit? Join us for a conversation to explore community creation and sustainability from transcendent awareness to the most practical realities faced by ecovillage projects around the world. This webinar will be facilitated by Gregory Landua - lead facilitator for the Shamanic Ecovillage Design Course - a powerful and deep dive into community being hosted at the Paititi Institute in Peru from January 4th - 16th. During the webinar Gregory will provide insight into functional community models around the world, common pitfalls faced by aspiring Ecovillages, powerful embodiment and communication practices that can help create the communities we want to live in everyday where we live now, and how traditional indigenous wisdom can help point the way towards the emergence of a new culture of connection and regeneration.  Read More.

Food Forest Gardens: Growing an Ecoystem of Abundance

Featuring John Valenzuela

Thurs, Nov 29th, 6:30 - 9 pm 

The Venture Greenhouse

San Rafael, California

Imagine a forest where every single tree is dripping with fresh fruits and ripening nuts, every shrub is packed with delicious berries, and every other plant is a medicinal herb, culinary spice, or beautiful edible flower. Tubers and root crops are abundant underfoot, gourmet mushrooms sprout in the shade, and hardy kiwi vines climb back up through the layers of this multi-functional forest of food. During this evening presentation, we will learn about this amazing gardening technique known as food forest gardening with veteran food forester, educator, and passionate horticulturist John Valenzuela. This presentation will also highlight lesser known rare fruits, perennial vegetables, and plants specific to the California Bay Area and Marin County. Come get introduced to how you can transform your yard, park, neighborhood, or world into a thriving, edible, regenerative landscape! Presentation will also include a fruit tasting of some of the Bay Area's finest in season. Read More.

Foundational Training for Spiritual Joy and Life Mastery

Nov 24 - Dec 1, 2012

Twain Harte, California, U.S.

As a participant in this extraordinary experience you will be guided through a process of spiritual awakening and personal empowerment which has changed the lives of thousands in countless countries. Initiation reaches far beyond everyday structures and experiences, as it is based on the tradition of spiritual initiations still found among indigenous populations. Throughout the week, as ancient ritual teachings are combined with contemporary therapeutic methods, Peggy Dylan and the SUNDOOR Trainers create a spiritual environment that brings you to the purpose and focus of your life and allows that which heals, empowers and guides you to emerge. Eliminate past negative patterns which keep you stuck in inadequacy and fear. Gain scientific understanding of the process of personal development and achievement. Crystallize a sense of purpose and learn the tools necessary to fulfill it. Align with boundless, universal energy to guide and propel you to personal mastery. Join Initiation and gain the understanding, the tools, the vision and the inner magic to make your life what you desire it to be! Read More.

SUNDOOR School of Transpersonal Education

Twain Harte, California, U.S.

Dec 2 - 8, 2012

Since the beginning of humankind, people have revered fire and have used it in ceremonies of purification, healing, initiation, and transformation. In many countries the ancients firewalked in powerful rituals of renewal. FIREWALKING has been practiced for thousands of years by indigenous peoples across the globe in a variety of manners to utilize the immense power of fire. In the Firewalk Instructor Certification Training you are taught all the intricate details that make the firewalk such a powerful tool for transformation. This training is the world's longest consecutive running and most comprehensive Firewalk Instructor Certification Training available, and will qualify you as a SUNDOOR Firewalk Instructor. This course will give you all the information, skill, tools, support and the network you need to successfully incorporate the firewalk into your own workshops and events, as well as be a very powerfully transformative experience on a personal level. Read More.

Earthworks, Watershed Design, & Food Forests

Oct 16 - 19, 2012

GreenFriends Farm - Castro Valley, California

This course a rare opportunity to learn key earthworks, watershed design, reforestation, and food forest strategies from an experienced veteran in the field on an amazing broadacre permaculture demonstration site in the heart of California’s rolling landscape. Earthworks construction, reforestation initiatives, or food production projects can be a rewarding investment in your property and for your family, community, and bioregion. Improving the functionality, restoring ecosystem health, enhancing aesthetic appeal, and increasing the value of your landscape are all realistic and achievable potential outcomes. However, it can be intimidating to undertake large projects like ordering heavy machinery onto your property, or designing and installing a large food forest orchard. Getting it wrong can be discouraging and very expensive. This course will give you the knowledge, practical experience, and confidence to get the design and implementation plan of your earthworks and follow-up strategies right the first time around. Read More.

Northern California Permaculture Convergence

Building Bioregional Resiliency

Green Friends Farm, San Ramon, CA

Oct 12 - 14, 2012

The Northern California Permaculture Convergence (formerly the Bay Area Regional Permaculture Convergence) is an annual event which brings together permaculture designers, sustainability enthusiasts, and communities in Northern California, the West Coast, and beyond for a weekend of intensive focus on a common goal: to design sustainable habitats, in accordance with nature, for humans, plants, animals, our greater bioregion, and the Earth at large. Practitioners across a wide-spectrum of skill-sets exchange ideas through concurrent workshops and discussions ranging from organic agriculture and wildcrafting to natural building and appropriate technologies; from environmental remediation and disaster preparedness to community dynamics and global justice. In addition to a plethora of workshops and amazing speakers on a diversity of topics, there will also dedicated areas for skill sharing, collaborative discussions, children's activities, educational displays, and specialist vendors. Participants will have opportunities to socialize, network, and connect with others in this field through meals and the activities listed above. Read More.

Creating Community Models for the New Culture: Ecovillages, Co-Housing, & Intentional Communities

Featuring Kate Bunney, Gordon Davidson , Corinne McLaughlin, & Raines Cohen - Thursday, Oct 4th, 6:30 - 9:00 pm 

The Venture Greenhouse

San Rafael, California

During this presentation and panel discussion we will explore models for Community living in the form of Eco-Villages, Co-Housing, and Intentional Communities. What are effective models for community ownership of land.... for governance and decision making... for community living... for land stewardship?We will hear a featured presentation by Kate Bunny from Tamera - one of the longest running and most renowned ecovillage communities in the world who have been pioneering new models of sustainable and deeply peaceful existence between the human being and the world. We will also hear from other panelists from co-housing and local intentional communities. Read More.

An Immersive Conference

About Living In Community

Sept 21 - 23, 2012

Social Change Summit & Workshop Intensives: Sept. 24-25

Westminster Woods, Occidental, California , U.S.

On the weekend of Sept. 21-23, Art of Community is once again being hosted in the beautiful coastal redwoods of Occidental, CA. A unique conference experience, AoC offers a wealth of opportunities for building and practicing skills of a cooperative culture and for sharing ideas and knowledge about creating and living in intentional communities. Inspiring people to purposefully engage in place-making is central to this year’s AoC vision. A wide range of talented and inspiring facilitators gather to offer workshops in good group process skills such as conflict resolution and decision making models, cooperative games, cooperative land ownership, regional community organizing, and much more. Scroll down for a listing of workshops and presenters. Casual and facilitated networking sessions will be available for helping each other plan and strategize for growing the Communities Movement and strengthening collaborative connections. Read More.

With Applied Permaculture Design

Backyard, Family & Commercial Systems

Sept 13 - 16, Santa Rosa, CA  

Aquaponics is one of the most sustainable and productive farming systems in the world. It combines Aquaculture and Hydroponics to create a truly self-sufficient closed loop system that uses only a fraction of the water, labor, energy, etc. that other methods use. Combining Permaculture Design with Aquaponics creates an even more sustainable, dynamic, productive & regenerative system. In this intensive training you will learn some of the most cutting edge pioneering aquaponics systems and gain a solid foundation from which to create your own Aquaponics System, Farm & thriving Green Business appropriate to your climate, ecology, dreams, & desires. Read More.

Advanced Permaculture Course

With Tom Ward

September 8 - 13, 2012  

Atlan Center, Nester Peak Rd., White Salmon, WA

Basic surveying and layout are essential skillsets for every farmer, homesteader, designer, and consultant. In this six-day course (Sept. 8-13), Tom Ward teaches the use of many types of analog (non-battery operated) surveying tools, along with advanced skills in keyline, pond and swale layout, mapping skills, and other core competencies for design and execution of permaculture projects. Students will become familiar with swale, terrace, ditch and pond layout, profile cross-section drawing, keyline and trail system locating, solar assessment, ditch and wiggle water way layout, small cabin orientation and pad layout, staking, note taking, and compass and map reading.  We will use telescope-like devices and other hand tools such as sight levels, pocket transits, builders levels, A-frames and various vertical measurement rods, as well as measuring tapes and wheels.  The course will include flagging for trails, swales and ponds, as well as observations on the landscape with mapping of topographic, ecological, and cultural data. Read More.

Sustainability Can Save Humanity from Itself

With Dr. Kevin Danaher

Thursday, Sept 6th, 6:30 - 9:00 pm 

The Venture Greenhouse

San Rafael, California

The Ecological Leadership Series is a monthly networking event held at the Venture Greenhouse featuring an amazing speaker on cutting-edge ecological and social technologies. With a green entrapranuial focus, the series will host renowed leaders, pioneers, and experts in various topics from permaculture, sustainability, ecovillage & community design, watershed restoration, aquaponics, holistic organizational design, and other potent stradegies that can transform people and the planet. This talk and presentation by Dr. Kevin Danaher will detail solutionary policies and business models that are revolutionizing the enterprise model. Read More.

An Ancient/Contemporary Soul Quest

July 30 - Aug 6, 2012

Mount Shasta, California

We invite you to join us in Mount Shasta to co-create this most personal, powerful, integral and gentle of soul-ceremonies integrating dance, sweat-lodge, Peruvian medicine sacrament, community circle and soul-dialogue with solo-questing in nature.  Come to the land in humility and beauty to open, to listen and to receive.  The "Quest" is a universal expression of the human longing – and need – to come face to face with the Truth, to align our lives with Purpose, to heal suffering and fear, and to step forward in our lives from a point of initiated clarity and self-trust.  When you pray in this way, you receive the True Voice of soul and spirit that is awakens when you whole-heartedly give thanks, when you deeply own what you most want, and when you ask for help -  surrendering to that which is greater than yourself. Read More.

Creating Resilient Mentors, Village & Community

August 6 - 12, 2012

Santa Cruz Mountains, California

The Art of Mentoring is a week-long, experiential, nature based program designed to help us remember these old ways and learn to apply them to our modern communities. Guided by a team of experienced leaders and facilitators from around the world, Art of Mentoring participants come together to experience, learn from and co-create a joyful, engaged learning community. You will walk away with tools and embodied practices of regenerative community design, mentoring techniques, deep nature connection, and an amplified passion for learning. Our hope is to activate and inspire you to create healthy communities right in your own back yard! The course is taught through group experiential activities, lectures, storytelling, and music. We will be both indoors and outside exploring in the field. Deep in all of our roots, there are stories of our ancestors living in healthy, regenerative communities—villages where people of all ages were in deep relationship with the land, each other, and themselves. Read More.

Permaculture Design Certification Course

July 10 - 26, 2012

Peruvian Amazon Rainforest - The Paititi Institute

The goal of the course and the center is to share how we can live and be in a more sustainable and harmonious relationship with nature while creating a supportive, self sufficient and nurturing community around us. In collaboration with international experts in Permaculture and indigenous Shamans of the Peruvian Amazon, we will immerse ourselves into one of the most bio-diverse regions on the planet. Entering the Amazon, we will experience deeply how we are interconnected to this magnificent organism, earth. We will study Permaculture design while learning to truly be in relationship with ourselves. The course will intertwine three main areas of experience: Earth Wisdom. Body Wisdom, & Universal Wisdom. Read More.

Solutions for a Thriving New World!

Three Months of FREE Virtual and Live Events!

March 26 – June 22, 2012

Join us for the Spring of Sustainability - Three Months of FREE Virtual and Live Events with world-class sustainability pioneers Empowering You to Connect, Collaborate and Create a Sustainable Community and World! The Spring of Sustainability begins Monday, March 26th, and ends Friday, June 22nd. You can join the Summit at any point, and will have free access to all of the live recordings as well as to the online recordings during the replay window. For an entire season, you’ll gather insights and tools to help you co-create a thriving and sustainable world! Produced by The Shift Network in partnership with the Sustainable World Coalition, the Spring of Sustainability is the world’s largest-ever sustainability events program! Read More.

with Palika from

Mama Earth Matters

Saturday, May 19, 9 am - 6 pm

Polcum Springs, Laytonville, CA

Become a Bee Guardian! This intensive focuses on a holistic eco-systemic work- with-nature approach to beekeeping and does not perpetuate destructive commercial beekeeping philosophy and practices. Learn the regenerative (beyond sustainable) honeybee ecology and hive culture, basic handling safety and hive management, what where and how of tools, where to get bees, easy installation and how to harvest honey inexpensively. We will be installing a bee colony during the workshop - weather permitting, and will have alternative hives on display. A showing of "Queen of the Sun" will happen on Friday night at 7pm, with Friday night camping and accommodations available. $125 or $100 if pre-registered by May 10. Lunch will be available for sale, or bring a bag lunch. For more info & to register, contact Alison at alison@polcumsprings.net, 707.972.1364.

With Applied Permaculture Design

Backyard, Family, & Commercial Systems

May 25 - 28, Santa Cruz, CA  

Aquaponics is one of the most sustainable and productive farming systems in the world. It combines Aquaculture and Hydroponics to create a truly self-sufficient closed loop system that uses only a fraction of the water, labor, energy, etc. that other methods use. Combining Permaculture Design with Aquaponics creates an even more sustainable, dynamic, productive & regenerative system. In this intensive training you will learn some of the most cutting edge pioneering aquaponics systems and gain a solid foundation from which to create your own Aquaponics System, Farm & thriving Green Business appropriate to your climate, ecology, dreams, & desires. Read More.

& The Transition Challenge

May 12 -13, Month of May, 2012

Sonoma County, California & Across the United States

On May 12th & 13th, 2012 thousands of people across Sonoma County will rise to the challenge to create more sustainable, resilient communities by participating in the 350 Home & Garden Challenge! The 350 Garden Challenge was inspired in part by the 350.org's international campaign to find and implement solutions to climate change. Building upon the incredible success of 628 garden actions in 2010 and 1,044 home and garden actions in 2011, our goal this year is to inspire 2,012 actions to grow food, conserve water, and save energy. From small to large, every action counts. Together, we can become more food and energy independent, and build our communities stronger, healthier, more beautiful, and more resilient! Read More.

Introduction to Aquaponics With Applied Permaculture

Max Meyers & Hannah Apricot

Wednesday, May 2, 6:00 - 7:30 PST

Whether you are a beginner, a backyard hobbyist, a homesteader, or a skilled professional wanting to grow more food sustainably and for less work, Aquaponics has something to offer. Aquaponics combines Aquaculture and Hydroponics to create a more self-sufficient, closed-loop system that uses only a fraction of the water, labor, energy, etc. that other methods use, while producing up to 10 times as much food! Learn more about Aquaponics in this hour plus long webinar hosted by Hannah Apricot and featuring Max Meyers. Join Max, Hannah, to learn more about this amazing approach to food generation, green business opportunity, and sustainable design practice. For More Information and to Register for FREE, Click Here.

Beginner to Intermediate Mushroom Cultivation for Home, Garden, & Farm

Saturday April 28, 1 - 5 pm

Golden Nectar Farm, Windsor, CA

Join us for a presentation, hands-on workshop, and interactive dialogue exploring the world of fungi, their powerful role in ecosystems, and how to cultivate edible and medicinal mushrooms at your homen, garde, or farm! We will introduce participants to fungal biology, mycelial applications, and mushroom cultivation tecniques. Learn simple and proven techniques to grow edible and medicinal mushrooms in your backyard such as shitake, reishi, oyster, lion’s main and many others!  Also learn how mushrooms can be utilized to restore damaged soil and ecosystems. Participants will leave with mushroom kits that will enable them to grow edible mushrooms at home! Read more.

Holistic Permaculture Design Course

March 3 - 19, 2012

La A’kea, Puna, Big Island, Hawaii

The Aloha ‘Aina Holistic Permaculture Design Course will include the standard 72-hour permaculture design curriculum based upon the original Mollison and Holmgren ideas and design philosophies published in The Permaculture Designer’s Manual, as well as be a nourishing retreat and hands-on immersion experience of sustainable living ecovillage design. In addition to the standard permaculture design certification curriculum, we recognize permaculture as an expanding, holistic design philosophy encompassing many fields. Accordingly, this permaculture design course will include and integrate additional content and activities such as nature awareness, indigenous wisdom, embodiment practices, inner work, group process, ecovillage design, hands-on, and more. With a focus on tending the inner, outer, and community landscapes... course participants will work with each other and local community residents on tangible design project scenarios to implement positive transformation within themselves and in the local community. Read More.

in the Heart of Bodhgaya, India

25th March to 8th April, 2012

Sikkim House / Monastery, Bodhgaya, India

Learn all about sustainability and receive your Permaculture Design Certificate in the setting of the sacred city of Bodghaya and its many monasteries, pilgrims and seekers who travel from all over the world to this place of the Buddha’s Enlightenment. Do hands-on projects, face challenging exercises, do a permaculture design, and learn about the many facets of creating a sustainable lifestyle while benefiting the local community and the efforts for sustainability in Bodhgaya. This is a full immersion experience that will change your outlook and your life forever, as you begin to build a life of resiliency. Read more.

Building Resilient Communities for a Post-Carbon World

February 17-19, 2012

Santa Rosa, California

As we face the challenges of peak oil, climate change, and economic contraction, the Transition movement (Transition initiatives) is a positive approach that focuses on local solutions and building community resilience. Training for Transition is the popular, in-depth experiential workshop created by the global Transition Network. The course describes how to set up, run, and maintain a successful Transition initiative. It is packed with imaginative and inspiring ways to engage your community, and delves into both the theory and practice of Transition that has worked so well in hundreds of communities around the world. It meets the training criteria recommended for local initiating groups to become an internationally recognized Transition initiative. Read More.

Permaculture Design Certification Course

February 7 - 23, 2012

Peruvian Amazon Rainforest - The Paititi Institute

The goal of the course and the center is to share how we can live and be in a more sustainable and harmonious relationship with nature while creating a supportive, self sufficient and nurturing community around us. In collaboration with international experts in Permaculture and indigenous Shamans of the Peruvian Amazon, we will immerse ourselves into one of the most bio-diverse regions on the planet. Entering the Amazon, we will experience deeply how we are interconnected to this magnificent organism, earth. We will study Permaculture design while learning to truly be in relationship with ourselves. The course will intertwine three main areas of experience: Earth Wisdom. Body Wisdom, & Universal Wisdom. Read More.

An Intensive Course With Dr. Elaine Ingham

February 6-10, 2012

MA Center, Castro Valley, CA

There is a whole world under the soil – and no one knows this cast of characters better than Elaine Ingham! Elaine is one of the world’s leading soil microbiologists, with 30 years of experience researching and teaching and an easy and enthusiastic style that brings the soil food web to life. Elaine literally wrote the book on compost teas: The Compost Tea Brewing Manual. Healthy soil has all the interconnected elements of a “web” – which can retain nutrients, cycle nutrients into the right forms at the right rates for the plant desired, build soil structure, suppress disease-causing organisms, protect plant surfaces, produce plant-growth-promoting hormones and chemicals, and decompose toxic compounds. In this course, you’ll look at the elements of a healthy soil food web, learn how to analyze and improve your own soil, and learn how to make composts and extracts to strengthen the soil food web. The course will cover the soil food web, soil food web analysis, composts and compost extracts, and the use of microscopes. Read More.

Jan 7 - 21, 2012

Cazadero, N. California

This unique permaculture design certificate course has an additional focus on earth-based spirituality, organizing, activism, and social permaculture. Learn how to heal soil and cleanse water, how to design human systems that mimic natural systems,  how to use a minimum of energy and resources to create real abundance and social justice.  Explore the strategies and organizing tools we need to make our visions real, and the daily practice, magic and rituals that can sustain our spirits.  This course is participatory, hands-on teaching with lots of ritual, games, projects, songs, and laughs along with an intensive curriculum in ecological design. The course is facilitated by facilitated by Starhawk, Erik Ohlsen, and a host of special guests. Read More.

For Upcoming Courses, Workshops, & Events Click in Permaculture, Ecovillage Design, Sustainable Living Skills, & More Click Here.

For 2011 Courses, Workshops, & Events Click Here.

For 2010 Courses, Workshops, & Events Click Here.

For 2009 Courses, Workshops, & Events Click Here.

For 2008 Courses, Workshops, & Events Click Here.