Geoff Lawton Advanced Permaculture Intensive

Courses, Workshops & Events

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

Home | About Us | Contact Us | Store

2008, Living Mandala
creative services by: 360 Degrees

Including

PERMACULTURE EARTHWORKS

WATERSHED DESIGN

SURVEY & ASSESSMENT

DESIGN CONSULTANCY

DAMNS, PONDS, SWALES

RIPARIAN STRATEGIES

FOOD FORESTS & AGROFORESTRY

HANDS-ON EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

& MUCH MORE

In Association With

GreenFriends Farm

Common Vision

Facilitators & Instructors

Geoff Lawton

Nadia Abu Yahia Lawton

Course Description

This course is a rare opportunity to learn key earthworks, watershed design, reforestation, and food forest strategies from an experienced veteran in the field on an amazing broad-acre 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.

Course Details

In 4 days, you will learn the basic theory and practice of Permaculture Earthworks, Watershed Design, Food Forest & Agroforestry including site design, survey, and analysis; directing earthmoving machines to establish dams, swales, terraces, ponds etc; watershed design and restoration techniques; and designing and implementing reforestation, agroforestry, and food forest projects accordingly. This course will blend theory with hands-on practical application in the context of a real life project and landscape of GreenFriends Farm. Many of the existing broad acre permaculture projects and strategies being implemented on-site were influenced and initiated by Geoff Lawton 3 years ago, and have since taken flight. This course will be a wonderful opportunity to learn from Geoff as we survey and assess the conditions, goals, and success of these initiatives, and determine the best strategies moving forward.

Individual Day Description

Though the course is a progression and we highly recommend taking the entire course if possible, it is possible to sign up for individual or multiple days. Though the schedule is not exact, over a period of 4 very full, informative days... we intend to cover the following.

Day 1 (Tues, Oct 16): Broad-acre Earthworks & Watershed Design

During the first day of the course will be an overview of Permaculture Earthworks and Watershed Design Strategies, with a focus on Survey and Assessment. How do we approach a site or a client to determine what tools and strategies are available, and which will be most appropriate and effective? Where do we begin? How do we use those tools to determine our design? Throughout this 4 day course, GreenFriends Farm will be the Client. We will walk through the process with Geoff to survey, design and implement strategies best appropriate to the site, ecology, and climate, and learn much in the process.

Day 2 (Wed, Oct 17): Earthworks Design & Implementation

During this second day we will continue and go more into depth in Permaculture Earthworks such as: Roads, Damns, Swales, Ponds, keyline design, and more. We will also have an Earthworks machinery on-site, and intend to learn hands-on and implement some of the strategies we determine.

Day 3 (Thurs, Oct 18): Watershed Restoration - Upstream Strategies

It is said that “the health of your watershed depends on the percolation and depth of your soil upstream”. What are strategies to make best use of these underutilized and often neglected spaces? During this day we will continue to go more in depth on Earthworks & Watershed design with a focus on upstream strategies and Watershed Restoration such as: Riparian and Gully Strategies, Check-Damns, Gabions, Spring Cultivation, Reforestation, and more.

Day 4: (Fri. Oct 19): Food Forests & Agro-Forestry

During the final day of the course, we will turn the focus to planting strategies, reforestation, agroforestry, and food forests. Now that our Earthworks and Watershed Design plans are underway... what are we going to plant and how do we integrate this with all the other components of our design? GreenFriends Farm already has an amazing reforestation project and a detailed, large orchard in place, which provide an excellent landscape and learning environment. Topics will include, selecting appropriate plant guilds and food forests; designing ecological corridors in existing systems, creating microclimates; designing for the Intersection of production, food forests, & agroforestry; deer protection and wildlife integration; integrating grazing plans & animals; phasing and succession of evolution, and more.

Topics to Include:

Site Design Upstream Strategies

Surveying Check-damns & Gabions

Professional Consultancy Reforestation

Design Process Agroforestry

Directing Earthworks Machinery Spring Cultivation

Small-scale Earthworks Food Forests

Dams, Swales, & Terraces Plant Guilds

Pond Installation Microclimates

Keyline Design Wildlife Integration

Roads Ecological Corridors

Riparian and Gully Strategies Integrated Grazing Plans

About GreenFriends

GreenFriends is a global grassroots environmental movement that promotes environmental awareness and participation at the individual and community levels in activities aimed at preserving our precious environment. GreenFriends’ baseline philosophy is that we should strive to preserve and protect our environment because not only does nature provide us with resources we need to sustain ourselves, but she also sustains all life forms on earth. GreenFriends advocates that each one of us strives to reawaken our awareness of unity with all of creation, and cultivate an attitude of love and reverence towards nature. Developing love for nature will lead to a change in our attitudes, helping us work together towards restoring the harmony between humanity and nature that has existed throughout the ages. For More information visit: http://greenfriends.org

GreenFriends: A Global Environmental Movement

In the United States, GreenFriends’ main activities include tree planting, organic food production using organic farming techniques, a plastics project, solar energy and beekeeping. GreenFriends is a satellite project of the humanitarian organization Embracing the World (ETW). ETW is a member organization of the United Nations Billion Tree Campaign. Since its inception in 2001, GreenFriends has become a global environmental movement with thousands of members of all ages in the United States, Europe, Australia and Japan working together to preserve the environment through local participation in GreenFriends projects.

skill sets and is being applied towards areas such as business, government, economics, group process, social systems, and inner work.

Geoff Lawton Advanced Permaculture Intensive

Earthworks, Watershed Design, & Food Forests

Oct 16 - 19, 2012

GreenFriends Farm - Castro Valley, California

Tuition

We are offering this course for less expansive than most of Geoff’s international courses of comparable size and content, as well as opening up individual days, with the intentions to make it as available to as many people as possible. Though the course is a progression and we highly recommend taking the entire course if possible, it is possible to sign-up for individual or select days. Sliding Scale Tuition Below.

Abundance Tuition: For those who chose to stand in their success and support the good work and valuable offering of this course, and scholarships for others to attend. - $750.00

Standard Tuition: This is still lower tuition than most of Geoff's comparable courses internationally! Your support helps us make this course possible. - $695.00

Supplemented Tuition: For those of lower income households. - $625.00

Early Bird Available to the first 10 participants who register and pay in full before Sept 18. - $595.00

Couple’s, Group, or Business Partner Discount: For couples, families, business partners or group discounts for businesses or organizations who register together.$575.00

NorCal Convergence Participants, Students: Discount for those who register and attend any part of the NorCal Permaculture Convergence - Oct 12-14 (or students in need) - $565.00

NorCal Convergence Participants Early Bird: Special Discount for those who register and attend any part of the NorCal Permaculture Convergence - Oct 12-14. Available to the first 15 participants who register and pay in full before Sept 18. - $525.00

Day 1 (Tues, Oct 16): Broad-acre Earthworks & Watershed Design - $160

Day 2 (Wed, Oct 17): Earthworks Design & Implementation - $160

Day 3 (Thurs, Oct 18): Watershed Restoration - Upstream Strategies - $16

Day 4: (Fri. Oct 19): Food Forests & Agro-Forestry - $160

Two Days Only: Any Two Days, your choice - $325.00

Three Days Only: Any 3 Days, your choice - $475.00

* Tuition includes lunch, snacks, & teas.

To Register Click Here.

Special Discounts for Convergence Participants!

We are offering a special discount for those who attend any part of the Northern California Permaculture Convergence, happening the weekend before this course from Oct 12-14, at GreenFriends Farm. Geoff Lawton will be one of the keynote speakers at the Convergence, along with a host of other speakers and workshops as well.

About the NorCal Permaculture Convergence

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. For more information Click Here.

Meals

A vegetarian lunch and snacks will be prepared with love daily.

Refund Policy

Cancelations before October 2nd will be given a full refund minus a $75 processing fee. No refunds are given after Oct 2nd, but may be credited to a future course with Living Mandala within the next 2 years. (Not all courses apply).

Scholarships & Worktrade

Limited Scholarships and worktrade opportunities are available. For more information please email: education@livingmandala.com

Lodging & Transportation

Participants are responsible for booking their own lodging, hotel rooms, and coordinating their own transportation to and from the GreenFriends Farm. Hotel room costs in San Ramon or Castro Valley range from $40/night to $120/night. If you require assistance with finding lodging email us and we will send you a list of local hotels and online hotel booking options to assist your room search. We are looking into local camping options as well, and may have some available soon.We also recommend looking to book a room locally on “Air Bed & Breakfast”

Site Details - M.A. Center/GreenFriends Farm

M.A. Center is the U.S. headquarters of international humanitarian & India Saint - Amma. www.embracingtheworld.org. The beautiful 180 acre grounds of the M.A. Center & GreenFriends Farm are becoming a demonstration & educational hub of leading permaculture, holistic management, and regenerative design practices.

Site Projects Include

•500 plus tree orchard & food forest
•Dynamic watershed restoration
•Broad-acre land contouring & water infiltration
•Keyline patterning & ploughing
•Native reforestation & agroforestry
•Holistically managed grazing
•Soil food web management
•Solar energy
•Community garden & orchards
•Sustainability & spirituality programs

Keyline Plowing in the M.A Center Orchard

Keyline design is a collection of design principles, techniques and systems for developing urban and rural landscapes. The orchard expansion project recently started using keyline plowing methods as part of its array of cultivation techniques. Keyline plowing is a method that strives to connect points of equal elevation to prevent water erosion. Keyline design is a technique used to optimize the beneficial use of water resources in a parcel of land and refers to the specific topographic features of a particular parcel of land as related to water flow. Keyline plowing can help reduce costs and amount of labor required.

GreenFriends Projects

Since its inception, GreenFriends has made a tremendous impact on the environment by planting more than 1 million trees globally since 2001. Other GreenFriends projects found around the world include permaculture, building eco-friendly dwellings, promoting the use of Efficient Micro-organisms (EM), preserving land and water ecosystems, and recycling/reducing waste. To reconnect people with nature, GreenFriends also conducts workshops, nature retreats and group meditation in forests and other natural settings.

Contact

For questions and more information regarding the course

e-mail: education@livingmandala.com or

call: (707) 634-1461

To Register Click Here.

Instructors & Facilitators

Geoff Lawton

Geoff Lawton is one of the top International Permaculture designers, teachers, and consultants in the world today. He holds a diploma in Permaculture design, and is a consultant on projects across the globe. Since 1995 he has specialized in permaculture education, design, implementation, system establishment, administration and community development. In 1996 he was accredited with the Permaculture Community Services Award by the permaculture movement for services in Australia and around the world. Since 1985, Lawton has undertaken a large number of jobs consulting, designing, teaching and implementing in over thirty countries around the world. Clients have included private individuals, groups, communities, governments, aid organizations, non-governmental organizations and multinational companies. Lawton's aim is to establish self-replicating educational demonstration sites. He has currently educated over 6,000 students in permaculture worldwide. Lawton's 'master plan' is to see aid projects being replicated as fast as possible to help ameliorate the growing food and water crisis.

In October 1997 Bill Mollison, upon his retirement, asked Geoff to establish and direct a new permaculture research institute on the 147-acre (0.59 km2) Tagari Farm. Lawton developed the site over a period of three years and established The Permaculture Research Institute as a global networking centre for permaculture projects. The institute is a non-profit company limited by guarantee. It is currently located at Zaytuna Farm at The Channon in Northern NSW, Australia where Lawton is managing director. The institute has since founded PRI USA, which is a registered charity - a tax-exempt organization under §501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Other permaculture research institutes that have been launched or are in the process of being launched include: PRI Jordan, PRI Canada, PRI Chile, PRI Turkey and PRI Afghanistan.

Nadia Abu Yahia Lawton

”I was born in the Dead Sea Valley in Jordan. I learned traditional ways of land use from my father, an expert farmer and herbal healer of Palestinian, Bedouin descent. I completed my PDC in the Dead Sea Valley in 1999 then proceeded to work on the "Green the Desert" project and establish permaculture women's groups and school projects with this work as reference I went on to complete my permaculture diploma in design, education and site development and registered as a permaculture teacher in English and Arabic with the Bill and Lisa Mollison's permaculture Institute of Australia.

I now live in The Channon in Northern New South Wales, Australia at Zaytuna Farm the home of the Australian Permaculture Research Institute. Since 2003 I have been working with PRI as and international permaculture teacher, consultant and aid worker.

I feel privileged to have been born in a third world country with so much practical skills I have inherited to share and to live and work in many first world countries with so much appropriate technology I have learnt to understand.

My passion is to give people hope that there is a better way we can all live and share all our skills and advantages with permaculture design.”

Affiliate Organizations & Sponsors

Become a sponsor of this course!

For details email: affiliates@livingmandala.com

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