Including

PERMACULTURE & ECOVILLAGE CURRICULUM

INTEGRATIVE ECO-SOCIAL DESIGN

HANDS-ON ACTION-LEARNING

SOCIAL PERMACULTURE

DYNAMIC GOVERNANCE

ANIMAL SYSTEMS & FOOD FOREST GARDENING

NATURE AWARENESS & INDIGENOUS WISDOM APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY

EMBODIMENT PRACTICES

INNER ECOLOGY

SONG, CEREMONY & MUCH MORE

Hosted By

Rancho Sol y Mar

Instructors

Kay Cafasso

Keith Zaltzberg

Jay Markert “(Jay Ma)”

& Guest Instructors from Rancho Sol y Mar

* Take a Sunny Get Away this Winter

* Learn Hands-On Skills to Change the World!

* Get Your Permaculture Design Certification

at an Eco-Destination Center in Tropical Paradise!

Course Summary

This Permaculture Design Certification Course builds on the standard 72-hour PDC curriculum with special attention on the design process, site assessment skills and personal sustainability.

Studying permaculture at Rancho Sol y Mar, a working sustainable ranch and retreat center, offers you the opportunity to learn from and interact with mature, existing regenerative living systems AND help design and build new systems using permaculture strategies and techniques.

Course Description

This Permaculture Design Course will include the standard 72-hour permaculture design curriculum based upon the 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 ecovillage living. In addition to the standard permaculture design certification curriculum, 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. For a more detailed description of course contents and instructors see below.

What You’ll Get

The practicum of this course will be focused on the design and installation of a Perennial Food Forest and its supporting systems.  Working with a design team, you will:

1. •GAIN Design Skills & Strategies for any Climate Zone
   

2. •LEARN Ecological Systems & Tools for Creating Sustainable Abundance
   

3. •UNDERSTAND Patterns in Nature for Resilient Design
   

4. •CREATE Food Forest Gardens & Agroforestry Systems
   

5. •ACQUIRE SKILLS in Renewable Energy, Natural Building, Water Harvesting & Soil Building
   

6. •NOURISH Yourself With Nutritious Meals, Yoga, & Nature Immersion
   

7. •PARTICIPATE in animal husbandry (goats & chickens)
   

8. •PRACTICE personal sustainable living skills to renew and replenish the earth.
   

9. •EXPERIENCE Village, Community, Song & Ceremony
   

10. •HANDS-ON Food Preservation, Fermentation, Cheese Making & Much More!
    

During class time we will integrate the methods of storytelling, slide shows, films, discussions, hands-on design activities, and more. Spend free time enjoying the beach just a few paces from our classroom, walk on the trails at Rancho Sol Y Mar, take a yoga or meditation class, enjoy evenings of dancing, swimming, permaculture movies, dinner in a nearby fishing village, and more!

Topics Include

What is Permaculture?

Photos from previous Living Mandala Permaculture Courses

To View Photos of Previous Living Mandala permaculture Design Courses Click Here.

Contact

For more information email mexicopdc(at)livingmandala.com

Or Call: (530) 918-8675

Tuition & Registration

1. •Early Bird: $1475 U.S - Available until Jan 1, 2015. Includes course instruction, camping, and 3 delicious, nutritious, and locally grown meals a day for the duration of the course.
   

2. •Standard Course Tuition: $1610 U.S. Includes course instruction, camping, and 3 delicious, nutritious, and locally grown meals a day for the duration of the course.
   

To Register for the Course Click Here.

Lodging

Standard lodging is camping on-site at Rancho Sol y Mar. Participants need to bring their own tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad. Other room and hotel options are available nearby in the town of Tehuamixtle and can be booked privately for an additional cost. Tehuamixtle is a beautiful fishing village of about 100 people, tucked into a rocky headland, and with a calm, swimmable beach. TehuaMixtle has 1 hotel, private room rentals, and a cooperative of guest cabañas at El Cielito, which we recommend if you are wanting your own private cabin style lodging. For more information and assistance with local lodging options contact: ranchosolymar@gmail.com

Venue - Rancho Sol y Mar

Rancho Sol y Mar is a 40 hectare ranch (100 acres) working, off-grid ranch, sustainability education center (Sustainability Sol y Mar) and commercial campground located two hours south of Puerto Vallarta on set in the hills over-looking a glorious beach on the Pacific Coast of Mexico near Mayto in what can be adequately described as paradise.

The ranch is comprised of a nice mix of pasture and hills (lomas). There are three main lomas that have beautiful views out over the beach, with a couple more secondary ones with limited ocean views. There is also a lovely seasonal aroyo running the length of the property from the back road out through to the beach.

At Rancho Sol y Mar, we use the power of the sun to create electricity, heat, pump and recycle water, run electric fencing, as well as cooking and dehydrating the organic foods we grow! We have chickens, horses, a mischievous burro, an equally mischievous dog, and a rollicking herd of happy goats from which we produce artisanal cheeses. We build with adobe, compressed earthblock, cob, stone, and other natural, locally sourced building materials.

Local Area - Mayto, Mexico

Mayto, at this point in time, is paradise (www.MaytoMex.com), and has seen almost no commercial development. Currently the beach at Mayto has several small hotels and guest houses.

Five minutes from Mayto (population approximately 200) the town of Tehuamixtle, a beautiful fishing village of about 100 people, tucked into a rocky headland, and with a calm, swimmable beach. TehuaMixtle has three restaurants, 1 hotel, and several rooms to let out. There is also a cooperative of guest cabañas, El Cielito, about ten minutes away. Tourists from Vallarta are rapidly discovering the area.

Siesta and Rejuvenation

Class time in this PDC will be intellectually stimulating and rigorous, however, our course schedule during this holistic learning event also includes time for you to rest, recuperate and integrate all you’ve been learning.

During Daily Breaks:

1. •SWIM in the Ocean & look for Grey Whales
   

2. •RELAX on the Beach
   

3. •HIKE Beautiful Trails
   

4. •RIDE Horses in the Jungle
   

5. •ENJOY a Yoga or Meditation Class
   

6. •EXPLORE the Tropical Gardens
   

7. •SIESTA in a Hammock
   

8. •EAT delicious meals, coconuts, and local tropical fruit
   

9. •DINE in the Nearby Fishing Village
   

Extra-Curricular Activities

1. •Horseback riding in the Jungle
   

2. •Guided Nature Walk with local herbalist
   

3. •Boat trip with snorkeling and/or fishing
   

4. •Day trip to the the renowned Puerto Vallarta Botanical Gardens
   

5. •Help release of Baby Turtles into the Surf at Sunset!
   

The Permaculture Design Certification Course (PDC):

A Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) signifies that one has completed a 72 hour design course, a study of the ethics, principles, and design practice of Permaculture. It means the holder of the certificate is the holder of a profound toolbox of permaculture techniques, strategies, solutions, resources, and skills.  Students will be guided through a permaculture design process, from client interviews and site analysis of their design site, through the phases of generating a whole systems permaculture design. Upon completion of this course one will receive an internationally recognized Permaculture Design Certificate. This course will be over 100 hours, and include the minimum 72 PDC Curriculum plus additional topics.

Ecovillages & Intentional Communities

Over thee last 60 years, the international Ecovillage and Intentional Communities movement has birthed communities all over the world and connected together communities that already exist or have existed for thousands of years. Some of these communities include eco-towns like Auroville in South India, the Federation of Damanhur in Italy and Nimbin in Australia; small rural ecovillages like Gaia Asociación in Argentina and Huehuecoyotl in Mexico; urban rejuvenation projects like Los Angeles EcoVillage and Christiania in Copenhagen; permaculture design sites such as Crystal Waters, Australia, Cochabamba, Bolivia and Barus, Brazil; and educational centres such as Findhorn in Scotland, Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, Earthlands in Massachusetts, large networks like Sarvodaya (11,000 sustainable villages in Sri Lanka); EcoYoff and Colufifa (350 villages in Senegal); the Ladakh Project on the Tibetian plateau;  and many more.

internationally, we are on the brink of a back to the land and back to community movement.

Where is your local water source, food source, and community?

To Register for this Course Click Here.