STOCKSCH 186 – 3 credits
February 1 – May 4, 2021
ENROLL HERE
Description: The Introduction to Permaculture Course is a three-credit course that offers students a foundation in permaculture history, ethics, principles, design process, and practical applications. The framework behind the theory and practice of permaculture is rooted in the observation of natural systems. By observing key ecological relationships, we can mimic and apply these beneficial relationships in the design of systems that serve humans while helping to restore the natural world. This course trains students as critical thinkers, observers, and analysts of the world(s) around them, and then goes on to provide students with the tools needed to design for inspired and positive change.
Instructor: Abrah Dresdale, MA, is a cultural artist dedicated to designing whole systems and justice across social landscapes. She is certified in Permaculture Design and holds a Master’s degree in Sustainable Landscape Design and Food Systems Planning from the Conway School. She lives in rural and culturally vibrant Western Massachusetts where she developed and coordinated the nationally recognized, interdisciplinary Farm and Food Systems degree program at Greenfield Community College. She teaches courses on permaculture design, food systems, and social permaculture at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Franklin County Jail, and Omega Institute. Her edible landscape design business, Feeding Landscapes, developed projects ranging from a Public Food Forest for the Town of Wendell, MA, to a “Edible Pathways” project for Sadhana Forest in Auroville, India, to a campus permaculture garden at Wesleyan University. She is founding Director of Regenerate Change, an education and consulting business for social regeneration, and is the author of Regenerative Design for Change Makers: A Social Permaculture Guidebook. She teaches Introduction to Permaculture, and Social Permaculture for Food Justice online courses. More at: www.abrahdresdale.com
If you have questions, please contact Abrah Dresdale at: feedinglandscapes@gmail.com
STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES: The goals for this course include 7 key outcomes. Students will:
- Understand permaculture history, ethics, principles
- Identify connections between social, cultural, environmental, and challenges
- Recognize and analyze patterns found in society and the natural world
- Apply whole systems thinking to problem solving through design
- Observe, analyze, and assess a site to determine its resources and constraints
- Gain knowledge of a rigorous design process
- Learn techniques for clean water, soil, food production, buildings, and economics
- Week 1: Introduction to Whole Systems Thinking
- Week 2: History, Overview, Ethics, Definitions of Permaculture
- Week 3: Permaculture Principles & Niche Analysis
SECTION II: DESIGN PROCESS
- Week 4: Pattern Recognition
- Week 5: Design Process Overview & Goals Articulation
- Week 6: Reading the Landscape: Site Assessment & Analysis
- Week 7: Design: Putting it All Together + A Case Study
SECTION III: TECHNIQUES
- Week 8: Water: Stormwater Management, Water Catchment, Aquaculture
- Week 9: Soil: Composting, Vermiculture, Berms/Swales, Keyline Planning
- Week 10: Food/Vegetation: Edible Forest Gardening, Livestock, Urban Agriculture
- Week 11 Waste: Humanure, Bioremediation, Greywater Systems, Living Machines
- Week 12: Building Strategies: Natural Building, Alternative Energy, Site Location for Efficient Energy, Adaptive Reuse
SECTION IV: INVISIBLE SYSTEMS
- Week 13: Local Economies: Timebanking, Worker-Owned Cooperatives, Local Currency
- Week 14: Building Resilient Communities: Community-Supported Agriculture, Transition Towns, Local Food Systems
Questions about the class may be sent to Abrah Dresdale at: feedinglandscapes@gmail.com
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This class is part of the Sustainable Food and Farming Online Certificate Program and will count toward the Associate of Science degree as well as the Online B.S. degree. Online classes cost $482/credit.
To begin planning for the future, see….
Annual Class Schedule
NOTE: The UMass Sustainable Food and Farming Certificate has been declared eligible for Veterans Educational Benefits. For instructions see: Veterans Benefits.
If you are not interested in earning college credit, there are many non-credited workshops and short courses you can take outside of the university. For a list see: non-university workshops and courses.
