Ecovillage and Permaculture Certificate Programs (EPCP)

This link provides information about our winter, summer, and fall courses.

Winter: November 30 – December 13, 2006 Summer: June 18 – August 10, 2007 Fall: TBA, 2007

In addition to a full permaculture design certificate course, this dynamic residential program provides a holistic introduction to social permaculture, ecovillage design and implementation, and community living. Most Universities offer students upper division credit, through program participation.

Subjects include: * Organic Agriculture: Understanding soil composition, watersheds, swales, water catchment, and conservation, biological control agents, native plant guilds, annual, biennial, and perennial cycles, and other natural rhythms, patterns and biological relationships.

* Natural Building: Looking at international design and selecting appropriate models to suit a given climate, we work with cob, straw bale, earthships, living roofs, passive solar and other techniques.

* Appropriate Technology and Renewable Energy: Designing to maximize efficiency through energy conservation and retention. We explore passive and active solar, micro-hydro, wind, bio-diesel, rainwater catchment, and grey water systems.

* Eco forestry: Harvesting food, energy, and medicine, while restoring damaged forest lands and monocrop tree plantations to diverse and productive systems.

* Site Analysis & Design: Working with raw, developed, and semi-developed land to create home, garden, and village infrastructures, in harmony with the surrounding environment. Overview of zoning, permits and land-use laws.

* Social Permaculture: Learning through dynamic personal growth workshops, communication skills, consensus and other decision making processes.

* Community Living: Exploring Ecovillage economics, employment, education, self-government, health and wellbeing, and many other aspects of day-to-day life in community.

* Instructors and Presenters include***:

• David Holmgren, Ecologist, writer and co-originator of the permaculture concept.

• Diana Leafe Christian, Author, ecovillage formation instructor, editor of Communities Magazine.

• Rick Valley, International permaculture instructor, nursery operator, Lost Valley Land Steward.

• Tree Bressen, Group facilitator, consensus trainer, founding member of Eugene's Walnut St. Coop.

• Mark Lakeman, Founder of City Repair, Co-Organizer of Portland's Village Builder Convergence.

• Toby Hemenway, Author Gaia's Garden, former editor of Permaculture Activist.

• Rob Bolman, Founder of Maitreya Ecovillage, Co-Organizer of NW Permaculture Gathering.

• Melanie Rios, Urban Farmer, educator, and Co-originator of Permaculture for the inner landscape.

• Marc Tobin, Masters in Community and Regional Planning, Lost Valley EPCP coordinator.

• Jude Hobbs, Associate with Agro-Ecology, landscape designer, small farm consultant.

• Joshua Smith, Ecological landscape designer, eco-forester, author of Botanical Treasures of the West.

• Marisha Auerbach, Certified herbalist, ethnobotanist, permaculture & edible landscape designer.

• Instructors vary course to course. Held at Lost Valley Educational Center, an intentional community, non-profit educational center, and nature sanctuary dedicated to learning, living, and teaching sustainable, ecologically-based culture located outside Eugene, Oregon.

See: http://www.lostvalley.org/epcp for details!

Nathaniel N-T Outreach Coordinator epcp@lostvalley.org (541) 937-3351 * 119