Courses & Other Educational Programs
Gaia Guidance offers various courses and educational programs on Permaculture and related topics.
Planned events are available for registration in the event calendar. Additional events can be requested and booked. Please contact Gaia Guidance if you are interested.
Introduction to Permaculture
Discover Permaculture as a versatile design approach and tool for sustainability.
Water – Our Life and our Responsibility
A course on water retention, from garden to landscape. From principle to implementation.
Info:
Gaia Guidance is interested in partners who wish to implement water retention measures or syntropic agroforestry systems and are willing to provide suitable land for practical course content. In return for the use of the site during the course, a tangible example of the course content remains, which can be further developed and serve as a basis for subsequent projects.
Introduction to Permaculture
Permaculture as a design approach
Length: 1 day
Most people associate Permaculture with gardening. But while the origins of Permaculture do indeed have to do with the cultivation of plants, its potential and scope of application extend far beyond that. There is probably hardly any area of our society in which Permaculture cannot make a contribution. So the more people work with it, the more its potential can unfold.
The aim of this one-day event is therefore to spark interest and raise awareness of Permaculture. In order to do justice to the broad field of application of Permaculture, the focus is on the design aspect. An interactive and playful approach is used to convey a basic understanding of what working with Permaculture entails.
The event is aimed in particular at people who are considering attending a Permaculture design course and would like to gain some insight beforehand.
Content:
- Origin, concept, and ethics of Permaculture
- Potential applications
- Design principles & models
- Design tools
Water – Our Life and our Responsibility
Water retention in the landscape
Length: 6 days
These courses offer the opportunity to engage intensively with the topic of “Water retention in the landscape” over the course of six days.
The core of the event deals with ways in which water can be saved, collected, stored, and used effectively on the basis of Permaculture. In addition to a theoretical part, in which relevant strategies are presented, there will also be a practical part, if possible, in which various structures for water retention in the landscape will be created. In order to experience the potential of Permaculture as a connecting culture, the time spent together will be enriched by elements of wilderness education, community building, and mindfulness practice.
The range of applications for the content presented extends from your own garden to landscape management. Background knowledge of Permaculture is helpful for understanding and applying the content, but is not required for participation.
Content:
Theory:
- Introduction to the water cycle and water distribution
- Principles of rainwater harvesting according to Brad Lancaster
- Means of collecting, storing, and distributing water in the landscape
- Keyline-design
- Strategies for irrigation and soil treatment
- Introduction to the use of domestic gray water
- Methods for more successful establishment of plantations under dry conditions
Practice:
- Construction of water retention structures (depending on venue and number of participants)
- Application of methods (low-tech) for terrain surveying and characterization
- Irrigation methods
- Mulching
- Planting
Introduktion to syntropic agroforestry systems
Syntropy instead of entropy
Length: 2 days
In syntropic systems, the collection and concentration of energy plays a central role in accelerating succession processes and creating systems with greater complexity. The concept of syntropy can thus be seen as a counterpoint to the more familiar concept of entropy. The latter is characterized by the dispersion of energy and the transition of systems to simpler states.
In agriculture, the concept of syntropy manifests itself in a special form of agroforestry systems. This approach is strongly based on the traditional agricultural and forestry practices of indigenous populations in the rainforests of South America. However, since the underlying mechanisms remain the same, the approach can also be transferred to other climate zones.
In these courses, learn how to plan, establish, and maintain complex and resilient agroforestry systems to generate food, wood, medicine, and habitat while building soil.
Content:
- Concept of syntropy
- Dealing with senescence
- Integration of succession
- Spatial (Strata) & temporal (Succession) structure of agroforestry systems
- Planting & management of syntropic systems
