Testimonials

Student Testimonials

Nova did an excellent job presenting the many aspects of permaculture to our class. He has given me a greater understanding of permaculture and the tools it gives us to create a better place for all life! I am excited to see what the future holds for us all!
~ Daryl

I learned that permaculture is so much more than I had ever envisioned. Nova packed a vast and interesting array of content, exercises and guest speakers into just 12 days. His class collaboration techniques and relaxed teaching style helped to enrich us all and put us in good stead to begin our Permaculture journey.
~ Jodie

Absolutely life changing course. Thank you Nova for being an amazing tutor and mentor. I would highly recommend this course to anyone contemplating on whether or not to undertake this study. All I can say is permaculture is so much more than I had previously thought. I can not wait to implement the improvements offered through the permaculture practices.
~ Liz

Wow! What an awesome time we had at the Botanic garden and the Permaculture Design Course. I got so much out of it which had me riveted right through the whole time. Nova’s delivery of the course had a natural flow to it from the introduction and course layout right up to its conclusion.
~ Tauraa

Guest Speakers

Geoff Lawton

One of the most sought after permaculture experts and authorities on the planet, Geoff was kind enough to zoom in for over two hours, talking one-on-one with each student, giving his advice and answering every one of their questions.

It was truly an honour and a privilege being able to spend time with Geoff as a guest speaker during the last Permaculture Design Course.

Check out Geoff’s amazing YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@DiscoverPermaculture
Or visit the website of the Permaculture Institute where Geoff works: https://permaculture.org/

Brandy Gallagher (BSW, MA)

Brandy Gallagher has spent a lifetime living in the design of sustainable community – long before those words were used. One of the original founders and developers of O.U.R. Ecovillage, she worked with local to international community builders to create this 25 acre Sustainable Living Demonstration Site and Education Centre.

Brandy is featured in the movie “Escape From Suburbia”, and the documentaries “Peak Moments: Creating the Impossible”, ”Awaken the Village Heart and Mind”, “Green Burial” and “Re-Becoming Villagers; Urban & Rural”.

We were grateful to have Brandy zoom in as a guest speaker during our Permaculture Design Course last year to give the students a unique perspective into one of permaculture’s most notorious and important modules: Invisible Structures.

You can learn more about Brandy and O.U.R. Ecovillage on their website: www.OurEcovillage.org

Satomi Mizutani (PhD)

We were also fortunate enough to have Satomi Mizutani come to the classroom and run a detailed workshop on Maienza, a food-based, probiotic, multipurpose solution you can easily make yourself.

Satomi shared her expert knowledge and years of experience by revealing to the class with a hands-on participatory demonstration how to create and use this revolutionary multi-purpose

Invented by Yoshiaki Sogabe in Japan, Maienza has been called a do-all probiotic. It can be used as a cleaner, deodorant, moisturiser, water purifier, fermentation accelerator, fertiliser, and much more.

Elijah Ignatieff

A visionary, pioneer, and a whole systems designer, Elijah has spent more than 30 years researching values and value. As a result of his study, he created The New Paradigm Toolkit, and The Inflow Matrix, and has published several books, including: A Small Book of Notions.

The New Paradigm Toolkit is made up of maps, card sets, gameboards, processes and software; tools designed to assist individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities to learn, create, communicate, and heal together.

Due to a shared passion for permaculture and the search for a brighter future for humanity, Elijah was kind enough to join us a guest speaker and took the time to showcase his social permaculture systems.

Other Guest Speakers

We were also thankful to have several staff members of the gardens help contribute to the course by providing tours of some of their permaculture gardens and food producing areas.

For the final project of the Permaculture Design Course, students were lucky enough to be able to work individually and in pairs to create several different permaculture design plans for a real space at the gardens that is being considered for improvement.

We hope to be able to conduct further activities and provide other contributions in this year’s PDC also.