Courses/Workshops

Scagnello Permaculture Design Course, Piedmont, Italy

What: Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) Course
Where: The Rainbow Tree, Scagnello, Piedmont, Italy
Who: You, with Aranya, Pietro Zucchetti and Ezio Gori as teachers (This course will be taught in English, with some translation assistance into Italian)
When: 19th – 28th May 2012 (72 hours over ten days)

This practical course will bring the possibility of significant and positive life changes. Although permaculture is most commonly thought about in connection with gardening & farming, its principles, ethics and design methods can be adapted and used in each individual’s own work, interests and home to bring about a more harmonious & sustainable lifestyle. Permaculture offers a perspective on all aspects of building a sustainable future. Permaculture encourages us to use our individual skills, knowledge and interests, whilst drawing on traditional wisdom, science and our innate ability to observe and learn from the world around us.

The Permaculture Institute of Italy is based at the Rainbow Tree smallholding located in Scagnello, a small village of 200 inhabitants, on the Ligurian alps, 163 miles from Mont Blanc (15774 ft) and 40 miles from the Mediterranean. The village operated as a stop for travellers during the Roman age, in fact its name means “seat” in the local tongue, a place where you can find somewhere to rest after a long journey. There is one shop in the village where you can have a coffee or eat a panino, plus a bar managed by the local community during the evening. Scagnello is famous for its black truffle mushrooms, fruits of all sorts and it is very close to the famous wine making area of “Langhe”. The area is one of the most diverse in wildlife and flora in Italy because Scagnello is located on the edge of the Mediterranean sea and the Alps. Also, the village has some old churches where it is possible to admire renaissance paintings. The Rainbow Tree smallholding will be the venue for this course; the smallholding is very young (one year) but it is already possible to see a vineyard into its second year, a contour vegetable garden, the first two layers of a forest garden (high canopy and bush layers) and a micro-scale keyline system with a dam and feeder channels. The small holding will keep grazing guinea fowls and chickens in the near future. It is possible to observe a wide range of wildlife from deer, badgers, hares, buzzards, eagles, foxes, praying mantis, a great variety of butterflies, damselflies, ladybirds and more.

For more info on this course, please click here.

One Comment

  1. Hello Pietro

    We have been searching for you to know if we – Dagmar, Claudio and I are coming to visit in April, around the 21st and 22nd.

    We need to know very soon so that we can make some plans.

    Thank you.

    Best wishes
    Heather

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