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Permaculture Design Certificate Course with Tom Kendall at PRI Sunshine Coast

Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) Course, with Tom Kendall at PRI Sunshine Coast, Australia

If you are looking for better health, more knowledge, tools for a better, more sustainable lifestyle and a nurturing community experience, the Permaculture Design Certificate course at PRI Sunshine Coast delivers! Tom Kendall’s passion for sustainable living, self-reliance and empowering people nourishes the mind while Zaia Kendall’s passion for food, health and nutrition nourishes the body. Living and working as a community with other students and volunteers and finding appreciation for your skills and talents nourishes the soul, making this a unique and holistic PDC experience! Tom and Zaia combine the 72-hour theoretical course with hands-on farm and community experiences, encouraging everyone to be involved. They have found that their PDCs create lasting connections and friendships between people, with each group usually creating their own network and students leave the course feeling empowered, inspired, energised and excited; ready to take on the world!


I just got back from doing a twelve-day Permaculture Design Certificate course in Kin Kin (on the Sunshine Coast between Noosa and Gympie) with Tom Kendall at Maungaraeeda, the permaculture centre that he and his wife Zaia run. Fantastic experience. After doing some research on available PDC courses, I went to Maungaraeeda with high expectations – and they were exceeded. Tom is a wonderful teacher, very warm, very knowledgeable, and very committed to ensuring his students get the most out of the course.

– a quote from GC, one of our satisfied PDC students

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The Permaculture Design Certificate is a 72 hour theoretical course based on Bill Mollison’s Designers’ Manual, teaching how we can use today’s tools and technology to create a more sustainable and equitable world for all species. Permaculture is more than just gardening, it is a sustainable lifestyle. Permaculture ethics are Earth Care, People Care and Return of Surplus and this is taught by showing students to focus on local resources and their local community, and to have well thought out design practices to create abundance sustainably.

As part of the spirit of Permaculture we encourage students to participate in community building for the time they spend at the institute. Students will be shown and will be required to participate in a number of aspects of sustainable and community living and Permaculture systems and routines. This will enhance the Permaculture learning experience during the two weeks, as well as give students the feeling of belonging to a community and strengthening the bond of the group. We encourage students to acknowledge their talents, so they can contribute to the community experience by doing what they are good at.

About the Teacher

Tom Kendall grew up and worked on his parents’ farm and took on the farm in 1992 when his father retired. He downsized the 11,000 acre farm to 7,000 acres and converted to Biodynamics. The farm produced wheat and barley and ran cattle and sheep. In 2000 he sold the farm and moved to the Sunshine Coast. In 2005 he and his partner Zaia found their ideal property in Kin Kin, Noosa Hinterland. Tom had by then become interested in Permaculture, and started converting the property into a Permaculture site. With his background in farming, he was able to take on most jobs that needed to be done himself; renovations, building, operating heavy machinery for earthworks, etc, gardening, fixing, installing plumbing and many other jobs that came with setting up the property. He became a WWOOF host and always taught the WWOOFers about Permaculture and why the property was set up the way it was. In 2008 he did a Permaculture Design Certificate with Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton. He followed that up early 2010 with a Teacher Training Course with Geoff Lawton.

At that stage he realised he had so much knowledge to share with people about Permaculture and Self Reliance skills that he decided to focus on teaching. It was a natural extension from teaching wwoofers for all those years. Tom is a very practical person with an wealth of knowledge about shaping landscapes and creating tools and infrastructure. Having spent all his life working the land he has an astute awareness about today’s environmental issues and aims to minimise his footprint as much as possible. His courses are unique in that he shows a lot of practical applications on his property, Maungaraeeda, now a Permaculture demonstration site, to complement the theory taught. His aim is to bring Permaculture to as many people as possible, and to empower people to be self-reliant. He is now a Permaculture Research Institute accredited teacher and runs The Permaculture Research Institute Maungaraeeda, on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland Australia.

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Meals

We invite you to share our meals with us. We cook a variety of gluten free, vegetarian, vegan and meat meals, prepared by volunteers on site. On Saturdays and Sundays we ask students to cater for themselves. A camp kitchen is available for use. First Sunday evening meal provided at 6.30pm.

Accomodation

Camping (tent) accommodation is included in the course fee, please BYO tent and camping gear (bedding etc). Limited cabin accommodation ($30 per night per cabin) or backpacker style shared accommodation ($10 per night per person) is also available. Arrive mid to late afternoon Saturday prior to course start for camp set up.

HOW TO ENROL

You can pay for your course now via Paypal or credit card by purchasing a ticket below, or you can contact Salah at [email protected]. All prices are in Australian dollars, including GST. An early bird discount is available if the course fee is paid 21 days prior to the course start date.

Prior to booking please read our refunds policy.

Need help?

If you have any questions about this Design Course please contact us.
You can book for this course by clicking here

Tom Kendall

Tom Kendall is a permaculture farmer with a lifelong broad acre agricultural background. He is co-founder of the PRI Sunshine Coast Inc and PRI Luganville, Vanuatu and runs PDC and Practical Life Skills training courses on his Permaculture Demonstration Site “Maungaraeeda”. He is part of the Permaculture Sustainable Consulting team and does regular personal consultations. He has extensive experience in tropical, sub tropical and dry land climates and has the ability to read large scale as well as smaller scale landscapes. With his farming background, Tom is a very hands on and practical man and is solution focused. He has extensive travel experience, integrates easily with local cultures and people and enjoys studying landscapes, buildings and the effects of climate on structures, flora and fauna.

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