Brad Lancaster (USA), David Spicer (AUS) and Murad Alkhufash (Palestine) to teach Permaculture Design Certificate in Marda, Palestine, June 2010

Join world class permaculture instructors Brad Lancaster, David Spicer, and Murad Alkufash for the first Permaculture Design Certification course to be held in the West Bank, Palestine.

In addition to this being a groundbreaking drylands PDC course, it is a once in a lifetime immersion opportunity into the rich culture and heritage of the people of the rural West Bank, who have cared for and farmed the land of this region for over one thousand years.

Scholarships for Australians

A major aim of the June 2010 Permaculture and cultural exhange program at Marda is to ‘foster cross-cultural exchange between Australians and Palestinians’. In order to achieve this we are offering two scholarships to Australians who will share their experience and knowledge gained during the course with Australians back home.

Examples of how you might do this include: Organising a slide night in your local community, submitting a magazine article to an Australian publication, Running an introductory permaculture course, Creating a DVD to show at your university or local permaculture group.

The scholarships will be $200 each in the form of a discount on the fees paid for the PDC or a waiver of fees for the 3-day intensive Arabic course.

To apply please email mardapermaculture (at) gmail.com for an application form and return it by the 17th May with your proposal for how you will help us meet our aims. Scholarships will be announced by the 24th of May.

General Info

Course participants will be part of the world-changing movement to “green the deserts” of the Middle East through the design principles of permaculture — learning skills such as rainwater harvesting, food forest production, homescale gardening to maximize production on small acreages, and more. Participants will also have the unique opportunity to participate in a 3-day Arabic immersion course, traditional Palestinian culinary workshops, and historic tours of the ancient Salfit area. Special highlights of the week will include Skype sessions with Geoff Lawton.

The PDC will run from the 6-17th of June, 2010, with an optional 3 day Arabic-language course starting the 3rd of June, 2010.

This course is supported by the Firedoll Foundation, the Council for Australian Arab Relations and the Permaculture Research Institute.

Please go to the bookings page for further information, booking options, and contact details.