Project One : The Origin Story

How did all this get started, where did this come from, and what is it?

My goal is to complete a two year study of Applied Permaculture Design using the standards of the British Permaculture Association, in association with materials designed by Richard Perkins,in order to become an accredited permaculture practitioner.

After taking my PDC, I realized that I had just grazed the surface of sustainable systems, and I was eager to put these new concepts and strategies into practice. Some of Richard’s students introduced me to the concept of the applied permaculture diploma, and I was attracted by the focus and support that was designed into this intensive learning process. After several conversations with a fellow American, we realized there are limited options for higher level permaculture education in the United States. We decided to break some new ground, and attempt to adapt the British model to the American culture.

I’ve been working in a three person peer support group that meets online once a month, getting this website up and running, and attempting to articulate my own personal vision, goals, and steps to living my ideals.

Here are the tools I used along the way:

Skills Flex – An inventory of the skills I have and I’d like to learn

What The Heck is This Diploma –  A visual articulation of aims and goals, what I want to get out of this pathway

Story of My Life – Start here for part 1 of 9, my word life review, what brought me to this point in life.

Cultural Context – The story of my life tells the story about me, but what about those patterns that shaped me?

Curriculum Vitae – My permaculture / sustainability experiences up until now

Action Learning Pathway – The rough adventure map of my next two years

Project One Process Reflection – Debrief of Project One

With this as a leaping point, I’m finding it difficult to not go back and make everything better. It’s clear I missed a lot, I could add a lot, and I could have done a more expanded job, but one of my challenges is completing a project then moving on, knowing I’ll continue to grow in skill and quality! One point I’m particularly moved to improve is adding more pictures!

Move On to Project Two