Permaculture Design Certification Course

in the Heart of Bodhgaya, India

Including

PERMACULTURE ETHICS AND PRINCIPLES, PATTERN LITERACY AND APPLICATION, (PHYSICAL AND INVISIBLE), ENERGY AND FLOWS, SECTOR ANALYSIS AND ZONATION, WATER; HARVESTING, HOLDING, AND RECYCLING, SOIL, PLANTS, AND ENVIRONMENT, AGRICULTURE:  FROM YOUR DOORSTEP TO THE WORLD, BUILDINGS, THE DESIGN PROCESS, URBAN PERMACULTURE, PERMACULTURE & ORGANIZATIONS, PERMACULTURE IN THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Instructors

Rico Zook and Support Staff

Course Inspriation

We are grateful, honored, and inspired to be holding this unique course in the sacred Buddhist pilgrimage city of Bodhygaya, India - the place of the Buddha’s Enlightenment. Our intention is to not only provide a high quality, information filled, and life changing experience for participants; but also to support the on-going efforts of sustainable development in Bodhgaya by the humble people, activists, and Buddhists monks & nuns in the local community.

Course Description

Learn all about sustainability and receive your Permaculture Design Certificate in the setting of the sacred city of Bodghaya and its many monasteries, pilgrims and seekers who travel from all over the world to this place of the Buddha’s Enlightenment. Do hands-on projects, face challenging exercises, do a permaculture design, and learn about the many facets of creating a sustainable lifestyle while benefiting the local community and the efforts for sustainability in Bodhgaya. This is a full immersion experience that will change your outlook and your life forever, as you begin to build a life of resiliency. 

Using a variety of learning techniques and strategies this course presents Permaculture as an integrated design approach to create sustainable human habitat. Course time will consist of traditional lectures, guest presentations, group discussions, games, exercises, hands-on projects, photos, movies and site visits. While we will focus on land systems, many discussions and examples will be explored of applications in the 'Invisible Structures'. These are the social, cultural, political, and economic structures we create as humans that powerfully shape much of our world today. Not only will the course be about Permaculture, but it will also model it by its structure and the environment we create together during the course.

During the latter part of the course design teams will be formed and given real life design assignments that are relevant to the course venue. The course will culminate with each team giving presentations of their designs to the class and interested local people and groups. These designs will be left with venue to become valuable resources for them. Elements to whole sections of past student designs have been incorporated by many sites were this course has been hosted.

Join this course and be prepared for  a life changing experience which will leave you much more prepared to respond to the global changes that are starting to happen with  solutions, resiliency, and compassion.

Site Details: Bodhgaya, India - The Place of the Buddha’s Enlightenment

Bodhgaya in northeastern India, is one of the most spiritual places in the Buddhist world and also an UNESCO WHS accredited town. Bodhgaya is the site of the Buddha's enlightenment and the most important of four main Buddhist pilgrimage destinations. Known as Uruvela in the Buddha's time, the city of Bodhgaya is now a town of about 30,000 permanent residents. The two major sacred sites in Bodhgaya are the Mahabodhi Temple and the Bodhi Tree, around which many other temples and monasteries of various Buddhist traditions (Japanese, Tibetan, Bhutanese and others) have been built. Every year, millions of Buddhist pilgrims flock to Bodhgaya to be inspired, dissipate negative karma and earn merit by visiting the holy site where the Buddha became the Buddha - the "Enlightened One." There are many other sacred sites located nearby including Mahakala Cave and others. It is rich in culture and an international gateway, the busy winter season is frequented by pilgrims and visitors from all over the Himalayas and the world.

Supporting Sustainable Development With Local Communities in Bodhgaya

This workshop will culminate with several groups doing a real life design projects that will be relevant to the site of the workshop. Not only will the teaching be about Permaculture, but it will also model it by its structure and the environment we create together in the course. This workshop will contribute to the enrichment of its site and each of its participants. With the goal of having half international students and half local students this workshop will not only be an opportunity to learn about Permaculture, it will also offer an opportunity to understand we can create a regenerative, sustainable world together. The person attending the Permaculture Design Course will not only gain theoretical and practical knowledge on Permaculture at the end of the workshop but will be handed a Permaculture Design Course Certificate. This certificate will enable the participant to be a certified Permaculture Practitioner. 

More Information
Visit the Course website for More information
For Question e-mail: education@livingmandala.com or
Phone: (707) 634-1461