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PERMACULTURE DESIGN (PDC) CERTIFICATION COURSES 2026
WELKINWEIR

Sept. 20 - Oct 2.  – Class begins Monday September 21st  at 10am - 4pm  

All live sessions!

 Class Location - Welkinweir PA

1368 Prizer Road, Pottstown, PA 19465 

 

Welkinweir is a 224-acre oasis of natural beauty, featuring a 55-acre arboretum and historic estate house, as well as ecologically diverse wetland, meadow, and woodland habitats. The property is a living laboratory for the study of ecological issues, sustainability, and land stewardship, offering inspiration and education for visitors & community members.​

  • ​(People stay off site, & BYOL)  - Lunch 1 - 2pm 

  • Sept.21st to Sept. 25th  @ Welkinwier  

  • Arrive between 3 - 5pm on Sunday Sept  20

  • We will introduce the structure of the course and orient you to the site. 

  • Monday & Tuesday, Morning lecture, afternoon outside integration

  • Group Design Activity For Welkinweir - Wed.- Fri.  (End of week 1)

  • (take Saturday. Sept 26th off)

 

Two days,  off site, on field trip days  -- (Sunday. Sept 27 & Mon. Sept 28)

 

Week 2  -- Begins 10am - 4pm - Tuesday Sept. 29 - @ Welkinweir

 

Individual designs, the second week a capstone presentation.

Design Presentations on Thursday Oct 1st 

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Potential Field Trip sites: 

 

  • Kimberton Hills Camphill Village

  • The John Hershey Trees

  • School of Living Birthright Center Cochranville

  • Dale Hendricks Permaculture Center

  • A Exceptional CSA nearby

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Learn more about GVWA’s work!  Welkinweir is also the home of Green Valleys Watershed Association, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to protect, preserve, and restore the natural waterways of northern Chester County.

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TOPICS COVERED

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Design Principles

  • Permaculture Principles & What they derive from

  • History Of Civilization

  • History of Agriculture

  • Regenerative Civilizations

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Water Systems

  • Catch Hold & Store 

  • Ecological "Waste" Water Systems

  • Wetlands

  • Aquaculture

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Improving Soils 

  • Organic Gardens

  • Earthworks

  • Raised beds

  • Soil Analysis

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Forest Gardens

  •  What is Forest Gardening

  • Beneficial Plants

  • Pollinator Habitat

  • Restoration Ecology

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Growing Food Crops

  • History of Domestication of Plants

  • Root Cellars

  •  Beneficial Polycultures

  • Working With Weeds

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Working With Animals

  • History of Domestication of Animals

  • Biodynamics

  • Rotational Grazing Systems

  • Regenerative Farming

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Energy Systems

  • Reducing the need for energy by design

  • Maximizing Passive Systems

  • Biogas & Anaerobic Digestors

  • Fully Off Grid Home and Community Scale

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Natural Building

  • Passive Solar House Design

  • Strawbale Construction

  • Hempcrete & Cob Buildings

  • Creating Microclimates with Structures

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Springs, Ponds, Streams & Fish Farming

  •  Finding & Identifying Perennial & Seasonal Fresh Water Springs

  • Digging Natural Ponds

  • Streambank Reforestation & Riparian Buffers

  • Ecological Aquaculture/Fish Farming

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Creating Community & Ecovillages

  • Finding Your Allies & Starting Where You Are

  • Creating Bioregional Economies

  • Worker Guilds, Villages & Communities

  • Pioneer Design & Land Use Ethics

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Design Process: Skills, Methods & Techniques

  • Working From Patterns To Details

  • Analysis, Assessment & Design Concepts

  • Whole Site Design

  • Regional & Watershed Scale Design

OUR WORLD CLASS PERMACULTURE TEACHING TEAM

Adriana Magana Co Founder and Permaculture Instructor

Adriana Magaña 
Co Founder | Instructor

Adriana Magaña is an interdisciplinary artist and designer  living with her family in Ellenville, NY. Adriana is inspired by her commitment to co-create a sustainable world with integrity and ethical values; a world based in nature and justice. 

David Harper Permaculture Instructor, Co Director of the Permaculture Lands Trust

David Harper 

Co Director of Permaculture Living Lands Trust has more than 30 years of work with conservation  land trusts, community land trusts and local food and farming organizations, resulting in permanently  preserving 8,000+ acres of farmland, natural areas, and cultural and historic sites in Pennsylvania.

Rhamis Kent Permaculture Consultant

Rhamis Kent

Rhamis Kent is a consultant with permaculture-based  regenerative whole systems design serving as a registered certified Permaculture Design instructor with PRI Australia. He is a former co-director of the Permaculture Research Institute (PRI) 

​Larry Santoyo Permaculture Instructor

Larry Santoyo

Founder of the Permaculture Academy and lead instructor. He has been a teacher and practitioner of Permaculture Design for the 28+ years and spent over a decade studying and teaching with Bill Mollison.

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Clea Chandma

India on Tropical systems, Clea, from a ‘Genetics’, 'Ecology and Evolution', ‘Plant Breeding’ and a ‘Plant Molecular Physiology’ background (University of Cambridge, UK) and a Permaculture background (PDC : Bill Mollison; Geoff Lawton; Greg Knibbs; and Andrew Millison), is a recognised expert in Regenerative Systems. Her approach and methods are novel and rigorously developed over 30 years at her 'food forest' farm at the foothills of the Western Ghats in India.

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