Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC)

Completing a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) Course and earning the certificate is a noteworthy accomplishment. The course curriculum is based on the original 72-hour course originally developed by permaculture founder, Bill Mollison. Utilizing best practices developed in online teaching, MOOCs such as those taught through Coursera or EdX, and wide-ranging discussions enabled through faculty-managed online communities and Disqus-powered exchanges, PDC certificate recipients have spent a year or more immersed in our learning community, and have spent six months or more interacting with the course content. Students have satisfactorily demonstrated their understanding of the key concepts of permaculture by submitting a detailed design for review by our faculty and teaching assistants. A seven-stage, rigorous review process evaluates the final design submission in areas such as content mastery, factual accuracy, soundness of design, aesthetics, content of diagrams, creativity and communication. Earning this certificate represents a major milestone for those on the path of practicing, teaching, and implementing permaculture, whether in the context of urban applications, small-to-large farm management, NGO and development aid work, or private consultations.