The Youth Circle is growing! We’ve selected three young ambassadors to attend the Permaculture Youth International Convergence in Timor Leste, are connecting with permaculture elders to nurture intergenerational continuity, and launching online gatherings from 8 September to learn, connect, and co-create the future together.
Permaculture Australia Youth Circle Update
Permaculture Australia is excited to share some wonderful developments from our Youth Circle initiative – a space dedicated to intergenerational connection, collaboration, and supporting young people to thrive within the permaculture movement.
Supporting Young Ambassadors at the International Youth Convergence
In October, the Permaculture Youth International Convergence (PYIC) will be held in Timor Leste, hosted by our friends at Permatil. This important gathering will bring together young leaders from around the world to share ideas, strengthen networks, and co-create strategies for a regenerative future.
After a careful selection process, we are proud to announce that three inspiring young Australians – Felix Liebert, Toad Dell, and Meka Rakhmat – have been chosen as our Youth Ambassadors to attend the convergence. With the generous support of Permaculture Australia scholarships and Permatil’s accommodation assistance, they will represent our community and bring back valuable insights, stories, and connections.
Building Bridges Between Generations
The Youth Circle is also reaching out to Permaculture Elders, inviting them to share wisdom, stories, and mentorship with the younger generation. These intergenerational connections are at the heart of our vision: ensuring that the knowledge and spirit of permaculture continue to evolve and adapt with the times.
Youth Circle Online Gatherings – Starting Soon!
We’re delighted to announce the launch of the Youth Circle Online Gatherings, beginning on 8th September. These sessions will be a space for young people and elders to meet, learn together, dream up projects, and grow stronger as a community.
Stay tuned for updates, and please help spread the word whether you are a young person interested in joining, or an elder keen to offer support, there’s a place for you in this circle.
Together, we’re weaving the threads of intergenerational continuity, honouring the past, empowering the present, and shaping the future.
If you want to be part of our gatherings, let us know at youth@permacultureaustralia.org.au
The inaugural International Permaculture Youth Convergence (IPYC) is to be held in Timor Leste from October 20 –25 this year.
Drone photo of Fatequero village where IPYC is to be held
Permatil of Timor-Leste & Permatil Global of Australia are co-hosting the event with The PermaYouth Association of Timor Leste. 500 permie youth leaders from Timor Leste are planning to host another 500 from around the world with the intention of building an active global PermaYouth network of future leaders & change makers and global environmental stewards.
The day program includes permaculture practice and development of leadership skills in:
Water resilience
Sustainable Agroforestry
Agro ecology
Permaculture in action
Art, music and indigenous culture
3D model for learning water catchment techniques
Artists creating new illustrations for Permatil guidebooks
The night program can only be described as a festival, with participants coming together to share a celebration and exchange of indigenous knowledge, culture, music, art and friendship.
This event rides on the shoulders of 8 years of Timor Leste National Youth Convergences and promises to be an unbelievable learning, and sharing cultural event. The IPYC fits Permaculture Australia’s Permafund charter of promoting and supporting educational and environmental projects around the world that have a strong permaculture basis.
Permafund is providing funds to sponsor and part sponsor international participants who financially may not be able to attend otherwise. In addition, letters of recommendation and promotional material to support this awesome initiative have been provided.
Our most challenging contribution however is to activate youth from Australia to participate in the International Permaculture Youth Convergence. Members of the Permafund committee put the message out to their communities about IYPC being an opportunity to see permaculture in action in a youth orientated international setting. Currently 16 young adults will be participating, all paying their own way. One group is from the NSW south coast and another from South Australia. All are excited, learning a few Tetun words and getting organised to attend.
When asked why they were attending, responses from some of the South Australian contingent included:
I feel really connected to nature and the idea of living in harmony with the earth.
After doing my PDC, I want to keep learning and growing, not just in land design but also in how permaculture can bring people together, heal communities, and create a better way of living.
I’d love to meet other young people who share the same passion, exchange ideas, and bring back inspiration to my own community.
I dream of starting a little community around rehabilitating a heavily disturbed section of the low rainfall Mallee in eastern SA. I would like to turn parts of it into a food forest. I have the dream and the property, I’m just lacking the knowledge, people, and the extra bit of passion to see it through; I’m hoping the IPYC can help me with these things.
I’m very keen on building more sustainable ways of living into everything.
I dream of creating an eco-friendly little village with sustainable and affordable housing.
I’m excited to have the opportunity to learn about permaculture and PermaYouth initiatives at this convergence
I want to return to my beloved tropics and learn a lot about Timorese life and culture.
For these reasons, or any others, if you are between 17 and 35 and would like to attend the IPYC or would like to talk about it but don’t have a group to support you, no matter where you come from, don’t hesitate to contact us at permafund@permacultureaustralia.org.au
Planting out a water catching small reservoir
The proceeds of fundraisers and donations to Permafund are gratefully received. Donations over $2.00 are tax deductible in Australia and can be made here.
So far, Permafund has provided seed funding grants for 93 community projects in Australia and 16 other countries around the world.
Thanks to generous donations and fund raising, Permaculture Australia’s 2025 Permafund grant round has been launched..
Considering the time and effort needed to write and submit an application, the closing date for applications has been extended to midnight AEST on 31 August 2025.
In the spirit of fair share, this year community organisations in Australia and the regions of Australasia, South-East Asia and the Pacific Islands are invited to apply for seed funding grants of AU$2,000 to support their environmental and permaculture education projects.
Applications for funding over AUD $2,000 will be considered and assessed on merit.
The 2025 Grant Application form and Grant Guidelines are available for download here.
Successful applicants will be notified at the end of October 2025. Applications received by 15 August and needing urgent response will be considered promptly.
Permaculture Australia is excited to share that we have initiated a Youth Circle, with the intention of connecting youth across Australia and around the world to the permaculture movement.
We are fortunate to have Karla Quintana step up to lead this circle and harness her youth network from the many youth communities that she works across.
The first activity is establishing Youth Ambassadors from each State and Territory. These inaugural ambassadors will be sponsored to attend the International Youth Permaculture Convergence in Timor Leste in October this year.
If you can’t wait to get involved and support this program, as either a nominator of a Youth Ambassador, a candidate or a Youth Circle member reach out to eo@permacultureaustralia.org.au. An information pack will be released to members within the week.
About Karla Quintana
Karla is a regenerative bioregional educator, biologist, community weaver, and founder of transformative learning spaces rooted in permaculture, collective transformation, and the sacred balance of nature. With a background in biology and scientific research, she brings an ecological and systems-thinking lens to her work—bridging science, education, and community resilience.
For over two decades, Karla has empowered young people to become stewards of the Earth through mentorship and life-shaping experiences grounded in ecological literacy, outdoor environmental education, and intentional community living. She completed her Permaculture Design Course at Crystal Waters Ecovillage, deepening her commitment to regenerative practices.
Karla currently leads the Bioethical Student Residence, an intentional urban community where youth engage in environmental sensitization, behavioral change, collective responsibility, and social transformation in action. She is also the founder of Acampalli, a cooperative of young environmental educators—an embodied school of thought and action committed to forging new paths toward ecological justice, cultural renewal, and cooperativism.
Her vision of education and community was profoundly shaped during her youth by the Zapatista revolution of the Mayan people in Chiapas, Mexico. The Zapatistas’ call for dignity, autonomy, and collective liberation continues to influence her deeply. Central to their philosophy is the phrase: “In the world we want, everyone fits. We want a world where many worlds fit.” For Karla, this is more than an ideal—it is a lived commitment. Her work centers on building social structures and relationships that care for nature, honor diversity, resist domination, and make space for multiple ways of being, knowing, and organizing life.
She fosters intergenerational learning, creating spaces where the wisdom of elders and the creativity of youth come together to restore the continuity of knowledge and regenerate both social and ecological systems. Karla’s pedagogy is rooted in Deep Ecology, Outdoor Education, and Indigenous knowledge systems. Through her programs, her mission is to cultivate a generation of empowered changemakers.
With a warm presence and radical clarity, Karla continues to guide youth in living in alignment with the Earth and with each other—through practices that heal, reconnect, and reimagine the world we share.
Certificate III and IV Permaculture qualifications are on the way to becoming recognised as important vocational qualifications, and eligible for the same kind of subsidies and recognition as other trades.
The Certificate III is now on the federal government’s Australian Apprenticeships Priority List. Importantly, it is also on the Clean Energy Sector list within it. This means that if you are a permaculture business, and you employ a young person as a trainee, they can get a qualification for doing practical work-based training, while being paid a traineeship wage, and you as the employer are eligible for a host of subsidies that together nearly cover the cost of employing them. It works just like employing an apprentice. They can be full or part time and even shared between several businesses.
In NSW, the Certificate III is also on the state training traineeships and apprenticeships list which makes an employer eligible for a set of state government subsidies too. Other states may be catching up, but it is worth making enquiries and registering your interest so that next time your state updates its list, permaculture qualifications are included.
In NSW, Certificate III and Certificate IV are also on the Smart and Skilled Priority List, which means the NSW government will pay the fees for class-based training. If a Training Organisation knows there are enough enrolments to make up a class, they can offer the course free to students.
For more information, get in touch at: vet@permacultureaustralia.org.au
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