Permaculture is about growing food, how we live, the type of houses we build, ways in which we can live more sustainably, working with others in our community and how we deal with water, energy, soil and living things.
Permaculture is seen by many people as providing strategies to enable us to adapt to a challenging future, as it provides the framework to give people hope and empowerment and enable them to develop skills to allow us to rise to the challenges of a changing world.
Accredited Permaculture Training (APT) courses are now available for schools and local communities. Certificate I and Certificate II have been developed with VET (Vocational Education and Training) in schools as the focus.
These courses are ideally suited to Year 10-12 students, with Certificate I appropriate for students with special needs and learning difficulties.
The Certificate I and Certificate II courses are very practical and students learn about propagation, pest control, irrigation, construction, soils, organic crops, re-vegetation, plant and animals systems as well as work safety and maintaining the workplace.
Community members who hold a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment can deliver these courses too, so accredited permaculture training is ideal for workers in city farms, organic co-operatives, community gardens and for people involved in the permaculture industry in some way.
School teachers or community members who have done a Permaculture Design Course (PDC) are qualified to deliver Certificate I and Certificate II, but there is also the option of doing the Permaculture Demonstrator Skill Set which involves 4 units from Certificate III to provide some good background knowledge and skills for delivery of permaculture training. These units provide enough background on permaculture ethics, principles and practices and hands-on skills, to enable teachers to plan permaculture projects in their school grounds.
You can register your interest by contacting Skills Strategies International or enroll directly online.
Skills Strategies International is a Perth-based training organisation but students from anywhere in Australia can enroll. The Permaculture Demonstrator Skill Set will typically take 3 to 4 months of part-time online work.
For more information contact Skills Strategies International  Ph: (08) 6143 2180
Article by Dr Ross Mars