Facilitators-Handbook-For-Permaculture

36 Facilitator’s Handbook for Permaculture Workshops

Step 9: Providing post-course follow-up

The delivery of the course is only the first part of a facilitator’s

work. In Permaculture, sustainability is what counts, so your

job is not done until the participants are applying the practices

as part of their everyday lives.

Follow-up is the key to a successful Permaculture workshop.

Ideally, for the first few months after the training you will follow-up on how

the participants are doing every few weeks, and continue to make periodic

visits at longer intervals after that.

• On each return visit you should monitor progress, document results, offer
  technical advice, and encouragement.


• Facilitate problem-solving processes by guiding the students to think through
  problems themselves.


• Your ongoing encouragement will also help the participants – especially the
  women participants – to appreciate the value of their own continued work and
  give them encouragement and confidence to try new techniques in the future.


• It is important to encourage them to form their own local Permaculture
  networking groups so they can help and advise each other on a regular basis.

What you learn from the results you see can also help you to update and

improve your lesson plan so that it will be even more effective in achieving the

goal of real actions in the communities where you are working. Follow-up is an

invaluable learning opportunity for the facilitator as well as the participants.

On its own, a Permaculture workshop will not make a big difference to a community

unless there is a long-term support strategy in place to promote Permaculture practice.

The facilitator and/or the organization hosting the course should be available to give

further support and troubleshooting to the participants who are practicing what they

have learned at the Permaculture workshop.

The Appendix of this manual includes some good tools and techniques for follow-up

assessment.