permaculture

14 Facilitator’s Handbook for Permaculture Workshops

Step 3. Choose the most applicable theme and exercises for the course

Each Permaculture workshop will have its own theme.

• If a majority of the participants and community leaders express specific
  needs, the course content can focus on those needs.
  
  
  • The environments of the participating communities may range from
    semi-urban to wetland or dry-land rural settings.
    
    
    • The participants themselves may range from illiterate people living
      in isolated rural areas to college graduates from more sophisticated
      areas.
      
      
      • Some participants may have extensive knowledge of traditional
        farming and resource conservation systems and others none at
        all.
      
      
      
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  

All of these factors should be carefully considered when

choosing a Permaculture workshop theme.

For example...

• If the community is located in a dry area, the theme may be
  dry-land farming.
  
  
  • If the course is held in the mountains, the theme may be
    steep-slope agroforestry.
    
    
    • If the course is held in a semi-urban or very densely
      populated village where food security is a big issue, then
      the course can give strongest attention to the home garden
      zone.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • If the participants are mainly commercial rice farmers, then
    the small farm zone will be the main focus, and LEISA, IPM,
    and enterprise development strategies would be explored in
    depth.
  
  
  
  

Each of the modules includes one or more creative thinking

exercises to do in the classroom and hands-on practice exercises

to do in the field. These learning activities are to help the

participants to further understand and integrate the ideas and

skills being taught into their own experience.

Some exercises can be assigned as homework if the available class

time is insufficient.

More information and learning activities are provided in this handbook

than can be assimilated into any single Permaculture workshop. Choose the

activities most relevant to the workshop theme and decide on which specific

combinations of activities will be most useful to the participants.