This series of eight blog posts by Melissa Ott about the Santa Cruz Permaculture fall-winter 2017 Permaculture Design Course was originally posted on the Green Gal blog in April 2017.
Weekend One: October 8-9, 2016
The first weekend of the Santa Cruz Permaculture Design Course, we learned about the ethics and principles of permaculture. We also discussed design processes and methods for articulating client goals and desired outcomes for a particular design. In addition, the weekend featured lessons on ecology and patterns found in nature.
David hosted a World Cafe in which we had a chance to get to know one another and explore our goals as participants. It helped us as a cohort develop a sense of community and self-awareness about what we hoped to gain, as well as contribute. We explored the endless possibilities that could arise from our learning and growing together in the coming months.
During the first weekend, we also spent some time practicing nature awareness and observation. These are integral practices of the initial design process when getting to know a property or space that you hope to design. We also brainstormed design team project ideas and formed teams during the first weekend.