!
Immersion into Sustainable Living & Permaculture Design Internship: Living sustainability, integrating health, practical design and community development.
Dates: Two Sessions- January 6-27 & June 3-24, 2012
Location: Punta Mona Center for Sustainable Living and Education
Tuition: $1800, includes program, Permaculture Design Certificate, all meals, lodging at Punta Mona during course hours, materials, field trip transportation, field trip admissions & internet**
* Costa Rican citizen/resident prices available upon request.
Contact: Sarah Wu, Co-Director, onsite Manager & Educator, [email protected]
* Transportation to and from Punta Mona by boat is NOT included, cost is $10-50 per person, depending on boat load. * Meals are organic and vegetarian. Eggs and cheese are included and occasional fresh, line caught fish & free range, organic chicken, typically served once per week. ** Internet will be available on sunny days during specified hours.
Attending Staff:
Full Time: Stephen Brooks: Permaculture Design, Onsite Applications, Triple Bottom Line Business Sarah Wu: Coordinator, Permaculture, Kitchen Remedies, Plant Medicine Itai Hauben: Permaculture & Onsite Applications
Part Time: Melina Hurtado: Permaculture, Beneficial Micro-Organisms, Mentor Yoga Instructor: to be determined Floating Mentor: to be determined Optional Post Course Permaculture Application at Tacotal Eco Village: January 30- February 5 & June 25-30, 2012
Venture to the Pacific slope and stay at a homesteading, permaculture project consisting of 33 families in the earlier stages of development. Here you can further expand your new found knowledge of Permaculture and Community participation for one extra week. Volunteers will be expected to work 6 hours per day, live amongst member’s of the collective and fully engage in community activities.
Cost: $200, includes all meals. You must provide your own tent for lodging and bedding. ** Please inquire for more information
Topics Covered: what to expect… The World situation What is Permaculture? Ethics, Principles & Characteristics Ecological System Basics Design Methods & Map Reading Climates, Elements & Microclimates Soil Understanding Earthworks Water Management & Understanding Plants to trees & Trees to Forests Windbreaks and Wind Corridors Patterns in Nature; Context (culture, climate, etc.) Zone 0: Bio-Architecture Zone 1: Home Garden Zone 2: Fruit Tree Forest; Animals & Orchards Zone 3: Field Crops & Large Animals Zone 4: Harvest Forests Zone 5: Forest Wildlife Management & Integrated Pest Management Incomes from Acres Ethical Investment, Land Ethics and Access Suburban & Urban Permaculture Ecovillages & Invisible Structure Models Design for Disaster Bioregions Aquaculture Bio-Tech v. Heirloom
Workshops & Field Activities:
Orientation to Punta Mona and Tropical Ecosystems Extensive Farm Tour Bi-Weekly Sharing Circles Compost Making, Biofermentation & Micro Organisms Kitchen Remedies: Every day ingredients for maintaining health and wellbeing Water Management Exercise Soil Exercise Movie Nights Fermented Foods: Kimchee, Kombucha, Vinegar, Noni, etc. Onsite Analysis Intro to Medicinal Plants: Theory, History, Ethics and Energetics Medicinal Plant Walk: 40 Medicinals in Zone 1, discussion on useful plants for the homestead Garden projects on the farm and for a local school Personal projects Permaculture Design group project
Discussions: Value Added Products, Triple Bottom Line Business Models and Fair Trade Practices Creation of an Ecovillage: Tacotal & Kopali Communities Integrating a sustainable lifestyle in the modern world GMO crops, CSAs, Economics in Agriculture and the Slow Food Movement
Field Trips: Kekoldi Indigenous BriBri Reserve Finca Inti & other local farms in Hone Creek Finca Isla Botanical Garden and Permaculture farm.
Daily Flow
All participants will be participating in daily farm duties, which include chicken feeding, taking care of compost, maintenance of trail systems and home systems, shared kitchen duties, harvesting and preparation of meals.
600 AM: Yoga and Preparation for Breakfast
730 AM: Breakfast
830 AM: Farm Chores
900 AM: Course Work, Discussion and/or Project
12-200 PM: Lunch
200 PM: Course Work, Discussion and/or Project
500 PM: Preparation for Dinner
700 PM: Dinner
800 PM: Evening Activities, Relax and Discussions
Special Notes:
Schedule will be posted weekly, activities/course work/projects are tentative due to group dynamics and consensus.
Students are expected to fully participate in the program activities, be prompt and respectful.
Saturdays are “off.” Participants are welcome to stay on the farm or go into town. Classes will end around 3 pm on Friday and recommence first thing Sunday morning.
Outside guests are not welcomed during this program unless first approved.
Drinking and disturbing other participants is not allowed, smoking only in designated areas.
Internet is available and a part of your tuition, please be aware that access is limited to sunny days within specified hours at the complete discretion of leadership. One house computer is available, there is WIFI for those who wish to bring their own laptop or handheld device.
On days off, students are expected to provide their own transportation if they wish to leave the farm, as well as lodging and meals.
Field Trips: Tuition covers the bus to the various locations, admissions and lunch only. Students are responsible for their lodging, breakfast and dinner. People are encouraged to hike off the farm, the boat is not included for field trips. Please expect $8-20 for lodging, $20 in food costs and if you will like the boat, $10 each way.
About Punta Mona Punta Mona Center for Sustainable Living and Education, an 85- acre off-the-grid organic farm, botanical collection, community, jungle-lodge and education center located on the southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Situated in secondary and primary rain forest in the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, there are no roads to the farm and our primary means of travel are by boat or on foot!
Founded in 1995 by Stephen Brooks, with a dedication to sustainable education and alternative solutions, Punta Mona has hosted thousands of students of all ages and from all over the world. Our mission is to expose all people who visit Punta Mona to the ideals of Permaculture and educate them about sustainability and alternative lifestyles. The Punta Mona does this while living off the grid where sustainability, conservation of energy and reduction of waste permeate our everyday lives. Our houses are built from local, fallen trees, solar panels provide our electricity, we compost, washing and drinking water is collected rainwater from our water-catchment system and we catch fish by hand-line from kayaks. To support our diet and local communities, we grow over 200 tropical organic fruits, vegetables, herbs, medicinal plants, we shop locally and sell at the farmer’s market in Puerto Viejo.
Located on the isolated jungle-clad coast of the Caribbean there is an abundance of wildlife in this precious eco-system . Our beach is one of the primary nesting locations of the leatherback and hawksbill sea turtles. The socially diverse Afro-Caribbean and Indigenous cultures with many Europeans and American visitors and ex-patriots add a rich flare to the Punta Mona experience. English and Spanish are spoken at Punta Mona as well as Patois, the Afro-Caribbean English dialect.
Punta Mona represents a unique educational experience that has much to teach about the things we take for granted. Through hands on projects, problem solving, community dialog and adaptable design concepts students leave Punta Mona with the tools they need for living in and working towards a more sustainable world. ! Resources & Suggested Reading Material
Inquiries Into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms & Fertility Mattered ! By Woody Tasch
The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability By Paul Hawken
Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual By Bill Mollison & Reny Mia Slay
Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability By David Holmgren
Toolbox for Sustainable City Living: A do-it-Ourselves Guide By Toby Hemenway
The Way of Herbs By Michael Tierra
Planetary Herbology By Michael Tierra
Gardening for Life- The Biodynamic Way: A Practical Introduction to the New Art of Gardening, Sowing, Planting & Harvesting By Maria Thun & Angelika Throll-Keller
Agricultural Course: The Birth of the Biodynamic Method By Rudolf Steiner
The Green Building Revolution By Jerry Yudelson
Green Building A to Z: Understanding the Language of Green Building By Jerry Yudelson
Eco-Villages & Sustainable Communities: Models for 21st Century Living By Jillian Conrad & Drew Withington
Ecovillages: New Fronteirs for Sustainability By Jonathan Dawson
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life By Marshall B. Rosenberg
Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply By Vandana Shiva
Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed By Vandana Shiva
www.permaculture.org www.permaculture.net www.storyofstuff.com www.unitedplantsavers.org www.ted.com www.ifoam.org www.urbanpermacultureguild.org www.herbalgram.org www.biodynamics.com