Permaculture for People and Places October 2025 with Suzie Cahn, of Carraig Dulra organic permaculture farm https://www.dulra.org/

Grow food, build soil, and design shared spaces that care for nature and community.

Course Description:

Learn how to design green, healthy spaces in towns and cities using the basics of permaculture. This short course is a practical and gentle introduction to nature-friendly, holistic, and regenerative design for mainly urban areas. You don’t need a big garden—or any gardening experience. Whether you have a balcony, small yard, or just an interest in sustainable living, this course will help you understand how to work with nature to create spaces that care for people and the environment. The course also explores the social side of permaculture, looking at how we design not just gardens, but communities that are fair, supportive, and connected.

Course Outline (8 Weeks):

Week 1: What is Permaculture? A simple introduction to the ethics and principles of permaculture. Learn about care for the earth, care for people, and fair sharing. Understand how permaculture looks at the bigger picture and works with whole systems rather than separate parts.

Week 2: Reading the Urban Landscape Learn how to observe your physical and social spaces—sunlight, shade, wind, water, soil, plants, animals, and people. Start to see your surroundings in a new way, using permaculture thinking to guide your ideas.

Week 3: Designing with Nature How to use zones, sectors, and mapping to plan new ways of working with your space. Explore how energy (like sunlight, water, and people’s movement) flows, and how good design can make the most of all these energies.

Week 4: Ecology, Soil, Compost, and Regeneration Understand how ecosystems function and the importance of connected soil ecosystems for soil health and how to build living soil. Learn easy composting methods for small spaces and how to return nutrients to the earth.

Week 5: Water, Plants, and Food Growing Practical tips for using rainwater, choosing resilient plants, and growing food in containers, raised beds, or shared spaces. Look at planting for beauty, usefulness, and biodiversity.

Week 6: Nature, People, and Place Explore how to welcome wildlife into your space and how gardens can also support human connection, wellbeing, and local community. Introduction to community gardening, shared spaces, and the basics of social permaculture—designing systems that support people as well as the planet.

Week 7: Creating Your Urban Design Plan Pull together everything you’ve learned to create a simple design for your own space, a community project, or even just a corner of a shared yard.

Week 8: Sharing, Reflection, and Next Steps Present and discuss your design in a supportive group setting. Reflect on what you’ve learned, and explore local resources, permaculture networks, and how to keep learning and connecting.