Permaculture Design Certificate

Heads up! This course may be archived and/or unavailable.

Permaculture design is an ethically based, whole-systems design approach to create sustainable human settlements and institutions. Although rooted in horticulture and agriculture, permaculture design also touches on regional planning, ecology, animal husbandry, technology, architecture and international development.

Online and instructor-led, the Permaculture Design Certificate offered by Professional and Continuing Education at Oregon State University arms participants with the knowledge needed to successfully employ permaculture philosophies and techniques.

Within a collaborative, academically rigorous curriculum, students will complete regenerative landscape projects with intensive instructor feedback and one-on-one interaction to help with every step along the way. Participants are guaranteed to create a sustainable Permaculture design in this course, with design work beginning on Day One. Each assignment creates a new layer in the permaculture design process, culminating in a unique site design plan for residential, agricultural or other natural areas. These plans may be used at home or as a portfolio to share with prospective clients.

Participants will engage with peers through the program’s blog, where they can receive and provide feedback and follow each project’s progress. They will learn from peers by sharing their own permaculture design plan and viewing other projects from diverse climates and environments. Previous participants hailed from locations all around the world, and have created design plans for sites that ranged in size from urban balconies to 100-acre ranches. View examples of previous student projects.

This course is led by OSU instructor, Andrew Millison, who has benefitted thousands of students with his 20+ years of experience in permaculture design. By learning one-on-one with Andrew and his team, students can avoid common mistakes and receive experienced guidance throughout the process. After successful completion of the Permaculture Design Certificate Online, consider enrolling in the Advanced Permaculture Design Practicum.