Three Sisters Permaculture Education Programs

Our education programs range from one hour speaking engagements to 80 hour permaculture design courses.  We address various learning styles, providing for a variety of learner needs, by merging hands-on activities with traditional classroom teaching and experiential group projects.

Topics include permaculture design, food forest design and management, solar design, bioshelter design and management, alternative energy, water management, natural building, gardening, and more.

Past offerings have included two week intensive Permaculture Design Courses, hosted at Three Sisters Farm in Sandy Lake, PA, Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, PA,  Slippery Rock University, Penn State University, and a variety of other places and venues.  Other educational programs have also included day-long workshops, lectures, and presentations at conferences and other events.

Permaculture Design Course

A Permaculture Design Course is an intensive training in permaculture design, and is intended to be the first step towards a diploma of Permaculture Design or Permaculture Education. There are many reasons why people participate in a permaculture design course. Some people have land or property they want to develop. For them permaculture training can help to frame and inform a process for designing and planning their project. Others wish to broaden their knowledge of ecological design and add basic permaculture training to their resume. Some plan to pursue a career in Permaculture Design. For them, a permaculture course is the beginning of a long term training program.

Our permaculture design courses are recognized by the Permaculture Institute on North America (www.pina.in).

For more information on our Permaculture Design Certification Course format click here!

Advanced Permaculture Training

We offer a number of advanced permaculture training programs. These programs run three to eight days and provide in-depth and hands on experiential learning.

Hosting a Permaculture Training

When you host a permaculture training, you can receive valuable design services and training on your site. Host organizations or individuals need to work with us to address the host’s goals, planning and promotion and logistical issues such as food and lodging for participants and teachers. We have a long experience in producing permaculture events and can work with you to create a fun, healthful and productive education program.  If you would like to host a lecture or workshop please let us know.

Learn more about Buena Fortuna Botanic Gardens here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18NfPSnwuhI&t=12s

Upcoming Programs

 

 

 

 

Permaculture Design Certification Course

 

Weekend Permaculture Course January through December 2025

Discover our permaculture course and realize your potential in restorative design. Course begins January, 2025 in Pittsburgh, PA in partnership with Wild Indigo Guild   and Three Sister’s Permaculture.

check back soon  this link for details: https://www.wild-indigo-guild.com/

This year’s weekend course will be based at Garfield Community Farm and will mostly be held on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the year.

 Through our diverse teaching methods and settings we’ll delve into permaculture application from urban home scale design to broad acre landscape design. Our course is certified through the Permaculture Institute of North America and will cover all the learning objectives of the permaculture design certification course as outlined by PINA. These learning objectives will not only be covered through classroom education but also through hands on experiences in both urban and rural settings and with a diverse group of lead teachers and expert special guests.

The permaculture design course has been the foundational hallmark of permaculture education for the past four decades. Permaculture brings together food production and ecological restoration, helping gardeners, farmers and land stewards see how we can create solutions to food inequality, climate change and the ecological crisis. Through permaculture we can all learn to care for the earth, care for other people and do it with justice and equity. With a deep understanding of nature and ecology, permaculturists develop human managed systems to grow more food, support more biodiversity and make positive impacts in their communities.

Our permaculture design course will be spread throughout the year with a monthly weekend intensive. This year’s cohort will include eight to fifteen students committed to finishing their PDC in 2024. Instead of doing 80 hours of classwork in an intense two week course we’re spreading the classes throughout the year, giving students time to read, experiment, learn and ask questions between classes. We believe this model for the PDC will create better learning and teaching environments and it will allow students to go deeper into the practices and theory of permaculture throughout the course. The thirteen classes  will usually take place on the forth Saturday of each month. Some classes include a full day on the previous Friday and extend throughout Saturday. By completing each of the classes students will complete all other modules necessary to receive their official permaculture design certification through the Permaculture Institute of North America. The lead teachers of these classes are John Creasy of Wild Indigo and Garfield Community Farm, Darrell Frey of Three Sisters Permaculture and Elizabeth Lynch of the Three Sister’s Permaculture. Many other local experts will be included in select classes to augment the course.