"Information is the most portable and flexible investment we can make in our lives; it represents the knowledge, experience, ideas and experimentation of thousands of people before us."
- Bill Mollison and Reny Slay
Permaculture Design Notes Book
Sharing a clear, concise and accessible synthesis of permaculture design from the Permaculture Design Certificate Course (PDC) curriculum as well as a teaching manual sharing top tips for teaching any subject. Includes best practices for planting, seed saving, food preservation, medicine making & green building.
Delvin entirely volunteers to produce this work. The book is a free download online. It is also available as a cloth bound, foil stamped, hand numbered, limited edition collectible book printed on Forest Stewardship Council Certified (FSC) 100% recycled paper. As of April 2021 there are 300 of these books available. Get on the ground team and help support this project by ordering a copy. All proceeds go towards reprinting this book.
The culmination of 18 years of teaching 27 year long PDC’s, advanced programs and serving as a Permaculture Diploma Mentor & Tutor. During this period I took 13 permaculture teacher trainings, 13 advanced courses as well as a PDC with Rosemary Morrow in Greece, Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton in Australia and Toby Hemenway in Portland. While developing this body of work I have taken a Diploma and Masters Degree with Bill Mollison and the Permaculture Academy, a Diploma with Larry Santoyo and Scott Pittman through the Permaculture Institute, and Diploma with Looby Macnamara through the Permaculture Association. This book was a central part of my Doctorate in Permaculture Education under the mentorship of Larry Santoyo and the Permaculture Academy. Currently I am training as a Diploma Tutor with the Permaculture Association with guidance from Looby Macnamara and doing a Post-Doc with the Permaculture Academy and Larry Santoyo. I am the Diploma Program Co-ordinator for the Permaculture Institute and a registered teacher through the Permaculture Association (UK) & Permaculture Research Institute (AU). I teach the Visionary Permaculture Program at CoSM, Chapel of Sacred Mirrors with my wife Grace.
Deepest thanks to the core team for epic level contributions : Grace Solkinson, Kym Chi, Dana Wilson, Tamara Griffiths and Annaliese Hordern. Grateful for proof reading from Niki Hammond, Tes Tesla, Stephanie Johnson & Katie Houle. Thanks for amazing illustration by Brenna Quinlan and design by Alexa Spaddy. Extra thanks for art from Ben Tour and Martin Bridge, especially in the companion Elements Game. Source inspiration and content comes my teachers Bill Mollison, Rosemary Morrow, Larry Santoyo, Toby Hemenway, Looby Macnamara, David Holmgren, Robin Clayfield, Michael Becker, Starhawk, Patricia Michael, Geoff Lawton, Mark Lakeman, Max Lindegger, Sam Bullock, Doug Bullock, Tomi Hazel, Jude Hobbs, Susun Weed, Robyn Francis, April Sampson-Kelly, Graham Bell, Aranya, Chris Evans and many more
TESTIMONIALS:
This carefully curated collection from Delvin Solkinson’s 15 year journey is a wonderful reference that will prove to be the perennial words of positive works everywhere.
- Larry Santoyo, Permaculture Academy www.permacultureacademy.com
This is a foundational work that will inform and guide many into the future. I am deeply inspired and grateful for the immensely valuable contribution of the Permaculture Design Core Curriculum Notes. Everyone interested in learning, teaching and facilitating Permaculture will benefit from this very practical and beautifully crafted text. It skillfully weaves together essence, depth of content and the 'Fair Share' ethic. It researches and brings forward wisdom and teachings from the past, flavours it with present brilliance and developments and offers a foundation for the next evolution of Permaculture.
- Robin Clayfield www.dynamicgroups.com.au
Amazing energy and input. This is a gift to Permaculture.
- Looby Macnamara www.loobymacnamara.com
This is a dense but well formatted book offers many strategies and techniques to teachers, designers and practitioners. Delvin and the team have summarized most the knowledge we hold in permaculture. The summaries collate at material and information used by most teachers. I could see Delvin’s encyclopaedic mind through it all. The team deserves a huge ‘thank you’ for pulling all this together. It works best through its checklists and summaries. This book gives abundantly and freely to all people - permaculturists or not.
- Rosemary Morrow www.bluemountainspermacultureinstitute.com.au
A wonderful effort and full of great information.
- Max Lindegger www.ecologicalsolutions.com.au
The book provides a useful summary for teachers and students of permaculture alike. It is well designed, thought provoking, and clear. I am going to be leafing through this potent, comprehensive collection for some time.
- Maddy Harland, Editor & Co-Founder of Permaculture Magazine www.permaculturemag.org
Scope and Depth.
All projects, be they land or life require both to be successful. In an international pilgrimage to permaculture pioneers, practitioners and projects Delvin Solkinson has deftly crafted this tome sourcing from over two dozen living pillars of wisdom. For craftsmen, seeking high grade tools to progress their work in regenerative living, I recommend this book. My sincere gratitude to Delvin for his work.
- Javan K. Bernakevitch www.allpointsdesign.ca
Permaculture Design Core Curriculum Notes provides permaculture teachers, students, and practitioners with a holistic outline for permaculture literacy. This book deserves a place on your bookshelf next to Bill Mollison’s Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual.
- Scott Mann www.thepermaculturepodcast.com
The Core Curriculum Notes are way more than just an outline of the Permaculture Design Course curriculum. They are an index to a whole process, from the culture of a class and presence of an instructor, to a road map of where students can go beyond the PDC. It's always fascinating to see how someone as deeply studied as Delvin arranges and sequences the curriculum, borne of his own trial and error and the trials and errors of his mentors and teachers. I will definitely be referencing this text as I do my own work, and am very appreciative that this is put together as an open source document to lift up all teachers in the Permaculture field.
- Andrew Millison www.permaculturerising.com