2026
Permaculture Design
Certificate
This PDC course is divided into,10 2-day modules, held on 1 weekend a month from March to December.
Allowing the time to experience and absorb the course content through the changing seasons.
Each module holds a mix of presentation, activities & discussion held across a large topic base. Whilst working through a design process to give you the confidence in creating & managing your permaculture property/ lifestyle.
Why Connect to Permaculture?
Permaculture is about the harmonious integration of landscape, people, and resource use, with the health of the environment as a focus. By aligning mutually beneficial synergies to help provide food, energy, shelter, and other material & non-material needs in a sustainable & regenerative way.
Permaculture has evolved over the last 40+ years from the concept born from Bill Mollison & David Holmgren’s theories/ experience with Ecology, Agriculture and human connection.
It has grown to encompass more than its roots thought it would mature into.
With more people merging with the ideals it represents, the more wealth of evolution this design tool will bring to life.
"Permaculture is for Everyone"
Permaculture is a living design system that benefits the 7 domains of life … Building, Tools & Technology, Culture & Education, Health & Spiritual Wellbeing, Finance & Economics, Land Tenure & Community Governance, and Land & Nature Stewardship...
This Course is hosted…
over 10 months to allow time to see permaculture through the seasons, to absorb the knowledge at an easier speed and to have to time to see results and feedback within the course and group support structure.
We have chosen to step away from the usual consecutive 16 to 20-day residential course model for our PDC. We wished to create an accessible permaculture platform to share information, resources and skills for those who have full-time work, family life or for those unable to travel away from home for a 3 week duration.
What We Offer
We have a program full of great tutors & places to visit and experience-based learning/teaching
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A mixture of topics with a wealth of information shared through discussion, handouts, presentations, hands-on skill sharing, site visits, demonstrations and resource links.
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Support to create a design and learn the stages that will build your understanding and confidence to use and continue developing your living design after the course finishes.
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Access to the online group page (private & easy to use) - used to share course logistics, updates, course materials:
Activity Sheets, Design Manual, Resource Sheets.
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A folder is provided for the course handouts & activity sheets.
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Each month you will receive course material for reference and a bountiful list of resources for further exploration.
Plus, access to CPI library with over 600 books & pdfs.
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On Completion
You will have a clear understanding of the design process
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A kete full of ideas, skills, connections, outcomes, design concepts and processes to use
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A first draft/living design proposal for your home, land, business or project
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Network of like-minded people, groups, business and locations to connect with
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Permaculture Design Certification endorsed by Permculture in New Zealand organisation and recognised in the
permaculture community world-wide
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1-yr Membership Permaculture in New Zealand organisation
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Course Content
M1: Philosophy & Design
Intro Session
Why Permaculture
Ethics & Principles
Group Culture
Ecosystems
Design Process
Design Method#1: Define
Design Method#2: Survey
M2: Designing for Regeneration
Design Principles & #3 Analysis
Ecological Restoration - Di Lucas
Ribbonwood, Little River - Luke Bird
Overnight Stay at Hinewai - optional
Hinewai Reserve, Akaroa - Hugh Wilson
Koru Kai, Port Levy - Cornelia Holt
M3: Natural & Built Environment
Patterns in Nature
Macroclimates & Weather Patterns
Microclimates & Micrometeorology
Biomes Succession & Shifting
Patterns of Natural Building Design
Appropriate Tech & Energy Efficiency
Urban Desing
Building Design
Design Method #3: Analysis
M4: Invisible Structures
Intro to Social Permaculture
Health and Well-being
Non-Violent Communication
The Nature & Value of Beliefs
Effective Collaboration & Governance
Regenerative & Community Economic
Legalese & Land Ownership
Design Method #4: Concepts
M5: Cultural Strengthening
Regenerative Culture
Te Tiriti o Wnatangi
Seasonal Living & Nutrients
Tool Maintenance
Eco-Community & Village Design
Designing Social Systems
Design Method #5: Planning
M6: Water & Soil
The Nature & Journey of Water
Water Management
Earthworks & Landform Catchments
Infiltration & Soil Substrates
Soil Structure & Pedogenesis
The Soil Food Web
Soil Cycles & Successions
Design Method #6: Implementation
M7: Growing Soil & Food
Growing Soil - Compost Sysytems
Vermiculture
Soil Ammendments
No-Dig-Beds
Plant Antimony
Pests & Diseases
Nursery Activities
Design Method #7: Maintenance
M8: Integrated Growing Systems
Polyculture & Edilble Landscaping
Agroforestry Systems
Urban Agriculture
Food Forest Tour
Wild Harvest
Mushroom Inoculation
Design Activities: Guild planting plan
Design Method #7: Evaluate & Tweaking
M9: Design Project Weekend
Design Process:
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Define
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Survey
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Analysis
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Planning
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Concepts
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Implementation & Maintenance
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Evaluation & Tweaking
M10: Presentation & Celebrations
Presenting your Design and receiving feedback
Certification of completion of the course
Celebration feast
This is a great way to share your experience and understanding of permaculture, the design process and how it has and will be applied to our private, community and work lives.
During the Course …
you will be learning a living-design approch, key concepts from traditional to modern systems and creative solutions that can be adopted into your permaculture design. These choices will change and improve the quality of your life & the environment you live and work in.
Each module we will cover a design process consecutively, through a series of activities that use different tools & techniques that help filter the research & information gained each month. This will grow your experience and confidence in creating a land-based or social-focused permaculture design. The design can be conceptual or a real life project, that by the end of the course, if timing is right, can be ready for an implementation plan* to aid the actioning of it into life. Your design project is presented on your final weekend of the course where you graduate, receive your course certification and celebrate your achievement.
*After graduating you could take your project design into a new brief to obtain a Diploma in Permaculture (minimum 2-years investment, document your observation and adaptations did from the active feedback received). If you would like to deepen your permaculture learning journey the diploma is mentored through the Permaculture Educators Guild where you will receive guidance and support throughout the process.
There is a great team present in your learning journey, read more about them here. Learning from each other is also an important function in this course. Will all come with our own experience and talents that we get to share with each other.
Our online-platform…
Each month we send out the module logistics & any updates; pre-watching videos & reading material that introduce topics that are covered in the weekend sessions; design methods & activity sheets; and after each session a follow up message with the resource list links to delve deeper; and is a great place answer any questions that pop up along the way.
It’s also a place you can share events from your community that others might be interested in. A place to chat with each other and share what's happening in your permaculture design journey and make plans to meet up to share creative ideas or lend a hand.
Payment
The course cost $2500
Discounts available for Early bird payments:
Get $300 off course fee, on payment received in full by November 1st 2025
Or $150 off course fee, on payment received in full by January 10th 2026
We are offering these discounts as a thank you for early registration & payment, this helps guarantee numbers early, and also allows us to complete bookings and payments to locations and tutor in advance.
Payments can be made to…
Canterbury Permaculture Institute
Kiwi Bank - Account #38-9023-0112188-01
Particular: PDC26
Reference: (Your Surname) & (payment option i.e. 1 /5, 1/10)
1st instalment or full payment received will complete your registration/place on the course.
If you would like to spread the payments, get in touch to see how we can make this work for you.
OR an arrangement that suits you... Please get in touch if you wish to create a payment plan
For more information or to talk over payment options email Lillee Star
info@canterburypermacultureinstitute.co.nz
Some Words from Past Participants
Gail Pomare
In August 2019 a Morag Gamble 'How to make a no-dig garden' video popped up on my youtube and I clicked on it just because it was the middle of the night and I was bored. Not even 5 minutes into the video I knew I had found 'my thing'! She talked about this word 'permaculture' and something deep within my soul resonated with the principles and practices. I spent the next 3 hours watching every video I could find on permaculture and searching how I could learn more in Christchurch.
Within 2 weeks I had signed up and was attending my first introduction to permaculture class with the Canterbury Permaculture Institute. I sign up for the Permaculture Design Course right there and then.
The course gave me such a good grounding in permaculture - but I would say it was more a springboard rather than arriving at a destination. It opened me up to ideas and resources I never knew were out there. The workshops were all taught in very considered ways, offering us a smorgasbord of information and practices. It was seriously M.I.N.D. B.L.O.W.I.N.G and I loooooooooooved it. Lillee has the most amazing wealth of knowledge and resources, I was constantly amazed at her work.
It's been 2 years since I jumped right in. I have transformed my own backyard into a semi-food forest. I use permaculture principles to help run a community garden and of course, I've been asked by a few friends to help design spaces for them. I have so many die-hard takeaways from the PDC that remain my foundation. First off I learned to consider the space, who uses it, how it is used, natural forces on the space etc. then I turn to my 7 keys of creating a garden space, build the soil, harvest water, bring the bees, it's all about layers, leave your weeds alone - or better yet, put them in a salad, strengthen the plant = pest control, everything must do more than one job! but most of all, make it pretty.
I feel like no matter where life will take me in the future I will always create beauty....a space to feed the soil, and ourselves, and community. I am so grateful for the tools I invested in for our sustainable future.
Lois Hill
Sophia León de la Barra
Completing the PDC with Canterbury Permaculture Institute had a profound effect on our backyard, our community gardens and the development of a new ecovillage. I really enjoyed the format of doing a unit each month so there was plenty of time to digest, research and bounce ideas off classmates. The quality and delivery of instructors was excellent. I would highly recommend doing the Permaculture Design Certificate if you want to learn more about permaculture and how to live in harmony with nature and community.
Jacqui Barnes
Just wanted to let you know the significance the Permaculture Design Course has made in my life. After some months into a pandemic and knowing that we will be facing further shocks in the future, I took the decision to sell my suburban house and buy land. My day of completion of my house sale (and moving out) was the day before my first weekend of attending the course. Needless to say I was exhausted that first weekend but inspired. Contemplating a bare piece of 6 acres of land and one tiny house on wheels is overwhelming and I knew I was not going to be able to tackle it without some guidelines. I had always wanted to dive into permaculture and knew this was the opportunity and the piece of land to do so. At the end of the course I was able to produce a plan of action and logical reasons for it. It was a starting point of what I wanted from this new adventure, where and why to put structures, where and why to site plantings, how to deal with water, etc, etc but also allowed me the knowledge that it doesn’t have to be perfect and can change. For someone who likes things to be perfect before going ahead this was a big step forward in allowing myself to breathe into action and not be held up by seeking perfection. It is a plan that I am constantly adding to, a road of learning that I continue to enjoy and a group of people that I so enjoy the company of.
Thank you so much for your passion, inspiration, empathy and friendship.
Pauline Sitter
Doing my PDC with Lillee helped me find my feet: I’d long felt that the current system didn’t work for me, or at all, but I didn’t know what practical alternatives existed. Enter permaculture! The course introduced me to lots of new concepts and practices but also confirmed what I knew…there is a better way. Meeting fellow students and the amazing contributors was a huge positive in showing that there is no one way of living a permaculture life, but a whole ecosystem of practices :)
Course Policies:
Certification. In recognition of your completion and achievement of the 10 modules course and presentation of your design, you will receive a certificate that has been endorsed by the Permaculture Educators Guild (PEG) from the Permaculture in New Zealand organisation, and is recognised worldwide. You will also receive a one-year membership to PiNZ as a new PDC Graduate
Communication. It is mostly done through the online group platform. Private emails can also be sent from this app & website. Lillee rarely has phone reception at home, so is a little hit and miss with phone calls and texts.
All interactions with each other are founded in respect and care for each other and the diversity of thoughts, experiences, emotions and beliefs that we all hold.
CPI is on the journey of learning and applying Nonviolent Communication, New Emotions Mapping and other tools that help effective group synergies with its courses.
Flexibility. The PDC starts in March, though you can join at any point in the course, providing there is space. Modules 1-8 will need to be completed before moving onto the design project & presentation that leads to the certification.
Any modules missed can be completed the following year. There is no pressure to attend each module, life circumstances can make it difficult to complete the course in one year, so we like to be supportive and open the attendance over multiple years.
You can also join future PDC course in full or certain modules you have already completed, providing there is space.
This offer is open to all fully paid participants, we like to foster a community group approach to education by leaving the door open to return for the whole course or speciefic modules, allowing you to keep the permaculture learning and to deepen your undstanding with a refresher of the subjects as well as meeting more permaculturalist in the area.
A koha (donation) is asked to cover freshments, printing & admin cost, on modules you are repeating.
If you are catching up on a past module not completed and gave 48 hrs notice, no koha is needed.
Food. We will provide morning and afternoon teas and snacks. Lunches are generally potluck style, provided and shared by participants, though you are not expected to share food, especially those with specific food requirements. We do cater for vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free diets. Please let us know your requirements.
Photographs. Are used on our website & promotional material that is shared on social media platforms. There is always an opt out from being in this material. Please let us know. Please feel comfortable to remind others if this is not being upheld for you.
Refunds:
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If you are unable to attend any of the module weekends on the PDC course, you can transfer your attendance to a future weekend on the following years’ course for no extra cost. Please give as much notice as possible, so we can offer your spot on the module to a guest participant.
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Non attendance or notices given after 48 hrs prior to each module event starting, will need to pay an admin fee* to transfer their registration to the following year's session.
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If you can't attend the full PDC course, please get in touch to let us know, and a full refund will be given or transferred to a future course. No refund can be given after February 1st 2026. The ticket can be transferred onto a future course, or to another person for a small admin fee.
* Some exceptions apply, please explain in writing if you wish to waive this charge. Decisions are given at the discretion of the course director.
Self-Responsibility.. Our learning journey is as deep as we make it. Time and energy committed during this 10-month course will give you a far greater outcome. Being around like-minded people sharing a common intent becomes a powerful catalyst for change. Spreading the learning over this time also takes the pressure of how much information is taken on and how effectively it can be applied to your design and realisticness of achievement.
Transport. We encourage carpooling for our site visits around Canterbury, we will facilitate this closer to the time.