FULLY CERTIFIED
PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE
Saturday 3rd to Friday 16th May 2025
12 days of teaching with 2 free daysJoin this 12-day Permaculture Design Course to deepen your understanding of sustainable living and your connection with nature. This intensive program will enhance your practical skills in regenerative agriculture, water management, soil health, and community building. You’ll gain hands-on experience with permaculture techniques, participate in design projects, and learn to create resilient systems in any climate.
The course emphasizes mindfulness and observation while working with natural systems. Whether for personal sustainability or a career in permaculture, this training provides a strong foundation. Upon completion, you’ll receive a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) to implement sustainable projects in your community or professionally.
Inspired By Knowledge
"Permaculture is not just a set of techniques; it's a philosophy of working with nature, not against it, to create systems that are sustainable, regenerative, and in harmony with the earth."
– Bill Mollison
THE PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE
This fully certified course (accredited by the Permaculture Association Britain and Roots n Permaculture) will teach you how to:
Create harmonious relationships between people, communities, and nature.
Build houses, grow food, and create sustainable economies.
Learn practical tools for enriching the planet while supporting human activity.
Sat 3: Introduction to collaborative working (sociocracy) Sun 4: Introduction to permaculture for self-reliance Mon 5: Water management Tue 6: Soil regeneration Thu 8: Plants and trees Sat 10: Forest gardening: Low maintenance food growing Sun 11: Off-grid living (especially energy)
Note: For full-time students, additional days are dedicated to design work.WHAT IS SOCIAL AND VEGAN PERMACULTURE?
Permaculture is a design system for creating abundance in all aspects of our lives. Permaculture teaches us how build natural homes, grow our own food, restore diminished landscapes and ecosystems, catch rainwater, build communities, take care of waste and much more. The word ‘permaculture’ historically comes from ‘permanent agriculture’ and has evolved into ‘permanent culture’ – it is about living lightly on the planet, and making sure that we can live in harmony with nature while sustaining human activities Permaculture is a rigorous and systematic set of tools, ecological principles and methodologies, underpinned by ethics, which help us to design and create this culture of permanence. A culture that allows us to design how we cater for all our needs and the needs of the planet and all its creatures, without exploiting or depriving other humans or creatures of their needs.
WHAT IS SOCIOCRACY?
Sociocracy ensures:
Transparency, equivalence, and effectiveness in decision-making.
Everyone’s voice is heard, and collaboration thrives.
During the PDC we will put sociocracy into practice on a daily basis. The first day of the course we establish what every person wants form the course, form which we derive a common vision. We then create a mission and aims on how to achieve our vision. We then embed a feedback mechanism to check if we are meeting these aims, so we can keep adjusting our collaboration every day.
PDC Course Syllabus
The emphasis remains on learning the patterns and concepts that are applied in permaculture, so you can apply this to all aspects of your life after the course has finished. Hence the practicals will be a way to reinforce the theory and design work that we cover.
Where and when appropriate we will visit nearby intentional communities and projects that integrate permaculture in their design (subject to consent by the students).
- Principles of Natural Systems
- Sustainable Design Methodologies
- Patterns in Nature
- Reading the Land & Understanding Natural Processes
- Water Harvesting Techniques
- Design Principles of Sustainable Human Settlements
- Grey Water Recycling
- Natural Building Design Strategies
- Food Forests, Plant Guilds, Gardens for Self-Sufficiency
- Energy Conservation Technologies
- Urban Permaculture and transition towns
- Wildlife Management and Biological Pest Control
- Community Activism
- Invisible Structures: People, Community, Economics, EcoVillages
- Sociocracy; Good community governance
- Community Supported Agriculture
Why choose our course?
This course adheres to the Permaculture Association Britain’s accreditation criteria for Permaculture Design Courses (PDCs).
Participants can choose between:
A certificate from the Permaculture Association Britain (£20).
A certificate from the Roots n Permaculture Collective School (£5).
A free digital Roots n Permaculture certificate.
Located in a unique project that blends ashram and permaculture principles, this course offers participants the opportunity to immerse themselves in a peaceful natural environment. Here, you will not only enjoy healthy, organic food grown in our own garden but also have the chance to engage in spiritual practices that complement the permaculture experience. These practices, such as meditation, mindfulness, and yoga, are integrated into the daily schedule, allowing participants to connect deeply with nature and their inner selves.
Meet Our teachers
Rakesh Rootsman Rak
An experienced Permaculture designer teacher, forest garden specialist, yoga teacher, homeopath and reggae DJ. Rakesh has been designing and teaching permaculture to individuals and communities since 2009, and has taught over 500 permaculture, forest gardening, eco village design and related courses. His design portfolio ranges from a forest garden on part of a 30-hectare ecovillage in Croatia that he co-owned through to many urban community food growing gardens, private farms and back gardens as well as designing collaborative businesses, urban water retention systems and even computer software and documentation systems. Rakesh is also passionate about sharing his journey of self empowerment (learning how to make all the things you need for yourself rather than relying on the system to provide for you), this includes eco architecture (low impact housing); capturing and storing energy (electricity, heat, lighting, etc); fuel efficient heating systems (rocket heaters and stoves); water capture, purification and recycling systems and so on. He is one of the founders of the Children in Permaculture project which was launched at the international permaculture convergence in this year. So be prepared to go off on inspirational tangents occasionally.
http://rootsnpermaculture.com/
Dada Krsnasevananda
Venue
Ananda Gaorii Ashram, Farm, and Learning Center is a peaceful meditation-based community nestled on 13 hectares of farmland near the small town of Vig, just an hour from Copenhagen. There is a range of amenities, including a small orchard, vegetable garden, organic bakery, sauna, meditation hall, dining hall, small gym and a developing forest garden project. Guests can participate in the daily routine of yoga and meditation and enjoy fresh bread and cakes from the on-site bakery.
Accommodation
At Ananda Gaorii, we offer a variety of accommodation options to suit your needs. Separate dormitories for men and women can comfortably accommodate up to 10 people, with bunk beds. For those seeking more privacy or a closer connection to nature, grassy fields are available for camping. We will also set up a limited number of tents for participants, but guests are encouraged to bring their own tents if they prefer. Please bring your own fitted bed sheet, duvet (comforter) cover, pillowcase, bath towel, toiletries, and comfortable, warm, loose-fitting clothing for both indoor and outdoor activities. A pillow and duvet will be provided. If needed, a set of sheets and a towel can be rented for 50 DKK.
Cuisine
Our cuisine follows a yogic vegetarian diet, designed to nourish the body and calm the mind. Meals exclude seafood, fish, eggs, onion, garlic, and mushrooms, as these are believed to disturb meditation. Tea and light snacks will be available at various times during the day.
Prices
House and Accommodation
- Fixed fee: 3000 DKK for the full 14 days (12 teaching and 2 free days).
- For one day courses it is 340DKK for food and accommodation per day
- Or if you are non residential 50DKK per meal
Course payment options
Payment options for the 12 day is based on gift economy, where participants are invited to contribute what they can afford and are willing to pay. The cost of putting on the course means we need to raise on average 4000dkk (€540) per person. However we invite you to propose how much you would like to contribute somewhere in the range of the following
- Minimum 3150DKK (€425)
- Ideal 4000DKK (€540)
- Full 5200DKK (€700)
We encourage those of you who can contribute more to do so, which should allow us to cover our costs, however if the minimum is outside of your ability to contribute then please let us know of your circumstances so we can see if we can find a way to get you on the course.
Example: Full course with accommodation an food costs 7000DKK (ideal contribution)
To secure your spot in this course, a payment of 25% of the total amount is required until the 1st of March. While the full amount can be paid in installments, the 25% deposit is necessary to confirm your attendance. The course will proceed once we have 8 confirmed participants, so if you’re interested, please reach out as soon as possible.
TESTIMONIALS
Read what past participants have to say:
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact Rakesh: 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rootsmanrak
