Courses/Workshops

Take a PDC with Rhamis Kent in Marrakesh, Morocco (December 22, 2014 – January 5, 2015)

We will be running a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course between December 22nd to January 5th, 2015!

This 15-Day intensive course follows the standard accredited 72-hour course and will include several hands-on sessions including making Bio-vital compost, bio fertilizer, actively aerated compost tea, vegetable beds and organic gardening, land surveying, natural building and much more!

This course is in English only — there will be no translation.

The course will be hosted in an organic olive farm in the foothills of the gorgeous Ourika valley, 25km south of Marrakesh, right on the way to historical and scenic destinations such as the Siti Fatma waterfall, Lake Lalla Takerkoust, the Oukaimeden ski resort, the ancient Berber village of Tinmel and the Toubkal national park.

The course covers in detail the ecological basis of Permaculture design, the ethics, the principles of design, strategies for restoring soils, managing water, partitioning land between intensity of uses for efficient management, cycling of energy and minerals within our system, enactment of site survey and assessment as well as design strategies for different climactic, ecological, technological and cultural settings.

Course Content

Topics covered in this PDC will include:

  • Theory and principles of Permaculture
  • Methods of design
  • Understanding patterns in nature
  • Water harvesting and management
  • Drought-proofing
  • Trees and their energy transactions
  • Eco-friendly house placement and design
  • Energy efficient architecture
  • Energy conservation techniques for cold climates
  • Earthworks & their use in earth repair
  • Soils
  • Soil rehabilitation and erosion control
  • Organic food production
  • Livestock
  • Aquaculture
  • Ecological pest control
  • Humid tropics
  • The temperate climates
  • Humid cool climates
  • Dry lands
  • Strategies for urban rural settings
  • Recycling and waste management
  • Right livelihood
  • Catastrophe preparedness and prevention
  • Money and finance
  • Ethical investment
  • Bio regional organization
  • Legal strategies and trusts
  • Effective working groups
  • Effective aid
  • …and much more!

The Teacher

Rhamis Kent is a Permaculture consultant, designer and teacher with a formal training in mechanical engineering and Permaculture-based regenerative whole systems design.

Rhamis trained extensively in Australia at Geoff Lawton’s Zaytuna Farm (PRI Australia) where he took his PDC, followed by: Permaculture Earthworks, Permaculture Teacher Training, Permaculture Aid Worker Training and a Permaculture internship with Geoff.

His training at PRI Australia led to his involvement with design work connected to the development of Masdar City in UAE after Mr. Lawton and his consulting company (Permaculture Sustainable Consultancy Pty. Ltd.) were contracted by AECOM/EDAW to identify solutions which fit the challenging zero emissions/carbon neutral design constraint of the project.

To access some of Rhamis’ writing on Permaculture, please click here.

Course prices:

  • Price for local participants is 4800 Dhs.
  • Price for international participants is 850 EUR.

Accommodation:

  • Comfortable accommodation will be provided. Private rooms are available for an added cost.
  • Full catering is included in the price fee and includes three meals and two coffee and tea breaks.
  • The average day temperature in the area during the month of December is 18°C, with temperatures dropping to around 9°C at nights.

The Venue

The farm produces olives as its main enterprise, but also includes animals, fruit orchards, vegetables and seed saving. It also acts as a guesthouse and a social gathering site for retreats and workshops.

The average annual rainfall in the region is around 300 mm and the altitude is 700 m. Humidity is 24%.

What you will get from the Course!

PDC: This 2-week full Permaculture immersion course will equip you with new tools for whole systems design and holistic problem solving.

You will learn practical techniques and strategies to design sustainable human settlements that include: sustainable food production, energy efficient design, landscape regeneration, water harvesting and storing and animal systems.

You will learn to recognize patterns in nature and think of ways to mimic them. Biomimicry or biomimetics is the imitation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems.

This course equips you with all the necessary tools to produce a Permaculture design for your own life situation. It is the necessary first step in becoming a Permaculture practitioner and will allow you to go on to register in internships, training of trainers (TOT) courses or for a Diploma in Permaculture Design (PDP) all offered by various Permaculture institutions around the world. The PDC is a formative stage in career development which may compliment your existing life vision or may allow you to radically re-evaluate where you want to go from here.

Contact: marrakeshorganics (at) gmail.com

Rhamis Kent

Rhamis Kent is a consultant with formal training in mechanical engineering (University of Delaware, B.S.M.E. '95) and permaculture-based regenerative whole systems design. He has previously worked for the renowned American inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen at DEKA Research & Development, with subsequent engineering work ranging from medical device research and development to aerospace oriented mechanical design. After taking an interest in the design science of Permaculture, he sought extended training with permaculture expert and educator Geoff Lawton at the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia. This led to his involvement with design work connected to the development of Masdar City in UAE after Mr. Lawton and his consulting company (Permaculture Sustainable Consultancy Pty. Ltd.) were contracted by AECOM/EDAW to identify solutions which fit the challenging zero emissions/carbon neutral design constraint of the project.

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