Vancouver Urban Permaculture Design Course

01/15/2016

Vancouverities: Looking for perennial fruit to plant? TreeEater Nursery will be delivering to the lower mainland this weekend. If anyone is interested in purchasing any of our fruit and nut trees please dop us a line!
We are the best source in the Vancouver Island region for perennial tree crops, the species that we need for broad-scale Restoration Agriculture planting! That and…like, fun stuff like super-hardy citrus! We propagate and sell fruit trees, nut trees, berry bushes and edible vines. We want more of these things in the world and we want you to plant them!
Our current stock includes: Goji Berries, Autumn Olive, Hazelnuts, Hardy Citrus, Elderberry, Figs, Goumi Berry, Italian Prune Plum, the Bramble Berry family, Hardy Kiwi, Fuzzy Kiwi, Rosa Rugosa, Burr Oak, Heartnut, Ultra Northern Pecan, Japanese and American Persimmons, Grafted Walnuts, Persian mulberries and much more.
We are located on Denman Island, in the Comox Vally on Vancouver Island. We can ship plants to you by mail anywhere in Canada, deliver by truck to most places on Vancouver Island, are available for farm tours and nursery sales by appointment, and sell at many Seedy Saturday sales in the springtime on Vancouver Island.
Please check out out website for more information: http://treeeaternursery.com/tree-eater-nursery/
Or email us at [email protected]

05/25/2014

Next week in Portland, Oregon - 10 days of fantastic workshops, evening speakers, musicians, and overall urban permaculture awesomeness! If you need an excuse to go down to Portland, and want to learn everything permaculture - this is it!

05/07/2014

SOCIAL PERMACULTURE: TEACHING CREATIVELY AND DYNAMICALLY
Six day Creative Facilitation and Teacher Training Intensive Course with Robin Clayfield from Australia

Throw lecturing out the window and step up into a new realm of guiding effective, empowering educational experiences and group activities. Become a more dynamic, engaging, effective and relaxed teacher, presenter, facilitator or group leader. Learn in a practical, hands-on, interactive and fun learning environment that models how easy and memorable learning can be. Glean tips, tools, processes and inspiration from international pioneer of Creative Facilitation, Robin Clayfield, who’s developed and woven 25 years of leading, teaching, learning and playing in groups into a Dynamic Learning Methodology. Learn group problem solving and conflict transformation tools, planning and confidence building skills and many processes, exercises and tips for raising energy and building group cohesion and trust. Take this special opportunity to work and learn with others involved in Education and Training, Permaculture, Transition, Community Gardens, Sustainability, Community Development, Health, Genderwork and Social Change.

Here's a few unsolicited testimonials posted on FaceBook recently.
“Hi Robin, I did your course more than 10 years ago at Crystal Waters. I loved it then and still use many of the ideas I learned. From working with large international financial institutions to local communities in developing countries - Your course materials are very relevant for all... Blessing to you!”
Bruce Dunn, Australia
“This is a fabulous course, especially for aspiring Permaculture teachers or really anyone who is interested in creative facilitation.”
Wendy Marchment – Institutional Statistician, Deacon Uni, Vic. Australia
“I so loved it Robin, it was inspiring and took me to another level as a facilitator, but apart from that, quite life changing. Thank you from the deepest part of my heart, you are a gift to the world and all whom you touch, and most especially those fortunate enough to know and spend extended time with you. Love and gratitude xoxo” “I Highly recommend this amazing course with the awesome Robin Clayfield”
Linn Wiggins, International Presenter on Australian Bush Flower Remedies

COURSE DETAILS
When: 20th to 25th June
Where: Rolling Earth, Roberts Creek, BC, Canada

Costs and inclusions: 6 great days 9am – 5.30pm each day plus some evening sessions and a presentation on Crystal Waters Permaculture Eco-Village one evening.
$1350 (payment plans available). Cost includes luscious healthy, natural food, accommodation during the course, handout notes, tuition, back up support and all course materials.

Contact: Email [email protected] www.gaiacraft.com
More info about Robin and her methodology www.dynamicgroups.com.au or email [email protected]

Gaiacraft offers permaculture education through PDC courses, advanced classes, diplomas, worksheets, cards, teaching tools, learning kits and an online social networking platform.

04/09/2014

Urban citizen led interventions planning is happening across for Vancouver for a big summer day of creative action: June 7 2014. Check it out here: http://100in1day.ca/vancouver/?page_id=11

Next planning workshop:
Thursday, April 10, 2014
6–9pm
The Hive
128 West Hastings Street
Suite 210
Register today!

Building up to 100 in 1 Day, people of all ages, backgrounds and locations across the city are invited to attend workshops to develop their interventions—from idea to ex*****on.

02/19/2014

Great article on placemaking in Vancouver! Glad the mainstream is catching on:) http://www.theprovince.com/Placemakers+hack+public+spaces+public+good/9511072/story.html

A growing number of ‘placemakers’ are uniting to overhaul overlooked areas for the benefit of their communities

02/12/2014

Urban Intervention Festival up and coming June 7. Sounds like a great opportunity to place-make in Vancouver Portland styles! http://100in1day.ca/vancouver/

What if hundreds of people united, each putting in place the changes they wish to see in their city, all on the same day?

02/05/2014

Absolutely incredible line-up of presenters at the March 13-16 Permaculture Voices conference in California: http://www.permaculturevoices.com/

| Geoff Lawton, Joel Salatin, Allan Savory, Michael Pollan & more.

01/30/2014

Village Vancouver launches 9-month Placemaking course with Mark Lakeman! Intro class with Mark February 8th; Public talk on Friday, February 7th.

Placemaking pioneer Mark Lakeman returns to Vancouver to anchor and guide a 9-month placemaking course hosted by Village Vancouver in partnership with City Commons and Living the New Economy Vancouver! The 2014 Vancouver City Commons Placemaking Course is designed to empower and facilitate community leaders in creatively reimagining the way space can be used in urban environments, building community and actively engaging citizens in the evolution of their neighbourhoods (learn more and register for this unique course at www.citycommonsvancouver.ca).

The course begins with an intensive introduction to placemaking with Mark Lakeman and local Permaculture educator Sara Dent on Saturday, February 8th. To kick things off the evening before, Mark will deliver a public talk on Friday, February 7th entitled “Cracks in the Pavement: Placemaking and the remaking of the modern City” at the Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre at the Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (SFU Woodwards). Buy your early bird tickets today!

Placemaking, the creative reclamation of public space was the brainchild of Mark, an urban designer, and his neighbours in 1996 when they transformed their own intersection into a place for community gatherings and interaction - starting a mini revolution in Portland, OR that has spread throughout the city and inspired the creation of City Repair, an organization that engages citizens in transforming spaces into places.

“Repaired” (place-made) streets and intersections often serve as community gathering places for events such as block parties or even more spontaneous, year-round gathering such as at the Gather Round roundabout at St George Street and 10th Ave in Vancouver, which has been transformed into a “micropark” complete with lawn chairs. Community bookshelves and info kiosks serve as neighbourhood “water coolers” where conversations are struck among strangers and residents stay in touch with what is happening in their neighbourhood. Community gardens cultivate deeper connections with one’s neighbours and with the Earth itself.

The Vancouver City Commons Placemaking Course will guide and support participants with all the skills, tools and assistance they need in order to lead placemaking projects in their own neighbourhood this summer during the 2nd annual City Commons placemaking convergence. The first City Commons event in July 2013 was an initiative by the Vancouver Tool Library, leaving a legacy at 5 sites throughout Vancouver. Village Vancouver hopes that this course will help dramatically increase the number of projects that can be completed in 2014.

Please join us for Mark Lakeman’s public talk on February 7th, and for the intro class with Mark and Sara on February 8th! Let’s make place for community!

A playful, hands-on course to give you all the tools and support you need to be a leader in shaping your neighbourhood.

01/11/2014

Check out Vancouver Island's Hatchet & Seed's guide to food forests: http://maps.youngagrarians.org/ #/locations/50151

We are mapping resources relevant to new/young farmers wanting to get into farming and food growing. Our focus is on the ecological/organic (certified or uncertified) sector.

01/04/2014

Awesome perennial source list on Eric Toensmeier's Perennial Vegetables website - although mostly for the U.S. http://perennialvegetables.org/sources-of-plants-and-seeds/

Perennial vegetables can be hard to find. The nurseries and seed companies that stock them are usually small and run by highly dedicated enthusiasts. In some cases only one or two companies in North America offer the species you are looking for. Be prepared for some quirky or technical catalogs – bu...

12/12/2013

Myco-remediation for nuclear clean - up! Take a read...

Can mushrooms save the world? Mycoremediation and fungi specialist Paul Stamets (author of Mycelium Running and Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms - Bio ) thinks so. Stamets recently published a novel and sustainable method of dealing with the clean-up of radioactive soils and waste in Japan wh...

12/08/2013

Root. Respond. Rewild. This unique hands-on course teaches grassroots bioremediation to youth and community members in East Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories