ridgedale PERMACULTURE Internship Booklet April 2014 by Richard Perkins

Internship Information Booklet 10 week accelerator training program 530 hrs of curriculum based learning

April 28th 2014 - 5th July 2014 Includes 5 Certificate programs to help fast track your Permaculture learning pathway • • • • •

14 Day PDC Internationally Certified 90hr+ 5 Day Keyline® Design & Holistic Management® 5 Day Regenerating Soils & Composts 5 Day Forest Gardens & Perennial Cropping 5 Day Teaching Permaculture Creatively

You will also have time each week to work on a detailed personal design project as well as completing a learning journal throughout your stay to aid the development of your portfolio

farming, innovating and educating for the benefit of all

Åsen 20 Västra Ämtervik Sunne Sweden 686 95 www.ridgedalepermaculture.com www.permaculture.se

Breaking ground with our Yeoman’s 6SB Keyline Plow at a PDC Sweden, 2013

In a time of eroding global systems, massive scale desertification, non- renewable resource plundering, ecosystem degradation and social maladies we are creating a beacon farm that demonstrates the regeneration of landscape, ecosystem processes, soil and community through replicable, scalable and profitable symbiotic systems. We are in for suppling beyond organic pasture-based meats & perennial crops for local consumption as well as growing the farm’s food supply using innovative and integrated Permaculture Design, Keyline® Design and Holistic Management® practices. We provide world class accredited education and learning opportunities to support the regeneration of ecosystems and communities globally.

Managing our farm holistically At ridgedale we believe that financially sustainable and socially beneficial livelihoods are founded on regenerating the world’s biospheres. We believe these three aspects that make up our triple bottom line are totally inseparable and so our decision-making consistently reflects this. To ensure our success we use testing questions to ensure our decision making at the farm is consistently aligned with our Holistic Goal. Below are 12 of the key outcomes we are managing towards related to our triple bottom line; 1. Build topsoil via intelligently integrated planting/Keyline layout & animal disturbances 2. Maximize photosynthetic energy captured on site 3. Restore water, carbon and nutrient cycling on site by mimicking natures processes 4. Create habitats that fully support organisms physiological needs 5. Increase diversity of wildlife species and natural “feedback” loops 6. Demonstrate socially just and sustainable profit with an open farm gate policy 7. Support world-class education in all aspects of regenerative systems design and holistic decision making 8. Develop local food resilience & facilitate access to beyond organic food by connecting people to local farmers 9. Prevent wasting of fiscal, human and ecosystem capital 10. Utilize regenerative technologies to minimize oil dependence 11. Create & demonstrate robust decentralized energy production 12. Continually reassess our holistic objectives and management process with decision makers

Read more about the design here http://issuu.com/richardperkins/docs/designoverviewbook

ridgedale PERMACULTURE is a family owned pasture and perennial crop based beyond organic local food producer and educational hub in Värmland, Sweden. A flagship multi- income diverse small farm, ridgedale is Scandinavia’s first Keyline designed farm and a leading regional education provider in the field of Permaculture and Regenerative Agriculture.

Birds eye view of the design at ridgedale

ridgedale PERMACULTURE’S primary

responsibility is regenerating landscapes, ecosystem processes and soils through replicable, scalable and profitable symbiotic farm enterprises. Our secondary responsibility is to educate, facilitate, inform and empower people into action through regenerative design, enterprise and holistic decision-making that fosters and stimulates local community, economy and resilience.

ridgedale PERMACULTURE farm layout Cadastral Line

0.96 ha

90 yr + Spruce

0.66 ha

Through Access (1 farm above lying abandoned) Laneway Fencing for effective movement between grazing

Grassy Savanna planting on Keyline layout

768/ 1.36 ha 338m/ 0.4 ha

RAM pump 20 yr Spruce & Larch

0.2 ha

741m/ 2 ha

Permanent fencing (Animals moving in portable electric netting)

666m/ 1.84 ha

Perennial Streams

Main House with additional GH

Polyculture Perennial Stacked Plantings on Keyline layout inc. Apple, Pear, Plum, Cherry, Hazel, Chestnut var, Walnut var, Seabuckthorn, Raspberry, black/ red/ white currant, Gooseberry, Herbs and support plants Riparian Buffers both planted & natural regeneration. Edible/ Medicinal mushrooms, Elderberry, Aronia, Rowan, etc Pasture strips for rotational grazing of cow, sheep, turkey, chicken & rabbit plus strip cultivation for annuals on long rotation

555m/ 1.58 ha Willow Coppice (Firewood)

Tilia Pollards

Natural swimming pool

Biological Sewer Root Cellar

Pig Pasture & Leaf tree planting

Annual Gardens

50m

Internship Context

Internship starts April 28th 2014 and runs until 5th July 2014 (The embedded PDC on this Internship runs 16 - 31st May 2014) Are you looking to develop a career in professional Permaculture design? Wanting to establish your own project or farm? Looking for longerterm immersion into regenerative design? ridgedale Permaculture specializes in professional internship programs and PDC courses to fast track your professional development.

We are offering unique experiential learning internships to support the establishment of more professional designers, farmers and land managers. The flavors of this pioneer Internship are; Whole System Planning, Keyline Design, Holistic Management, Fencing, Access, Water, Tree planting ground preparation, Perennial Planting, Kitchen Garden Establishment, Animal Systems, Teaching Permaculture creatively

Working alongside a P.R.I (Aus) & PC Assoc (UK) certified fieldtrained professional designer, farm managers and guest trainers the focus of this training is to engage highly motivated people looking to develop and hone the design, planning and decision making skills to implement successful projects/ enterprises elsewhere. This is an ideal way to fast-track your ability to establish and maintain your own permaculture project and/or get started on a career as a permaculture consultant and/or educator. In 10 weeks you will participate in 5 certificate courses as well as an additional 4 weeks of system implementation. All in all the program offers over 530 hrs of curriculum based learning

Farming, innovating and educating for the benefit of all...

The intention behind this training is to offer fast- track experience with Permaculture design, holistic decision-making, budgeting, planning and implementing Permaculture projects working alongside professional designers in Europe. With a strong objective to support others to develop careers in this field, from designing to farming enterprises, we operate an open farm gate policy so you can really understand the prioritization and budget planning behind decisions being made on the farm. Based on our master & business plan the implementation of major systems and patterning of the farm will be achieved in the first 2 years so this unique opportunity allows accelerated learning opportunities for those committing their lives to this field.

Please note: This learning opportunity suits people who are solution orientated, self- motivated and committed to hard work in teams! This opportunity does not suit armchair theorists. As an intern you will be exposed to a great many opportunities to learn. Making the most of these opportunities is critical to your learning process. You will be immersed in a supportive community of learners during your stay and are expected to get up early each day and get involved in farm life. This will help ensure you come away with the confidence to subsequently design and implement your own Permaculture and Regenerative Agriculture solutions. We aim to offer the highest caliber of practical & theoretical integrative trainings in Europe, and this program is designed as a wonderful opportunity for students who are prepared to accept the challenge.

Internship Program Overview Fast track your Permaculture pathway Please also note that whilst we are committed to your learning experience we also run a working farm and therefore scheduling must be flexible to the weather as well as the emerging priorities that we manage holistically to ensure consistent development of our Holistic Goal. Therefore please be aware that weekly scheduling may shift around according to what we feel is of most benefit.

A stay at ridgedale Permaculture gives a deep and rounded practical Permaculture and regenerative living experience which builds on your initial Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course foundation whilst extending into other areas of study. All inten’s are fully included in everything that takes place using a rotating roster system to allocate the sharing of daily jobs, giving participants both mixed learning experiences and real responsibilities.

Flavours for the Internship Topics we will explore together • Whole System Planning • Detailed Design • Approaching Consultancy • Surveying Skills • Maps and Digital Design • Keyline Design® • Scale of Permanence • Farm Forestry • Mobile Sawmilling • Tools & tech. • Water Systems • Teaching Permaculture

• Nursery Systems • Holistic Management® • Animal Grazing • Mobile Fencing • Kitchen Gardens • Main Crops • Food Forests • Perennial cropping • Teaching Creatively • Cold Climate Techniques • Urban Systems • Local food systems

• Architectural Design • Natural Building • Renovating naturally • Energy Systems • Appropriate Tech • Waste Systems • Community Building • Composting systems • Compost Teas • Soil Building • BioFertilisers • Soil Microscopy

The day to day running of the farm will be the responsibility of the interns. These daily tasks will involve establishing and maintaining: animal systems, kitchen garden systems, water systems, waste systems, nursery systems and the people systems of the farm. Teaching staff will mentor the interns through this process so that they gain complete confidence in running and developing a diverse Permaculture project site. As we establish systems during our time together you will get to understand the wider aspects of planning and budgeting as well as design responses to really foster your learning experience. The certificate courses that take place throughout the internship will be a mixture of theory sessions as well as practical implementation work, so we will have daily engagement in the field at ridgedale

During the 10 week internship program your studies will cover a PDC & 4 specialist 5 day certificate programs (90 hr+) Permaculture Design Course: Every Internship includes a 90 hr+ internationally certified PDC course (P.R.I Aus & PC Assoc UK) to orientate participants. The entire Internship program builds upon various elements of the course content and gives participants incredible practical learning opportunities through out their stay. (Participants who already have already achieved a recognized & certified PDC can join just the 8 week Internship, or repeat the PDC at reduced price.)

You can read more about our highly regarded PDC course in more detail here

(5 Day) Keyline® Design & Holistic Management®: gain an overview of the theory and practice of P.A Yeoman’s incredible Keyline® design system, including site design skills, surveying and directing earthmoving machines to establish dams & ponds, access roads and more. Holistic Management® gives us clear holistic decision making and grazing planning both of which are instrumental to managing and steering our farm consistently towards our Holistic Goal. Keyline and HM have been instrumental complimentary integrations into our Permaculture Design work for years.

We will be welcoming various animals in the spring to begin the regeneration of our pastures through holistic planned grazing. We will be building highly portable pens and an egg laying mobile as well as establishing grazing plans and how to work with Holitic Management as a decision making process.

(5 Day) Regenerating Soils: we unravel the complex sciences of soil microbiology and plant nutrition and look at the cutting edge systems of regenerative soil management. You will gain hands on experience with composts, compost teas and BioFertiliser preparations as well as use and understanding soil analysis Microscopy.

We will be establishing the annual kitchen gardens and making composts and teas and worm systems to begin the nutrient cycling that is key to the success of the bio intensive annual gardens. With good mulch systems and companion plantings we will establish resilient natural feedback loops to ensure the steady supply of awesome fresh food throughout the year.

(5 Day) Perennial Cropping: this training will give you deep theory and practical experience in establishing perennial crops (forest gardens, alley cropping, etc), including design, quality ground preparation, planting and nursery considerations.

We will learn basic grafting and plant propagation techniques, including how to establish a nursery and considerations for perennial plants. We will be using our Keyline Plow with various modifications for good quality ground preparation and planting out thousands of the perennial crops that will make up the long term stable production at ridgedale, synergistically supporting the animals and pasture that make up the interspersed strips on our Keyline layout. (5 Day) Teaching Permaculture Creatively: you will learn to present and teach basic permaculture as a fascinating and interesting subject that will be of interest to a wide range of people and professions with time to organize, present and gain peer reviews and feedback of your work.

Teaching is a definate skill, and an awareness and responsivity to nurturing different learning styles in a supportive and co- creative space takes a lot of skill, patience, time and courage. We certainly need more experienced practioners teaching in this field.

Our intention is to help synthesize the intensive learning journey we have been on together during these weeks, and also provide a structured and supportive environment to examine our own learning experience, as well as how we might contribute to others. Please note that this 5 day training is not sufficient to go out and start teaching courses! It is recommended you have many years of practical experience and formal educational training before teaching significant parts of trainings such as a PDC. This training can help you consider if this is something you would like to work towards and give you a clearer insight into the diverse factors involved.

Action based experiential learning and portfolio development Over 530 hrs of engaged learning experience.... Intensive practical Permaculture & Regenerative Agricultural experience is gained in the remaining 4 weeks through the responsibility of establishing and maintainging new systems. This pioneering stage on the farm, where we are implementing complex systems from scratch and making major design decisions is where you have the opportunity to learn the most. Teaching staff will mentor the interns through these design and decision making processes so that you gain confidence in running and developing a diverse Permaculture project site. We will be planting out thousands of perennial fruits and nuts on a Keyline layout. Other projects we are looking to work on in this internship include installing our RAM pump to allow constantly flowing water to be accessed anywhere on the farm with no electricity, building ferro- cement water tanks, setting up fencing and bringing in animals for intensive grazing and planting thousands of fruit & nut trees and berry bushes. We will also be designing up a natural swimming pool system and other earthworks to make use of roof catchments and plan to make a start on the earthworks. We hope to have the first batches of broiler chickens ready for processing by the end of the internship. We also keep some space to co- design time to meet the groups learning needs.

Preparing for your personal design assignment Hone your design skills... Participants are required to complete diary entries as part of the overall learning experience and portfolio building at ridgedale Permaculture. You will also be spending some time each week working on a private design project and can get regular feedback from a professional designer as well as supportive peer reviews within our learning community. Our extensive teaching experience has shown us that it is protracted observation and design thinking that allow you to synthesize and utilize the broad information we will cover in our time together. We will use time every week to work on a personal extended design assignment. During a PDC most participants find there is not enough time to get into the finer details of design planning, for example generating a Bill of Quantities, budget planning and other research. The aim of this extended design work is to allow for regular feedback with a professional designer as well as supportive peer meetings over many weeks to extend the design work from your PDC, or begin a new design. If you have a site you want to work on then begin taking photographs and looking for topographic maps and aerial photographs. Search Google, Bing or local service for these if you do not have a detailed survey of your property. Public online topographic maps vary greatly from country to country so hunt online and see what you can find. You should also be able to find wind data, rainfall and temperature data easily enough. Take some soil tests, perhaps dig a soil profile pit and take some jar tests to find the composition of the soil. Take photos. If you can you might take some basic chemical analysis. Record species of plants exisiting on your site- can you find out what they might indicate? Basically, you are starting to gather data. Good design responds to both your objectives and the potential of the landscape. If you do not have a place to work on then you are welcome to work on designing systems or portions of the farm here. Have a look at the recommended reading at the end of this booklet and delve deeper into design beforehand if you can. We will have a weekly meeting and brief and you will be guided carefully through this process with the added support from your peers We will be presenting this design work as well as a report and analysis of our learning experience at the end of the internship. This is important as part of our intention is to help you build a portfolio of the work and design you have engaged in. Successful participants will leave with a PDC and 4 specialist course certificates and a learning portfolio with design and practical works recorded.

Why take a training at ridgedale PERMACULTURE?

Our courses are accredited by the Permaculture Research Institute (PRI), Australia (PRI Registered Teacher No. 24) and the Permaculture Association UK. This ensures you are you being trained by a personally vetted field trained professional, actively engaged in design and with recognized teaching skill. We make a living designing professionally and we live and work in our designs and are continually deepening our knowledge and understanding to empower what we have to share. We are engaged in regenerative design daily; professionally, on the farm and at home and have been for many years. We are 100% committed to radical system redesign by managing financial, social and ecological elements holistically. DESIGN is the foundation of all our trainings Our experience shows that students engaging in regular design exercises synthesize course content much more effectively, and produce more competent and actionable designs. We teach principle-based design, so you will understand how to apply design to any site regardless of the climate or circumstance. Our no nonsense approach to design is key to our trainings, and our practical experience in every major climate zone integrating the best of several disciplines of regenerative design means we can impart very broad and practical knowledge and experience. We offer a clear, pragmatic and scientific approach to design. Permaculture is a design science; metaphysics is not included in our curriculums, and for good reason. Students of all backgrounds, cultures and religions are fully welcome and respected. We are integrationalists and believe in integrating anything effective and workable from any discipline to widen our scope, we have been using Keyline速 design and Holistic Management速 in our work for years. Permaculture Design and Regenerative Ag. are our full time passion and work We are committed to regenerating soils, farms and communities through our work- globally. We run an extensive education and consultancy service and have designed in over a dozen countries on 4 continents in every major climate zone. Aside from our busy teaching schedule we have consulted for a variety of projects and clients. We invest our surplus into furthering our work regenerating landscapes and educating others to do the same. We only work with world-class practioners and teachers, whilst we have often run solo trainings we also co- teach with some of the best in the field. See our website for past co- teachers http://www.ridgedalepermaculture.com/past-co-teachers.html We can support you after the training with both personal and professional experience in further education we can offer advice, design support and recommend further learning opportunities for those wishing to take design further. We have acted as mentors in longer term education programs, such as the 2 yr Permaculture Diploma, as well as run a wide variety of workshops and trainings to students from over 45 countries through all climate zones.

Getting to ridgedale PERMACULTURE

What to bring for your stay?

Driving We are located quite centrally to all the major regional transport

Bring what you need to be comfortable. We provide a delicious and wholesome rounded diet with farm kitchen style menu but perhaps bring any special treats that we may not be able to cater for. • Several pairs of work clothes, which you are happy to get get dirty • Strong work boots & comfortable shoes • Non-work clothes, be prepared for cold, multiple layers is best • Swimming costume for sauna (we have people from many cultures) • Water bottle for comfort when working in the field • Flashlight / Head lamp, important • Books- Bring a few to show to others • Towel and non toxic toiletries • Sunscreen/ hat/ sunglasses/ working gloves, etc if you need them • Notebook and good pens for taking notes • Maybe your own supply of coffee, we only offer it at breakfast! • Laptop if you like (internet access will be limited data & time wise) • A musical instrument if you like to play one • An open mind for learning from everyone present • High quality chocolate (optional but appreciated!)

Latitude: 59°50’15” N, Longitude: 13°08’34” E

hubs. We are 3 hrs from Oslo, 4 hrs from Stockholm & 3.5 hrs from Gothenburg. For Google maps use this address; ÅSEN 20, 686 95 Västra Ämtervik, Värmlands län, Sweden

Train & Bus We recommend using the website http://www.sj.se/ which gives you all the options and comparative prices when travelling in Sweden, in both Swedish and English. We can pick you up in Västra Ämtervik which is a neat 6km from the farm. Flying Travel is simple from the three major transport hubs above. Use the train/ bus link to determine what feels best for you.

Come sun, rain or snow...

Booking onto the Internship We manage our bookings online, you can reserve a spot or pay in full via the secure service on the website. You can also contact us here http://www.ridgedalepermaculture.com/contact.html • 10 Week Package PDC/ Internship (Earlybird before March 7th) • Deposit (required to secure spot) • Full Price • Multiple bookings

33,975 SEK (10% savings)

4,000 SEK 37,370 SEK 30,500 SEK

• 8 Week Internship (PDC prerequisite) • Multiple bookings

30,000 SEK 27,000 SEK

Other information you need to know for your stay at ridgedale PERMACULTURE Dedicated to the benefit of all... Site Policy

Accommodation & Facilities

Catering

Included in the cost

ridgedale PERMACULTURE is We have a shared dorm-style sleeping Our courses are fully catered from The cost of your course includes

a family home as well as a professional learning center. We cater to people from many cultures and nationalities so to help maintain a comfortable stay for all students are asked to follow a code of conduct during their visit.

For the benefit and wellbeing of all staying at the farm there is a strict no drugs policy. Anyone transgressing this policy will be asked to leave immediately. Consumption of alcohol is also only permitted on Friday/ Saturday evenings. We do not tolerate any form of anti social behavior/ conduct and our commitment to deep ethics and the benefit of all form the basis of our working and social relationships.

loft for 20 people. You also have an op- our practical farmhouse kitchen with tion to camp on our land if you prefer. our full-time farm chef. We provide as much basic fresh food from the Washing facilities are a large commu- farm as possible, vegetables, fruit, nal sauna/ washroom with a couple of dairy, eggs, meat, etc. At some times private stalls for bucket showers if you of year we may also have wild meats, need them. We also experiment with berries and mushrooms available compost heated showers. We ask people too. All bulk products we buy in to bring purely ecological soaps as they are organic and the meals we serve drain into our plant systems. Please also are of a wholesome farm menu type, bring a swimming costume for the sau- which include preserved, fermented na/ washroom. Whilst this is not exact- and dried surplus products from the ly traditional by Swedish standards we farm. We offer an option of our meals must point out that we have people from without meat products for vegetarall over the world attending our trainings ians, any variations to basic meat or from very different cultural backgrounds. vegetarian diet we are not able to Internet will be accessible for lim- cater for, so students with specialited hours of the day and for email ized diets need to supplement their and basic web viewing only please. meals with their own food purchases.

a full internationally recognized PDC course (P.R.I. Aus and P.C. Assoc. UK) and 4 other certificate courses. It also includes organic or beyond-organic farm food caterering, access to our physical & digital libraries, learning materials and accomodation. We also offer pick up and set down at VĂ¤stra Ă&#x201E;mtervik. We are sorry but we do not offer reductions; our intention is to bring you the highest quality up- to- date trainings at affordable rates. We believe we are very competitively priced, particularly considering the cost of living and taxation in Sweden is amongst the highest in the world. We understand some people have difficulty raising the funds to participate in trainings, so we act as a course provider for Wethetrees, a dedicated Permaculture crowd sourcing site; http://www.wethetrees.com/pages/ fund-your-permaculture-designcourse