Teacher Training Course 2025

Permaculture has many solutions and has a transformative effect on people's lives. If you wish to share this with others and would like the confidence and the tools to do this in effective, creative ways then this course is for you
Super Early Bird Offer ends 11/02/25.
This course will give you a grounding in how to teach and share permaculture in a variety of ways, from giving talks to running full permaculture design courses. It is also relevant if you wish to bring more permaculture and creative teaching techniques into your existing work.
Dates
4th -13th June 2025
Cost
ÂŁ795 - ÂŁ1,050
Facilitators
Looby Macnamara
Chris Evans

What you will learn
This training aims to give you both the skills and the confidence to teach and facilitate.
We will be looking at the whole process of running a course – from finding a venue & course publicity to creating group culture to evaluation & follow up.
During the course we will be focusing on the tools & techniques for teaching & facilitating permaculture learning & the practicalities of convening & running courses. We won't be revisiting the topics on a PDC in any depth and so it is recommended that if your permaculture knowledge is a bit rusty that you do some preparatory background reading before the course.
Sessions include
- Creating a positive learning culture
- ,Cultural Emergence,
- Training Needs Assessment,
- Co-facilitation,
- Facilitation skills,
- Presentation skills,
- Accelerated learning,
- Creative teaching methods,
- Training tools,
- Lesson plans
- Course convening,
- Self care for facilitators
- Inclusion,
- Emotions of learning,
- Course design
- Leading practicals,
- Leading games and energisers,
- Learning eco-systems,
- Follow up.

How you will learn
We aim to empower people to realise their own skills and gifts as facilitators. We use methods for building confidence of the participants throughout, and people get many opportunities to practice their teaching and facilitation skills and learn through doing. Each participant gives 2 micro-teach session to put into practice what they have learned.
The course is fun, lively, interactive and creative. It is fun and inspiring to spend time with a group of dedicated permaculturists who all bring different passions and skills related to permaculture. So while we do not specifically recap any sessions from the Permaculture Design Course, there is still a lot of skill development and learning that comes from connecting with others, and from living on a permaculture site for 10 days.
The course can be intense at times, as it can be a steep learning curve with a lot packed into each day. This is counterbalanced with the attention paid to creating a positive and safe learning environment and culture that supports everyone in their process of growth.
Our aim is to support participants on their teaching career beyond the residential. There will be 2 online group mentoring calls. Participants are invited to support and apprentice with the Applewood team on their courses. And potentially we are able to come and co-teach with participants in their area.
Appreciation from Past participants
Challenging but empowering. It gave me the courage to be the teacher I know I am.
A thousand thanks for your teachings, your stories, your experiences, your kindness, your insights. Incredible training, in content and process (still can't believe how easily your course design takes us so far and only 10 days) .Marvellous facilitation and investment. It was a delight not forgetting Emma's magical cooking skills and humour.
Arnaud, Netherlands
Thank you so much for this empowering and inspiring course, for the amazing food and for your powerful and gentle guidance guidance. I am filled with gratitude and confidence
Benedikt
Thank you for your inclusiveness, pushing us into the learning process and confidence increase also for the great time together
Donka, Bulgaria
Practical Information
Facilitators & Venue
Looby Macnamara is co-developer of the Cultural Emergence toolkit with Jon Young. She is an experienced permaculture teacher, author and designer. She is author of 4 books, Cultural Emergence, People and Permaculture and 7 Ways to Think Differently.
People and Permaculture is the first book to directly translate the principles and design methods of permaculture from land to people. Looby enjoys using creative teaching methods to create a fun and collaborative learning environment.
Chris lives at Applewood with his partner Looby and children Shanti and Teya. He has taught permaculture in the UK, Europe, Nepal, India, U.S.A. and Mexico. He is also a UK assessment level tutor for apprentices working towards their diploma in applied permaculture design with the Permaculture Association Britain.

Applewood Permaculture Centre is a 20 acre smallholding, in Herefordshire, UK. Looby and Chris are lucky to have had this as their family home with their 2 daughters as well as a training centre since July 2016. There are various teaching spaces, from heated yurt and barn space to outdoor marquee and open air. There are many diverse habitats here, woodland, orchard, forest gardens, pasture, pool and kitchen gardens. Applewood is a tranquil sanctuary for wildlife and people alike. We are blessed with night times filled with owl hoots and immense starry skies that you’ll get to enjoy round an outside fire.
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