Eco-Communities Workshop Session 2

Do you dream of a world where communities support each other again? A life of gifting, mutual aid, home industries, and self-governance? A society where individuality and communality balance each other out for a whole human experience?

In this workshop series, international permaculture designer and teacher David Dornbrack will guide us through six evenings geared towards learning modern theories of communal living, intentional

communities, and humanistic permaculture. We will discuss the pros and cons of communal living, and how to transcend these cons for a happy life together.

Course Series

⦁ Introduction to Intentional Community Living and Ecovillages

⦁ Permaculture and Ecovillages - The Connection

⦁ Examples of Intentional Communities for Study

⦁ Social Systems Design: Decision-Making and Conflict

Resolution

⦁ The Economics of Intentional Communities

⦁ Site Design and Land Use for Communities

You should bring: Coffee mug, spoon, notepad, pen, water bottle, enthusiasm

Cost: $10 per session, or $50 - if you pay this upfront you will be able to attend all six sessions, which effectively gives you one session completely for free.

Session 2. Permaculture and Ecovillages – The Connection:

Program

6.30 Arrival, greetings, registration, find your place, prepare a cup of tea/coffee

6.45 Short summary of why we are here – 3 key points

 To learn the basics of permaculture

 To form a connection between the design method of permaculture and the way of life of

intentional communities

 To see ourselves as designers of our own communities

7.00 Hear from each participant that attended the previous event, which 10 things they do and don’t

want in communities

7.10 Show participants how the connection between wants and dislikes is evident in permaculture

7.20 Ask each participant what they know of permaculture

7.30 Define permaculture – as a class, and also learn the ‘official’ definition

7.45 Run-through of David Holmgren’s 12 permaculture principles and how they can help

communities

Use of photographs to show these 12 principles in action

8.10 Tea break

8.40 Visioning exercise: how we will use permaculture to create an ecovillage of our own

Vision board, write down what we think of

9.00 Summary of what has been learned, what to look forward to in the next session, assigned

‘homework’ (watch at least 5 permaculture videos from OSU’s YouTube channel, and make notes on

what you’ve learned)

9.10 Goodbyes