Courses and Events

From October 4-19 2024 Sunseed hosted our first Permaculture Design Course in more than 4 years! For just over two weeks, 10 permaculture enthusiasts from around Europe joined the Sunseed community to learn about the various aspects of permaculture design, focusing on how to design sustainable communities and regenerative ecosystems in the desert.

Permaculture ethics, principles, and design techniques were first used to develop sustainable agricultural systems as an alternative to the growth of agro-industry and the consumer economy. From these beginnings, the concept of Permaculture has expanded and diversified to cover nearly all types of human-based systems.

Permaculture design courses have been developed as an introduction to this way of thinking, teaching the tools and techniques needed for participants to design their sustainable systems. These courses are taught through both theory and practice and weave in both ancestral knowledge and recent discoveries.  At Sunseed we showcase many examples of Permaculture in practice, so it was a joy to bring another PDC to life this autumn.

In this two-week PDC, the instructors taught  the basic curriculum as set out by the UK Permaculture Association and supported by the Southeastern Spanish Permaculture Network (REPESEI).

The course took place in a real context, in which participants had the opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge of how, in Los Molinos, we harvest water, regenerate soil, plant trees and grow vegetables in a desert environment following Permaculture principles. During the course,they also addressed aspects of social permaculture, focusing on care of the self, community living, equitable participation, and effective decision-making models. 

The course came to a close with presentations from all the students on their group designs, followed by a delicious meal with the Sunseed community in our chill out garden space, newly kitted out with creations from the PDC students, including newly made benches and tables from recycled materials, and a refurbished hut made of cob. After the final closing space and certification ceremony, the students said goodbye to their time here at Sunseed with a communal swim in the poza!




It was a beautiful experience hosting this amazing group of permaculture students, and we look forward to hosting more courses here at Sunseed soon!