Nothing can replace hands-on experience to help us really master something. Permaculture has a lot of moving parts to it - continuing education that is hands on is thus highly recommended. Seeing what works and doesn’t on your own land, with your personal approach, provides an insight that just reading about it does not. There are many ways to get hands on learning; we've included a few here that we have seen good results from. We also shared in some of the other sections, such as working on a green building project, or linking up with a local group that meets to do hands on projects. We see a trend of more and more creative approaches to learning in this way, and we love it!
WWOOF network (WorldWide Opportunities on Organic Farms).
This is a website that matches farms with people who want to learn to farm. We’ve used it for years and are very happy with it. We’ve met some quality volunteers through the network and had the opportunity to mentor a number who now have their own farm.
Apprenticeships at Our Permaculture Farm
We don’t always offer these so check in with us. We run these in a similar way to the WWOOF network, or we can do a more formal apprenticeship with specific instruction that the apprentice pays for.
Apprenticeships at other people’s farms or projects
Various farms and permaculture projects around the world offer a wide variety of apprenticeship opportunities. The best way to locate these might be to search the specific skill(s) you’d like to acquire and then “apprenticeship” or “volunteer opportunities” or “internship.”
Eco-tourism
This usually entails the person working on a project that allows one to learn more about a particular ecological system. An example is a group that brings ecotourists into a sea turtle sanctuary to help monitor the sea turtles. In the process, it’s possible to learn much more about the ocean, scientific method, etc.