Findhorn Permaculture Design Certificate Course (PDC)
A comprehensive two-week course blending theory, practical skills, and community wisdom.
Join us at The Park Ecovillage, Findhorn, one of the biggest and oldest ecovillages in Europe, for a hands-on two-week certificate course on permaculture principles and design practices, with a focus on permaculture in community and methods that will engage the heart, head and hands.
- Training in Permaculture Design, covering the full Permaculture Association curriculum (which is based upon Bill Mollison’s curriculum, with updates bringing it to the modern day), tailored to the unique people and place of our course;
- Guest speakers;
- Diverse learning methods: including facilitated group discussion, practicals (e.g. gardening, fermenting), meditation, song, site visits, students sharing their knowledge, group design projects and more – covering holistic learning through eyes, heart, hands and head;
- Observing permaculture principles in action, and experiencing how these processes influence systems and site development.
The Ecovillage Findhorn PDC runs fromJuly 28th to August 10th, 2025, in The Park, Findhorn, Scotland.
Face to Face Programmes
What is the ToT Course?
Gaia Education’s Training of Trainers (ToT) is a new approach to facilitation.
The course prepares you to lead, teach, facilitate and inspire through participatory methods.
You will learn how to create inclusive, transformative learning spaces that empower individuals and communities to take action.
Through hands-on practice, you will build confidence and gain practical tools to facilitate group processes, support collaboration, and become a catalyst for meaningful change—locally and globally.
See more information on the specific pages for each program, which take place only a few times a year in select locations around the world.
Upcoming ToTs
Teacher Training
Ecovillage Design Education
EDE
Ecovillage Design Education programmes, often referred to as ‘EDEs’, provide participants of all ages with the knowledge and practical skills to design a society which uses energy and materials with greater efficiency, distributes wealth fairly and strives to eliminate the concept of waste.
Our immersive Face-to-Face programmes are known to have transformed lives. Previous participants have become agents of positive culture change in their communities and regional economies, they’ve co-created social enterprises and cooperatives, started community projects and became trainers for sustainability themselves – to name only a few paths you can take afterwards. The course will equip you with skills and knowledge you will be able to put into action in any field or sector you are involved with.
Participants become change agents and sustainability designers, taking active roles in transitioning their existing communities, institutions and neighbourhoods, to more sustainable patterns of production and consumption, as well as leading more joyful, more meaningful and healthier lives.
Upcoming EDEs
Mini-EDE
For many people, it is not possible to take time off work/family/school for a four-week immersive EDE programme. Our new mini-EDEs offer the possibility of experiencing the taste of a full EDE, maintaining the core values and following the 4D mandala, but in a shorter version.
Mini-EDEs are for everybody and particularly suited to young people. They can be held as youth camps or school clubs. Check out below some examples of mini-EDEs around the world!
