Independent course checklist
How to choose a permaculture course
Start with what you need to learn, then compare evidence: curriculum depth, real tutor contact, applied design work, assessment, support, workload, certificate terms and complete cost. A famous label, attractive site or accreditation-sounding phrase cannot substitute for clear answers.
First decide which level you need
Suitable for exploring ethics, principles and a small applied design before committing substantial time or money.
A broad design education in the established 72-hour tradition, normally spanning ecological and human systems and culminating in design work.
Focused learning in subjects such as water, soil, teaching or agroforestry. Check prerequisites and professional boundaries.
Longer practice-based development after a PDC. Ask about supervision, peer learning, assessment and the standing of the issuing body.
Ten checks before you enrol
- Curriculum depth: Request a module-level outline. Look for ethics, principles, observation, design process, climate, landform, water, soil, plants, animals, built and social systems - and the connections between them.
- The 72-hour tradition: If a provider calls a course a PDC, ask how its hours are counted. Separate guided teaching and supported design work from optional reading or an unrestricted video library.
- Tutor experience and availability: Read specific biographies, then ask who actually teaches, answers questions and reviews work. Experience claims should be concrete and relevant.
- Design projects: A PDC should require learners to integrate evidence into a coherent design, not merely complete quizzes or copy a standard site plan.
- Assessment: Ask for the criteria, reviewer, feedback process, revision opportunity and completion decision. Payment or attendance should not guarantee approval.
- Learner support: Check response times, accessibility, language, technical help, peer interaction and what happens when study is interrupted.
- Delivery format: Compare online flexibility with in-person immersion. Look at the actual pattern of tutorials, fieldwork, recordings, discussion and individual feedback.
- Workload: Ask for a realistic weekly or daily commitment, deadlines, access period and the time normally needed for the final design.
- Certificate issuer and limitations: Identify the organisation that issues the certificate and what it claims. A PDC is not a regulated professional licence and does not establish competence in every technical field.
- Complete cost: Add tuition, assessment, certificate, materials, software, travel, accommodation, meals, local transport, taxes and time away from paid or caring work.
Warning signs in course marketing
- Vague claims of being accredited, certified, recognised or internationally valid without naming the body and the exact relationship.
- Promises that a certificate guarantees employment, professional status or permission to undertake regulated work.
- A “72-hour” claim with no transparent timetable or explanation of guided hours.
- No named tutor, no route for questions or no substantive review of a final design.
- Techniques presented as universal recipes without climate, culture, law, risk or maintenance limits.
- Urgency, hidden extras or refund and cancellation terms that are difficult to find before payment.
A simple comparison method
Shortlist no more than three courses. Give each one an evidence note for the ten checks above: clear, unclear or not offered. Do not turn the exercise into a false numerical score. One missing condition - such as inaccessible delivery, no meaningful assessment or unaffordable complete cost - may outweigh several attractive features.
Send unresolved questions to the provider before paying and keep the reply. A careful provider should be willing to state what its course does, who is accountable and where its limits lie.
How Mă-Kè’s approach compares
Mă-Kè offers a free Foundation Study Pathway for an initial experience of its teaching. Its full PDC preserves the eleven-module, 72-hour tradition associated with Bill Mollison and David Holmgren and includes applied work, tutor feedback, assessment and a final design presentation. Mă-Kè issues its own certificate after successful completion and tutor approval; it does not claim that payment guarantees approval, that the certificate is a professional licence, or that an external body endorses every course claim.
Use the same checks on Mă-Kè that you would use on any provider. Compare the Online PDC, In-person PDC, published policies and current price before deciding.
Where this material comes from
This guide is based on Mă-Kè’s formal curriculum, teaching and assessment documentation and its published course boundaries. It is a decision aid, not a ranking of providers and not legal, career or accreditation advice.