About the course

🌱 Guided Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC)

An 8-Week Online Mentorship Journey to Help You Design Your Land, Home, or Project with Confidence

The Guided Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) at Aanandaa Permaculture Academy is a comprehensive, structured, and deeply supported 8-week online program. It gives you the flexibility of self-paced learning combined with the clarity, accountability, and personalised feedback of guided mentorship.

You learn through beautifully produced self-recorded video lectures, worksheets, and real examples from Aanandaa & other projects—while receiving weekly guidance, task lists, and personal feedback from our teaching staff. 

This is the perfect program for anyone who wants to learn permaculture seriously and apply it practically—without the pressure of fixed class timings or live sessions. It does require fluency in English.

🌿 What Makes the Guided PDC Special?

1. A Structured 8-Week Learning Path

You don’t have to figure out where to start or what to do next.
Each week unlocks with:

a clear study plan and pages to read from the book

suggested video lessons

design tasks

reflections and checkpoints

This structure keeps you progressing smoothly through the entire PDC curriculum.

2. Self-Paced Video Lectures — Watch Anytime

All lessons are pre-recorded and available 24/7. You can watch, rewind, and revisit at your own pace while still staying aligned with the weekly flow.

3. Personal Mentorship from Instructors

Throughout the 8 weeks, you receive:

• personalised feedback on assignments
• guidance tailored to your land or project
• answers to your design-related questions
• correction and direction when you get stuck

This is the heart of the Guided PDC—individual attention, even without live calls.

4. Weekly Check-ins & Accountability Nudges

Every week, you receive a message that outlines:

• what to study
• what to submit
• what to focus on
• how to keep moving

This gentle accountability is what helps learners actually finish the course and their design.

5. Real Design Work on Your Own Land

You don’t just learn concepts—you apply them. Every module includes workbook pages and assignments that help you:

• read your landscape
• analyse climate, sectors, and microclimates
• test and understand your soil
• map contours and water pathways
• plan earthworks
• design plant systems and food forests
• organise zones, access, and built areas
• integrate water, energy, animals, and people

By the end, you complete a full Permaculture Design for your site.

6. Personalised Review of Your Final Design

Your final design document receives detailed review from your instructors.
You walk away with:

• a clear masterplan and implementation roadmap
• a realistic phasing plan
• practical improvements to strengthen your design

This is a rare level of personalised attention in an online PDC.

7. Access to a Learning Community

Inside the platform, you can:

• interact with peers
• share your design journey
• see others’ assignments
• ask questions
• learn from fellow participants

It’s collaborative, friendly, and motivating—without the pressure of live group sessions.

🌍 What You Will Learn (Complete PDC Curriculum)

Week 1 — Foundations of Permaculture Design

 

Ethics, principles, patterns, systems thinking, reading climate and landscape, understanding ecological relationships.

Week 2 — Land Mapping & Site Analysis

Contours, sectors, microclimates, sun/wind analysis, access planning, mapping tools and techniques.

Week 3 — Soil: The Foundation of All Life

Soil food web, soil testing, building fertility, composting, mulching, SOM, CEC, pH, soil restoration.

Week 4 — Water: Harvesting & Managing the Most Precious Resource

Swales, bunds, ponds, earthworks, runoff management, infiltration, soil sponge building, water-efficient design.

Week 5 — Plant Systems, Trees & Food Forests

Forest layers, species selection, guilds, succession planting, orchards, windbreaks, agroforestry.

Week 6 — Zones, Layout & Built Systems

Designing zones, access, buildings, waste cycles, natural building concepts, kitchen gardens, energy flows.

Week 7 — Animals, Integrations & Human Systems

Chickens, ducks, bees, multi-benefit systems, invisible structures, community economies, right livelihood.

Week 8 — Your Final Design

Bringing it all together into a clear, implementable, phased permaculture design for your land.

🌾 Who Is This Course For?

• Landowners (big or small)
• Aspiring farmers or homesteaders
• Architects, landscapers, planners
• Gardeners and terrace growers
• NGO workers, educators, community leaders
• Sustainability professionals
• Anyone seeking meaningful, regenerative living

No prior experience is required—just curiosity and commitment. Fluency in English language is needed.

🔥 Why This Program Works

 

Because it blends:

✨ clear structure
✨ high-quality content
✨ hands-on assignments
✨ personalised mentorship
✨ community support
✨ practical application