The curriculum seems very ambitious, will we really cover all this material in a weekend?

Yes. The course is designed to be highly intensive and to cover a large amount of material in a few days.

Why is the course only two days long?

Travel is expensive and it would be more worth my time to stay longer. We understand the cost of travel is prohibitive and that out of town attendees would prefer the course to take place over several days rather than a weekend. It is very important to us, however, that the course be accessible to working people, which means it must be condensed into a weekend. For the Austin classes, folks from out of town can arrange to stay longer either before or after the course to make their travel more worthwhile.

How is the course structured?

Will I get to learn about all the topics or must I chose only a few? There is one single curriculum that everyone will attend. The mornings will be lecture, and in the afternoons we will split the class into halves for the hands-on workshops. The same workshops repeat for the other half the following day, so everyone will get to learn about all of the topics.

Who is this course for?

Anyone interested in learning specialized techniques for small-scale sustainable design in cities will benefit from this course. While the focus is on urban design, these skills can be applied to rural areas with little modification. Renters can adapt these designs to temporary situations as well.

No prior knowledge of permaculture or sustainable design is required, however, please note that this is not a permaculture design course - very little time will be spent explaining the principles of permaculture. The main focus is learning specific techniques that can be used without an extensive theoretical basis.

When to arrive?

We recommend arriving Friday to be prepared for class Saturday morning. The class will end Sunday evening. Austin class participants can arrange to camp on the brownfield before or after the class - let us know if you would like to arrive early or stay later. Albany class participants are asked to arrive and stay no more than one day before or after the class. Please note that we are only able to provide food and transportation during the class. Once you have registered, you will be sent an information form with more details about the course - how to get there, the course syllabus, etc.