2024-2025 CLASS NOW OPEN

PRE-REGISTRATION BEGINS 7/15

Learn the Foundational Knowledge for Sustainability and Resilience

FROM LOCAL PERMACULTURE PRACTITIONERS AND LEADERS

about CPI’s YearLong Permaculture Design Certification

CPI’s Year Long Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) is a 96-hour immersion in ethical mindsets and ecological skill-sets to create positive change. Students learn not just the hard skills of permaculture, such as soil science and natural building, but more importantly the underlying design thinking process that makes a permaculture system so unique, prolific, and resilient.

“Permaculture Through The Seasons” is an internationally recognized PDC in Cincinnati, Ohio, that meets 11 Saturdays & 2 Sundays over 12 months, giving you the opportunity to absorb and apply permaculture learnings at urban and rural contexts throughout the course of a full year. Unlike other permaculture design courses that require you to travel to other states or countries, take time off work, and fit everything into a few short weeks, our PDC is entirely localized to within an hour’s drive of Cincinnati and focused on the permaculture practices that are most applicable in our growing region.

Join and learn:

Discover your niche in permaculture! Home gardeners, homesteaders, farmers, community planners and leaders, educators, engineers — everyone has something to learn and apply from permaculture. Our course could introduce you to your new passion!

• Permaculture Ethics and Principles

• Processes, Tools, and Methods for Design

• Foundations of Soil Science and Ecological Systems

• Holistic Management of Animals and Plants for Food Production and Ecological Restoration

• Renewable Energy and Waste Management

• Water Catchment, Earthworks and Keyline Design

• Climates and Microclimates

• Natural Building

• Food Forestry

• Ecovillages and Social Governance

Plus you’ll get hands-on exercises in things like companion planting, food preservation, earthworks, composting, and other unique offerings from our site hosts.

Why this course?

• Proven Curriculum- 15+ Years running with more than 350 Graduates, many of whom are now leading their own organizations and initiatives

• Teachers with Over a Combined 100 years of Permaculture in Practice in our Region- Our teachers and guest teachers are some of the longest practicing permaculturists in the Midwest, and combined they share with you experience that amounts to over 100 years of applying permaculture in our region.

• Community Connection- introducing you to dozens of leaders in the Tri-State’s Permaculture Network, including site visits and guest speakers - not to mention the people you’ll meet in class!

• Variety of Guest Teachers- with a variety of core competencies, from herbalism and forest gardening, to design thinking and broad acre permaculture design

• Great Value- 72 Hours of Base Instruction + 24 Hours of Topical and Advanced Permaculture Education for less than the cost of an international flight

Learn Permaculture FROM YOUR Community

There is no shortage of Permaculture learning materials out there - so this course focuses on the skills that are specific to applying permaculture to the Midwest and the Tristate region. As an introduction to Permaculture Design, as developed by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, this course connects you to the local community for further practice, work, and advanced education. We see, smell, listen, and get our hands dirty throughout the seasons, learning the different aspects of our climate and the types of work required to live locally on all fronts, from building, to energy, to feeding communities. Our hope is to empower our graduates to take what they’ve learned here back into their own neighborhoods, organizations, employers, faith groups and more, in service to our vision of a holistic and resilient permanent culture around Cincinnati.

What to Expect:

This Year Long PDC takes place once a month in a variety of locations around the Cincinnati Area- from urban homesteads and green businesses to rural homesteads and farms. Each class session is about 9 hours and typically consists of a site visit and tour, instruction on permaculture principles and design technique from our lead teachers, lessons on specific topics from our guest teachers, and small group activities. Some meals are provided or available on-site. In between classes, students may be asked to read articles or watch videos and be prepared to discuss in class.

The course culminates with a group design project, where you and a small group of classmates are assigned to a real, local site and go through the design process together, from initial visit and ideation through analysis, planning, mapping, researching, and finally, presenting a plan for developing the site using permaculture. Some groups design for small suburban backyards, while others design for rural family farms or local parks, exposing students to the variety of possible applications of permaculture practices. This final design is then presented to the class and a panel of community experts to provide feedback for the future.

locations change each year for a fresh experience. PAST LOCATIONS HAVE INCLUDED:

• Urban Eco-Village

• Treasure Lake Homestead

• Wake the Farm Up Homestead, Milan, Indiana

• Woodenshoe Hollow

• Homemeadow Song Farm

• Eden Urban Gardens

2025-2026 Tuition and Dates

BASE PRICE: $1,200
Minimum deposit of $300 will confirm your registration. Payment plans and financial assistance or work-trade arrangements available.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Sunday, November 16

LIMIT 20 Participants (waitlist may be available)

CLASS DATES:

• Saturday & Sunday November 22 & 23, 2025 - Kickoff Weekend!

• SKIP DECEMBER

• First Saturday of every month, 9AM-6PM:

  • January 3, 2026

  • February 7

  • March 7

  • April 4

  • May 2

  • June 6

  • July 11 (SKIP July 4)

  • August 1

  • September 5

• Saturday & Sunday October 17 & 18 - Final Presentations & Graduation!

Meals and Lodging:

Meals will be provided at some sites with as much local / vegetarian friendly fare as is possible appropriate to the time of year, but most likely will need to be supplemented with beyond bio-region produce. Students will be encouraged to brown-bag their own meals at other sites depending on facilities.

We welcome students from outside the immediate Cincinnati area to enroll. If you are traveling, lodging can be worked out for overnight stays through a network of friendly homes.

About the Cost and Scholarships:

We make every effort to keep the course costs down in order to make this experience accessible to as many as possible, while also providing fair compensation to our teachers, leaders, and hosts for 96+ hours of preparation and instruction. If cost is a barrier for you, please let us know in your pre-registration application and we’ll have a conversation with you about possibilities.

Pre-Registration is Now Open

Ready to take the next step on your permaculture journey? Pre-register today to put your name on our list for the upcoming class session. Following your application, you will be contacted by a CPI representative to answer any questions and confirm your enrollment.