Permaculture Design Course – April 4-18, 2026

The 2-week intensive PDC at Djanbung Gardens is an inspiring and empowering experience, in a living working permaculture farm where the concepts taught are practiced. Located in the beautiful Nimbin Valley, an area famous for it’s natural beauty, rainforests, sustainability initiatives and alternative culture.

The April PDC is in early Autumn here in the southern hemisphere. Days are usually quite warm and summery with maximum temperatures ranging from 22-30 deg, and nights are pleasant but can cool down in wet weather so bring some warm clothes and bedding. We often expect rain this time of year so don’t forget your wet weather gear.

Course Catering the course is fully catered (except for the free day) – food features fresh garden, local and organic produce, international cuisine with options for omnivores (local free-range meats) and vegetarian diets. Gluten free can also be catered for.

Course commences 9am Sat April 4 and Ends 3.00pm Sat April 18.  NB participants are encouraged to arrive the day before to set up camp and book in. (NB catering does not start until lunchtime April 4. (There’s a communal camp kitchen available, or cafes in town just 10min walk away)

COST:  $2495  or
Early Bird Discount $2245 (Save $250) for fees paid in full before March 1, 2026
EXTRA Early Bird $2095 (Save $400) for registrations paid in full before Feb 1, 2026
FEES include tuition, PDC Handbook and resources, full catering and free camping on site.  We have tents available for hire. Other accommodation options are available in Nimbin village.

Fair-Share Exchange and multiple registration/couple discounts – please contact us to enquire.

To register please complete the REGISTRATION FORM

Register now and pay a $300 deposit to secure your place. Balance due before course commencement.

SPECIAL DISCOUNTS.
• 5% off for couples or multiple people registering together.
• Permaculture Australia Members 10% discount, Get your PA member discount code from https://permacultureaustralia.org.au/supporters-offering-discounts/
• Fair Share: we offer limited opportunities for partial work exchange for low income applicants – please enquire about our FairShare program.
• Refresher PDC discount: For those who’ve already done a PDC and want to hone up your knowledge and skills through a refresher course, we also offer a special refresher PDC discount. Please email us. 

Course Topics

• Permaculture principles, ethics, design methodologies, & pathways to sustainability
• Patterns and processes in nature, biome approach to sustainable management, essential earth systems science and understanding global climate influences
• Soil ecology, organic soil management, mulches and compost
• Water management planning, collection, storage and conservation, earthworks and aquaculture
• Forest ecosystems and design of forests for food, forage, fibre, structural materials, habitat, conservation, wildlife, tree-cropping and farm forestry
• Food producing systems for home gardens, small holdings, urban systems to broad acre farmlands
• Design to reduce vulnerability to fire, drought, natural disasters, and impacts of global climate change
• Appropriate technology, renewable energy systems, and passive solar house design
• Bioregional & community development strategies, urban renewal, eco-village design, community economics, legal structures, community gardens and city farms

This course is a roadmap for meeting the challenges of climate breakdown and ecological collapse through practical strategies for adaption, mitigation and restoration.

 

Skills & Knowledge you will learn

• integrated approach to earth systems science, working with ecological processes and planetary life sustaining systems
• Practical design for low energy productive urban and rural environments: domestic to broad-scale
• Holistic approach to sustainable landuse planning, conservation and resource management
• Creative problem solving and participatory processes to facilitate positive change
• Tools for community building, bioregional sustainability & transition initiatives
• Strategies for individual, enterprise and community response to resource depletion, climate change, globalisation, and challenges of the 21stC

Who should attend a PDC?

• Individuals concerned with sustainable lifestyle and self-reliance
• Property owners (rural and urban) and developers
• Educators, community workers and people involved in transition initiatives
• Workers and volunteers involved in sustainable aid and development
• Environmental and social activists
• Professionals such as architects, planners, engineers, biological and social sciences
• Trades: builders, electrics, plumbers etc
• All sectors of sustainable horticulture, agriculture, conservation & land management practices.

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“Fantastic! Inspiring, informative, practical, engaging.” – Niall, Ireland

“Informative, creative, relevant, cram packed, up to date” – Aleasa, NSW

“An excellent course. This course helped deepen my understanding of permaculture. I felt deeply inspired to step up into leadership for the changing world.” Jason, USA

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Why do a Course with PCA?

THE TEACHING TEAM

Robyn Francis, the main teacher, is one of the world’s most experienced and respected permaculture educators and designers. She has taught 160 PDCs in 15 different countries, plus as many advanced courses in diverse areas of professional permaculture practices including Teacher Training; Community Facilitation; Ecovillage Design; Sustainable Aid and Development;  Social Permaculture; Design for Food Security & Year-round Food Production. She was one of the key instigators of the Accredited Permaculture Training and has spent 11 years providing full-time accredited vocational training in Permaculture Certificates III, IV and Diploma of Permaculture. Now thousands of her graduates are doing isignificant work in all continents and climates. Robyn was mentored by Bill Mollison and co-taught with him in the 1980’s.

The PCA teaching team includes a great line-up of local trainers sharing experience in their specialist fields of expertise. Teachers and guest speakers for this course are to be confirmed.

Below are some of our past regular PDC teachers

John Button

John Button, permaculture designer, educator and consultant with over 30 years experience in Australia, Asia, Africa, South America and Europe. He has worked on a diverse range of projects from reforesting a sacred mountain in Sth India, designing the Green School in Bali and teaching Tibetan communities in exile to consulting on community development programs for Plan International in South East Asia. John is an inspiring person and engaging teacher bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience into his work.

 

Angela Skehan: Permaculture practitioner and certified organic producer is passionate about soil and growing healthy food from the ground up.

Linda Woodrow well known as author of the best-seller ‘Permaculture Home Garden’, after decades of off-grid living, Linda is taking on a Retrosuburbia challenge with amazing results

Sarah Boulle is a new generation permaculture teacher based in Northern NSW. Sarah is passionate about social permaculture and has worked internationally.

Mark Pickard has been teaching the Permaculture Cert IV for many years and has a permaculture farm on the Gold Coast hinterland. Sustainable water systems and appropriate technologies are special passions

Fionn Quinlan has a background in environmental education and is developing a permaculture farm at The Channon where he runs children’s programs with his wife Laura.

Guest speakers and teachers .

PCA is committed to providing high quality training and all trainers have recognised permaculture qualifications and teacher training. We also encourage trainee permaculture teachers to gain experience with us and are mentoring a new generation. Meet our teaching team.

The Venue: Djanbung Gardens has been described as one of permaculture’s best designed properties in the subtropics and been featured in books and magazines around the world. Established in 1994 as a living learnscape, you will learn in an environment where the concepts taught are being practiced in the spirit of Earth Care and People Care.

We endeavour to keep our courses affordable and they are priced to cover costs. You will find our course fees are generally lower than comparable residential PDCs and offer exceptionally good quality and value.

 

REFUND POLICY
If you cancel your course more than two weeks before the course commencement date you will receive a refund of fees paid minus a $300 administration fee.
Cancellations 5-14 days prior to course commencement you will be refunded 50% of the course fee.
Cancellations less than 5 days prior to course commencement date you will be refunded 30% of the course fee.

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