In the spirit of furthering excellence in the permaculture movement, PCA offers a special discount for refresher courses. Irrespective of when, where or who you may have previously completed a certified PDC (Permaculture Design Course) with, we provide a limited number of places in the PDCs held at Djanbung Gardens for permaculturists to participate in …
The 2015 Australasian Permaculture Convergence, APC-12, was held in Penguin on the north coast of Tasmania in March. This was the first ever permaculture convergence to be held in Tasmania, where the permaculture concepts were originally developed by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the 1970s. It was also the first convergence in Australia that …
Robyn Francis reports from teaching a PDC in Shenzhen, China, October 2014 It’s a concrete jungle here in Shenzhen, development on steroids, endless high rise towers at all stages of construction and occupation. Freeways, the persistent hum and honking of traffic and a haze that shrinks the horizon to a few blocks are all pervading. …
ABC Open tells peoples stories in film. Producer/film-maker Jeff Licence visited Djanbung Gardens in June 2014 to make a short film about Robyn Francis for the ‘Unsung’ series, titled Robyn the Activator.
Ever gone to the effort of harvesting and making beautiful things with bamboo just to see it crumble away with a borer insect infestation? Many great building and crafting bamboo varieties are exceptionally vulnerable to being eaten out by the Powder Post Beetle (Powder Borer) or Bamboo Weevil after harvest and drying. When I first …
Living in the Future began as an exploration of community and low impact living through film. In 2005, Living in the Future’s director, Helen iles, made a series of 12 programs about the history of ecovillage development in the UK which turned into a 50 minute film Ecovillage Pioneers selling 10,000 copies around the world. …
Robyn Francis and Melian Fertl, representing PCA and Djanbung Gardens, joined over 420 delegates from 47 countries converging in Cuba for the 11th International Permaculture Convention, November-December 2013. Robyn reports on the experience.
Bellamar Gardens is one of the exctiting new major permaculture projects in Cuba, located near Matanzas, just a hundred meters from the famous Bellamar Caves. I was invited to consult on the project when I visited Cuba in 2009 when the land had quite recently been secured by FANJ (Foundation for Nature and Humanity), Cuba’s …
The Eco-Social Matrix (ESM) developed by permaculture designer, Robyn Francis, provides a useful tool for bioregional planning, human settlement and ecovillage design, transition initiatives, and for thinking more deeply about the consequences of where we live in terms of accessing our needs and interacting with community
Davidson Plum Davidsonia pruriens var. jerseyana A bombshell of colour and intense clean, tart flavour, Davidson Plum has become one of my favourite bushfood fruits in the kitchen. This tall (3-4m) slender rainforest plant will grow and bear in the tiniest garden space. It prefers a semi-shady location and does well under the canopy of …