Paying it forward﻿

30/12/2014

Paying it forward

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2014 was an incredible year for us at Ridgedale Permaculture. We hit the ground running and with an awesome Core Team from around the world and all the amazing people who came through the farm we achieved so much both on the land and in education, and gained support of over 10,000 followers to our Fb page Thanks so much to all of you who contribute to this amazing place. We have so much to be grateful for, and it is such a joy and pleasure to be able to share our experience and learning with some of the brightest minds and kindest hearts we've ever met. We have always valued making our Educational activities as accessible as possible; one of our main objectives is supporting as many people as possible into farming & land based enterprises and professional regenerative design. We've been doing pretty good with it; yet settled at our Swedish home base where we have to operate in this economy (not exactly set up to support small, local regenerative enterprises!) we realize many around the world just can't afford to make it to our trainings. So we've been considering how we can support low income folks who have the passion and commitment, who are dedicating their lives to regenerating their soils and communities. So Yohanna & Richard have decided to offer super low cost placement's for both our next Permaculture Design Course and our pioneering training; 8 Week Farm Scale & Professional Permaculture Internship.

This offer is open until 16th jan...

We searched around all corners of Sweden to find a place to set up our farm project, with a list of around 50 goals we were trying to meet. We found it, and with our incredible Core Team and Intern's laid out the skeleton of the farm in our first 6 month season as you can see in the brief recap of the year below;

We're trying to share as much of this journey with as many people as possible through our trainings, writings, etc. You can read more about the last season's experience in a recent article on our blog. 2015 will see us scaling up egg and broiler production, introducing forest pigs, extending the gardens for a CSA, earthworking and more reforestation work. It's going to be epic.

Whilst our trainings are comparatively low priced for what we offer, we know a lot of people who could benefit from this just can't afford our workshops. We decided as part of our Fair Share policy to pay it forward and offer 1 spot on our next highly regarded Permaculture Design Course (9-23rd May 2015) training for 2000.00 SEK (normally 10, 500 SEK). Details for this training are found here.

We are also offering 1 spot on our unique & pioneering 8 Week Farm Scale & Professional Permaculture Internship (normally 36,000 SEK) for 9,500 SEK. This 8 Week Certificate training includes;

• 90hr+ PRI (Aus) & PC Assoc (UK) certified PDC
• Introduction to Holistic Management (Savory Institute Certified) & integrated Animal Systems
• Keyline Design & Water Management
• Agroforestry & Perennial Cropping
• Annual vegetable production & Regenerating Soils

There is no other training like this we know about, so we are looking to support someone who will really utilize what they learn with us in a highly active way. Details of this training are found here.

At this point both the PDC and Internship are booking up, but spots are available on both. If you have already signed up you can still apply. We shall select the lucky 2 people early in the New Year. You will need to pay the fee within 10 days of receipt of the news or you forfeit the gift (which will go to someone else). To be in for a chance you need to;

Share this post on your Facebook Feed (Possibly invite others to check it out)
Write a response here on this blog about how you would benefit from & utilize this training

Ultimately we know our future depends on a LOT more people expressing their uniques gifts, strengths & talents in regenerative enterprises. Please note the intention of this is to support folks who simply cannot afford trainings of this nature rather than people who prioritize spending money in other areas.

Best wishes for 2015, thank you so much for all the support that has come in from around the globe. It is such an honor to share these journeys together...

17 Comments

Calle

30/12/2014 05:46:53 am

I would utilize this training to get a deeper knowledge in permaculture and hopefully it will kickstart me in setting up my own sustainable farm, to be able to feed my family and friends.

Calle

Nishad Malla

30/12/2014 12:17:38 pm

Wow !! This is best thing that I heard in this year. I would be really benefitted by this training not only by getting hands-on training and knowledge of permaculture techniques but also its will act as both launch pad and solid foundation to start my own permaculture farm. I believe this opportunity will surely give my right tools to shape my career goals and will benefit my family and friends, and whole community.

Oskar Henke

31/12/2014 12:32:58 am

I've been studying permaculture on my own for a few years and would really like a chance to do a PDC to go back to the basics and fill in the blanks since it's hard to make sure one doesn't miss anything when self-studying. Being a young ex-art student I've never been able to afford a PDC, so this seems like the opportunity of a lifetime to get the knowledge I need in order to get going in a more helpful direction!

Pieter Ploeg

31/12/2014 02:41:29 am

Over the last years I have dug deep into the issue of soil degradation and had an awakening in terms of the positive impact that regenerative agriculture can have on our landscapes, food systems, ecosystem health, economic & ecological resilience and climate change mitigation. Committed to networking and awareness raising I ran the Summer of Soil project, after which I realised that we need more people actually restoring land. I created a vision of a land restoration project and have since committed to restore at least 100 hectares of degraded land during my life. I believe this 8 week training at Ridgedale is the most strategic and rich training on my path to make this happen. This generous offer will enable me to bring my partner and 1 year old daughter along to the training, which would make it possible for us to participate and contribute. As a young family without a job or capital we struggle to find the funds, and would be so grateful! We will commit to pay it forward again once the time comes, and contribute with all our gifts during the training!

Luke Vaillancourt

31/12/2014 11:04:38 pm

First off, what an generous opportunity provided by Richard and Yohanna, two great people and inspirations for all the burgeoning young regenerative agrarians out there. This past year, both the Ridgedale Facebook page and blog have been great resources for gleaning personal and educational accounts of a developing regenerative enterprise in "real-time"... as projects, problems, and educational events unfolded in a very inclusive, "open sourced" manner. What a model for us to look to going forward.

As a conventional residential landscaper with plans of beginning a regenerative enterprise in the near future, I feel the 8 week Internship program offered at this generous rate would provide the crucial next step in my permaculture/regen ag pathway. My last 3-4 years have been filled with mind expanding and paradigm shifting permaculture and regenerative knowledge and skills. After completing two PDC's (Ben Falk's intensive and Geoff Lawton's Online version) as well as several other workshops with the likes of Darren Doherty and Eric Toensmeier, I feel a longer, place based, focused internship is the final step for my educational pathway before begging my own venture. (especially in an area with climate analogues similar to my native North East U.S.)

Once completed, I'd take what I learned at Ridgedale and apply it in my own community here in the north east, as this area is ripe and ready for a working model of a profitable and yet educationally demonstrative, permaculture enterprise.

Eva Borg

3/1/2015 02:26:48 am

Hej, jag har betalat in 2.500:- i deposition för krsen i maj 2015! Har dock inte fått bekräftelse från er personligen att ni mottagit pengarna!
Med vänlig hälsning Eva

Richard

3/1/2015 04:06:25 am

Hi Eva,

Thank you so much for this. We have tried to email you twice previously but the email fails....

Hope you find this

Richard

Torgeir Noren

7/1/2015 06:32:14 pm

Shared it on Facebook, but want to make sure that I get a spot in the lottery ;)

I see this as a great opportunity to learn what I need to learn to support myself, my future family and my community. Also I'm sure the experience in itself will be wonderful. Fingers crossed!

9/1/2015 11:47:48 am

Ok, nu har ni min mail:) Borgadress@hotmail.com

10/1/2015 04:54:07 am

My goal is to give knowledge from permaculture to my grandchildren, thats my best gift to them./Eva grandmother

Mundeep Baryana link

12/1/2015 02:45:46 am

The internship that you are offering at Ridgedale farm would be the most perfect opportunity for me to set my foundation in permaculture. Ridgedale excites me for many reasons. Firstly, to be able to learn from highly experienced practitioners at this stage in my development would give me a strong basis to continue onwards with a solid awareness of permaculture techniques. Having thoroughly studied permaculture and worked on a vast range of projects from all different countries and climates, you have an abundance of knowledge and are valuable teachers. I would love to learn from you and be part of this journey.
Secondly, being a new permaculture site, Ridgedale brings a lot of opportunities to design and work on real projects that can be carried out and seen through from start to finish. The fact that the site has an open gate policy allows the students to experience realistic problems/limitations as they arise and therefore have the opportunity to create practical solutions. This hands on learning gives great clarity in the processes and requirements. It's very inspiring to see how the farm has progressed over the last year and to see how many responsibilities and learning opportunities were given to students.
Thirdly, the content and structure of the internship program looks very strong and teaches wonderful disciplines. From learning holistic management which would set a strong basis for development and help students to become more aware of natural systems and patterns, to more specifically keyline design where students are able to get real time field experience from a pioneer designer are great opportunities. The mix of theory based and practical work in which we can gain first hand experience is the way I learn best.
Also, the cold climate is different from my previous experience and would add another layer of diversity to my knowledge base. It will be interesting to experience the effects that different climates have on crop cycles and livestock and to see what types of limitations and benefits arise.

A bit of background about me… I undertook a degree in Interior Design in which I learnt how to design the interior architecture of spaces. Projects included designing self-contained units within buildings, exhibition stands and an environmental science department. From this I gained a thorough understanding of the design process and have confidence in my designing ability.

The last couple of years have been a transitional stage for me. I spent a year in Australia in which I wanted to learn about farming and food production. I worked on a commercial fruit farm in the outback where I stayed for the majority of the year so that I could get a deeper understanding of what was required in the day to day and yearly running of it. I enjoyed many aspects such as the physical labour and the direct relationship with the earth, it was beautiful to see the fruits of labour ripen. I sewed seeds, harvested and packed fruit, and helped maintain the farm during the off season by carrying out maintaince work on irrigation systems, helping with construction work on outbuildings and many other farm duties. Whilst this was a valuable experience for me, the philosophies and techniques used felt very mechanical. This was not a permaculture site and my experience there made me realize that I wanted to be involved with farming in a more sustainable and natural way. I left feeling somewhat disconnected.

After leaving Australia, I returned to England where my aim was to reconnect and find the essence of my belief systems and who I am. I found a Buddhist centre in London where I have been living and volunteering full time for over a year. My role here is the cafe manager which I have taken on with great enthusiasm. I have fully immersed myself in the centre and have made the most of this opportunity by attending many teachings and regularly practicing meditation and mindfulness. I am learning the techniques taught in reconnecting with our inner self, shifting the focus from ourselves to the benefit of others and try to relate this with my everyday thinking patterns. I will take these teachings with me and continue applying them to future situations.

Whilst living at the centre I have been researching sustainable living and came across permaculture. I attended a PDC with Aranya Gardens and feel so inspired to learn more. This course was incredible as I experienced permaculture principles first hand and came away after 2 weeks having learnt so much. I really enjoyed the intensive learning and practical style in which it was taught. The ability to put the theory we had learnt into practice gave me a clearer understanding of how the systems and principles worked. I feel that permaculture is my path and have a strong connection with the ethos. I want to learn how to live sustainably alongside natural systems and how to directly help with community projects around the world.

I recently applied

12/1/2015 02:49:56 am

...Continued from previous comment...I recently applied for the vacancy open for your core team member as I am keen to be under your guidance. A long-term placement is very exciting as there is so much potential to learn and practice. The internship would be an incredible learning experience, but as a full time volunteer the fees were outside of my budget therefore I didn’t apply. But now, realizing that you are offering the internship at a subsidised fee I would love the opportunity to take part as I know it would be an invaluable investment for my development as a permaculturist.

If I am selected for this internship, I will commit to working to my upmost ability to make the most of what is being offered. I enjoy working hard especially for a cause that I believe in. I am familiar with physically demanding work and long hour days from my experience in Australia and love project work and having responsibilities. I am continually exercising my proactive approach and initiative as cafe manager and am also adaptable and learn lots on the job as I have here. I live well in communities and enjoy working as part of a team. The community in which I currently live has about 25 people and I thrive in these environments. I try to make the most of the opportunities that come my way. If in a learning environment I absorb as much information as possible by taking notes, asking questions and interacting. I was branded 'chief note taker' on my PDC course. My background in design gives me a good footing for permaculture design and I want to combine my existing skills with new ones learnt on your course to set a strong framework for my permaculture journey.

I feel that permaculture is an ongoing learning journey. After leaving the Buddhist centre I have no commitments and would be free to work on permaculture projects where I can continue my development. My aim from doing this internship is to gain the experience, knowledge and confidence needed to take part in projects around the world that resonate with me such as the Tara Rokpa Centre in South Africa, which is becoming a permaculture site, and many others where I experience diverse environments to enrich my learning.

Klara Hansson link

13/1/2015 06:56:07 am

Dear R&Y,
I'd be thrilled to join you for an eight week internship! After having permaculture available as a tool for four years, thanks to Geoff and a PDC in Jordan, I'm still trying to find a way of permaculture suited for cities - peri urban - farmland areas. Living in a city and working with permaculture means having a lot of interesting edges to observe and interact with. Gothenburg, my hometown, is in the midst of a shift with large parts of the downtown areas/docklands being redesigned for some 40000 new living-and working spaces, plus a huge chunk of municipality owned farmland being reclaimed and redistributed. I can not think of a better way to partake in this redesigning then by first gaining more practical skills with you guys so that I can make a clear case for the people in charge on how to work permaculture into the city. I have my mycelia growing in both the business-, NGO- and public sector and I am so looking forward to keep on feeding permaculture into them all!

I just finished a gardeners education plus an urban gardening project, hence low on income right now, therefore applying for the lower rate... Will of course keep on redistributing all the knowledge and skills I can pick up, since it's the only way of living that I feel comfortable with.

All the best,
Klara

Joel Tefke

14/1/2015 02:54:30 am

Hello all at Ridgedale !

I stumbled upon your courses when I was searching for more information in permaculture and it stroke me right away that I want to apply to one of your courses at some point. I'm studying landscape designing in Finland and it has not only given me a objective to go for but also a whole new way of life and endless thirst of knowledge in our wonderful field. Even though I love design work, I was for a long time baffling about the non-sustainability of modern designs and wondering if I was actually going to the right direction, since I also studied about horticulture on my own at the same time and started to dream of my own farm some day. I have been working as a foreman in a landscaping company in Helsinki in the summer times and always been kind of a handyman, so I couldn't see any problems starting up my own farm at some point with hard work.

I was doubting about applying to the design course of yours since at the moment I'm studying and I know I don't have a steady income. My only option was to take a student loan and attend your PDC but I could not even dream about the 8-week internship. But with this wonderful chance I could even go for the long internship ! Also the PDC still counts in my options). This would be the thing which would start my way becoming a permaculture professional and give me the first step towards my dream of the biggest permaculture center in Finland. In my visions it would be a self-relient community, a place to visit, enjoy and maybe some day with enough knowledge, a place to learn.

I have only one year left for my studies and this opportunity would be marvellous regarding my last of the studies when I could apply my learnings in my school, thesis and future job-applying. This moment would be the best for me, to really turn my dreams to reality and making the first step.

I hope to see your in either of the trainings !

Best regards,
Joel

14/1/2015 01:36:55 pm

Despite being the student of Horticulture, I am relatively new to the field of permaculture. However, my introduction to the concept of permaculture has firmly reshaped my career goals and I whole-heartedly believe, this is not only THE direction for my life but also the right path for the future of our planet.

I have always been very passionate about the ecological, sustainable & regenerative way of agriculture, and this interest ultimately led me to the permaculture. Since the inception of this concept, I have been reading and exploring about permaculture on my own from different information available online and at the same time searching for PDC programs to delve deeper and get some concrete hands-on experience on permaculture practices. Moreover, I was looking especially for some longer involvement in order to not only learn permaculture techniques but also to acquaint myself with the day-to-day management and practices in a real permaculture farm, as I plan to do the same once I return back to Nepal.

However most of the proper permaculture courses/programs that I have came across, are available only with the higher costs that are really out of my reach to afford them. As a self-financed student abroad managing my finances is a big challenge. Therefore due to the inability to pay the cost for these courses, I was always holding myself back and fulfilling myself with the free sources of information on permaculture available in the Internet. That brings me to this incredible offer from Ridgedale, that gave me hope for pursuing some training and real life experience on permaculture. A big thanks to Richard and Yohanna for their generous act towards spreading the knowledge.

This wonderful 8 weeks internship in Ridgedale is the perfect program that fits the arc of my career towards achieving these goals. And needless to say this offer is the big chance and like THE ONLY and once in a lifetime opportunity for me.

My multiple approaches might appear as the desperation but frankly speaking that is exactly the state I am right now. Not only I am desperate to learn more and participate in this internship, but also I am desperate to apply everything I have learned so far in real field. I can’t wait to get started on my own farm once I return back home. And I am sure and the knowledge I will gain from Ridgedale will provide me solid foundation for taking the first step of the long journey I will be undertaking.

After I return, I will be directly using everything I learn at Ridgedale, first to set up a viable permaculture farm that will be the source for my family livelihood. Then, I plan to grow it as a model farm and conduct various projects, and develop it as a information center from where I can share the knowledge and experience I have gained from Ridgedale, back with my community which is in a dire need of this natural transformation in agriculture practices.

Hoping for the best.

Eivind Bjørkavåg link

15/1/2015 03:11:00 am

As a genuine permaculture enthusiast since my first introduction course in 2011 I have been around to look at permaculture related stuff, south east asia and a seven state west coast permaculture roadtrip with Paul Wheaton, been on a internship in Oregon. I also took the Geoff Lawton online PDC in 2013, started a permaculture association, took the Elaine Ingham Soil food web course, co-teached a PDC at my place and had a decent first growing season on my permaculture site near Oslo, Norway with vegetables, pigs, chickens and rabbits. I've held lectures and workshops at home and abroad, been in the media many times. However, what you guys are achieving at Ridgedale is nothing short of awesome! World class permaculture, for sure! Already you are the most interesting permaculture site in scandinavia, and I wish you all the best!

I would love it to intern at your place, as I am serious about permaculture, and recognize your stuff as the real deal! No matter what the future will bring, lets all keep on spreading the word.

Ridgedale Richard

23/1/2015 06:39:39 pm

Congrats to Nishad and Joel who we have offered these highly subsidized spots to. Look forward to contributing in this small way...

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