PDC requirements
The European Permaculture Network (EuPN) has updated its survey analysis of Permaculture Design Course (PDC) requirements. The dataset now contains 21 valid responses, after removing a confirmed test submission. Two responses associated with the UK Permaculture Association were retained because they came from different teachers.
You can still fill in the survey and contribute to our findings
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Teacher qualifications
18 of 21 respondents (85.7%) included Diploma Holder among the minimum requirements for main teachers. The same number included a PDC qualification for co-teachers. Respondents could select more than one requirement.
Course prices
The median reported minimum price was 500 €, while the median reported maximum was 1.100 €. These are medians of providers' reported endpoints, not an average price paid by students. Packages differ, so direct comparisons are limited.
Core curriculum
17 respondents (81.0%) reported using a core curriculum, compared with four who did not. This is higher than the roughly one-third/two-thirds division noted in our earlier snapshot. Because the earlier data were fewer and the respondent set has changed, this does not necessarily represent a change in policy over time.
Language
20 respondents (95.2%) said that main teachers must understand the language in which their co-teachers teach.
Teacher availability
13 respondents (61.9%) specified 72 hours, and the median was 72 hours. One response specified just one hour; this needs verification.
Accommodation
Camping was mentioned by nine respondents and shared rooms by seven as included arrangements. Nine marked accommodation as not applicable. Multiple responses were allowed; one respondent selected both camping and not applicable.
What do these findings mean?
There is substantial overlap in reported educational expectations, especially around diploma-qualified main teachers, PDC-qualified co-teachers and a 72-hour benchmark. However, we should not confuse a common label with uniform assessment: a core curriculum or a diploma may mean different things across organisations.
The findings are a starting point for dialogue rather than a representative measure of all PDC providers in Europe. The sample is voluntary, and the responses may represent both institutions and individual teachers.
Continue the conversation
What should a minimum European PDC standard actually include: teacher experience, teaching hours, learning outcomes, assessment, or something else? We invite teachers and issuing organisations to contribute to the ongoing EuPN discussion and survey.