European Permaculture Teacher's Convergence * June 17th-19th, 2011 * Ecovillage of Sieben Linden
To all those that teach Permaculture in Europe: we invite you to the Ecovillage of Sieben Linden for a weekend of exchange, mutual support and developing permaculture education in Europe!
Out of an inspiring Permaculture Educator's Training in Denmark in Summer 2010, teachers from different European countries developed the idea of starting regular European gatherings explicitly of PC teachers. Ideally, these meetings would happen every other year to the EU-Permaculture Convergence, which matches just fine right now: the first European PC Teacher's Convergence (ETC) will happen on June 17th-19th, 2011!
The ETC will be a concentrated space for exchange about how to bring Permaculture across:
On the one hand:
* Practical teaching: What methods are there? How can we teach creatively? How can we be "good tutors" and accompany our students properly?
and on the other:
* Training Structures: Which types of trainings structures are there in Europe and which work? Which can be adapted? Can / do we want to harmonize the education system in Europe?
- and the in-betweens!
Because of the focus of this meeting, participants should at least have participated in a Permaculture Design Course and teach PC - if not be Permaculture Designers that teach students and courses and work closely with the training organisation bodies in their countries (if there is one!).
As a weekend is a short time, at the moment we are thinking about starting a Grundtvig-funded "Learning Partnership" with people and teaching organisations from various European countries. In such a Learning Partnership, we could regularly meet to work on e.g. harmonizing the educational system of the different European countries - while the Grundtvig funding pays for travelling and expenses during the meetings (no salary though!).
This is also the reason why we think that it will be possible to apply for full funding for this gathering:
We think it should be a "preparatory visit" for us so that we can develop the learning partnership together (among others), and for "preparatory visits", there is another Grundtvig funding pot. Check out the regulations for such visits with your National Agency for Grundtvig:http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-programme/doc1208_en.htmBefore applying, please get in touch, we might have to harmonize what we write in the applications. Applications can usually be handed in up to 8 weeks before the event, but please confirm this with your agency, too.
Place, time and costs:
The venue is the Ecovillage of Sieben Linden in the North of Germany. This project has been around for 13 years and offers a lot of insights on how to live more sustainably. For more information, please go to: www.siebenlinden.deThe will start in the afternoon of friday, 17th (dinner is at 6:30 pm), the end is on sunday, 19th at 2 pm (after lunch).
The price for the weekend will be 90 Euros. This includes organic and vegetarian / vegan food, accommodation in your own tent and organisation of the event. We will be catered for by the seminar centre so that we have maximum exchange and working time!
SO: If you are interested in the ETC, please block the dates in your calendar and get back to Joe Atkinson at the Permaculture Association in the UK: learn [at] permaculture [dot] org [dot] uk (learn[at]permaculture[dot]org[dot]uk)We are looking forward to an inspiring gathering and hope to see you in Sieben Linden!