Could we be better at valuing the marginal and integrating a more diverse range of cultures & perspectives into the permaculture community? During the last four years I've help to instigate, co-design, secure funding for, and support the co-ordination of a wonderful project called the European Permaculture Teachers' Partnership (EPT). The aim of the project was to provide a support network for teachers across Europe, many of whom were working in quite isolated conditions. The project was to provide a forum for these teachers to exchange teaching methods & course curricula and see examples of good permaculture practice by visiting local projects. Meanwhile, comparing organisational structures of national permaculture associations & institutes was to provide inspiration & encouragement to those countries that lacked such organisations, so that they would feel better equipped to establish them. Learning materials would be translated to hasten the spread of permaculture in other languages. Finally, a discussion on how to widen participation was to examine questions of how to make permaculture accessible to a wider audience. In effect we wanted to accelerate succession in the European permaculture education ecosystem. The project has been extremely successful. During the two-year funded phase of the project we held a series of seven week-long gatherings; over 150 participants from 23 different countries met with peers and discussed various aspects of permaculture education. Two new national permaculture organisations have been established with a third on the way, a new diploma process has been designed in one country, and an older, less functional one revisited and overhauled in another. One of the partner organisations has gone on to secure further funds for transnational teacher development activities. An Emerging Culture The feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive and at times deeply touching, describing how the project has changed their lives for the better, made them feel more connected and how we have created a new family. Indeed, during the project a strong culture emerged that connected many of the participants on a profound level. This culture emerged largely as a result of the contributions of participants, who were invited to facilitate, lead sessions and activities. This was a learning journey for them and I'm deeply grateful to them for their contributions and commend them for their courage in stepping outside their own comfort zones to take up the challenge. This culture was characterised by a lot of standing in circles, sometimes holding hands, often being encouraged to close our eyes and be led in a guided meditation or grounding exercise. At other times, tools from Joanna Macy's Work That Reconnects were used, such as The Milling where participants are encouraged to move around a space making eye contact with others as they pass until they come to a standstill facing someone else. They were then asked questions that encouraged them to share intimate thoughts: "what are your dreams?" etc. Another significant feature of the culture was singing. Often we were all encouraged to sing together, often singing songs in rounds. Sometimes we were led in a call-and-response song where the responsibility to sing the call part passed around the circle, so that everyone had the opportunity to sing solo in front of the group. The final celebration took the form of a ceremony where everyone was asked to walk through a door into a garden: on passing through the door they had water sprinkled on them, and a mud bindi applied to their face. These exercises and rituals are undoubtedly powerful. And they are important tools for those looking to foster deeper connections with others, seeking an inner transition, or hoping to add a spiritual dimension to an experience. However, after reflecting on the widespread use of them in the EPT, I'm left wondering if we should have explored issues of diversity & inclusion, because aspects of the culture that connected many of the participants also marginalised and excluded others. One attendee climbed out of a window to avoid participating in the closing ceremony, another was clearly made to feel deeply uncomfortable when he refused to join in. Later conversations with others revealed that they went along with these activities because of peer pressure, but they found them uncomfortable, embarrassing or just "didn't get it". At other times during the project other people discreetly slipped away when things started to get "a bit too hippy-ish". I also tend to feel uncomfortable with these kinds of exercises, but during the EPT I generally went along with them due in part to peer pressure (more on this later), and in part because I didn't want to damage the confidence of any trainee facilitators by making a big fuss in the middle of their sessions. Even so, on the last night of the project I found myself hiding behind a pile of straw bales to avoid yet another face-painting ritual, and then quietly slipping away to avoid the final party in case there was more of the same. Beyond EPT EPT Participants can be forgiven for bringing this kind of practice into the culture of the project. In the eight years I've been around permaculture I've seen it crop up regularly at various permaculture gatherings and teacher trainings. And some people seem to be integrating quasi-spiritual practices with Permaculture Design Courses (PDC). But again and again I also find myself in conversation with people grumbling about how they feel uncomfortable with - or embarrassed on permaculture's behalf because of - this stuff. Spirituality When I've broached the subject of my own discomfort with the people who are enthusiastic about rituals, group meditation, singing etc, I'm met with a range of responses. Some people acknowledge that these kinds of activities need to be very carefully considered before their inclusion in a programme. But I've also received a kind of knowing, sympathetic look and words to the effect of "Oh, you haven't developed your spiritual side yet". This implies that any truly holistic understanding of permaculture is contingent on integrating some form of spirituality into your life. Having spent many years contemplating my own spirituality and consequently becoming a humanist, I don't agree. I also believe that it's counter to the original intentions of Bill Mollison (a scientist) & David Holmgren (who self-identifies as an atheist in Permaculture Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability). As I understand it, the ethics of permaculture were deliberately pared back to a minimal set of values that could be consistent with, and integrated into, almost all major belief systems; spiritual or otherwise. It is inherently atheistic, in the sense that it is not, in and of itself, a religious or spiritual discipline. I believe that the enforced use of symbols and practices (e.g. meditation, grounding exercises) drawn from certain cultural & religious traditions at permaculture courses and events is potentially damaging. By creating an association between permaculture and certain forms of (new age-approved) spirituality, we limit permaculture and undermine its cultural "portability". By borrowing the hallmarks of some religions we potentially exclude others, not to mention the secular: we risk creating a kind of worldview monoculture. Furthermore, the appropriation of religious symbolism & practice potentially carries the risk of offending the very traditions from which they have been drawn by using them in inappropriate, disrespectful or blasphemous ways. To be truly inclusive as teachers & facilitators, I believe that we should keep religion out of our permaculture teaching and credit our students with the intelligence to make their own choices about spirituality. Group Singing When the topic of discomfort about singing in front of a group has been raised, I've been told that "There is evidence that singing reduces stress hormones". And this is true. However, there is also evidence that performance anxiety greatly elevates stress hormones: being coerced through peer pressure into singing in front of an audience of 50 people can be deeply traumatic for some people. As teachers, I feel we should give deep consideration to when (and whether) it is appropriate to create situations where people are required to sing on front of others. Loosen up! Finally I encounter a kind of tacit judgement that I'm just a bit uptight and would benefit from loosening up a bit. I admit that this is true to some extent. But while I identify as middle class, liberal and open minded, this is in the context if my cultural background: Yorkshire in the north of England. We are socially conservative, repressed and proud of it. We have a long tradition of deeply reserved behaviour, understated compliments, adversarial humour and muttering sarcastic comments into our beer. And to be honest, I'm fine with that. I have no cultural frame of reference for holding hands in a field "feeling the energy go through my feet and into the earth". When I'm cajoled into these kinds of activities I feel utterly inauthentic, like I'm betraying my true identity and pretending to everyone around me. Making me participate in these activities makes me more uptight, not less. And there are plenty of folks who are a lot more uptight than me! Privilege & Marginalisation Being a white, middle class man from Western Europe I am profoundly privileged. How can I possibly claim to feel marginalised? Well, that's kind of the point: if someone as privileged as me can feel this marginalised, who else is being marginalised but doesn't feel as empowered as me to speak up? How about people who are introverts or chronically shy? I've had students tell me how relieved they were that the PDC we'd just taught wasn't full of "happy clappy stuff" because it would have made them leave the course. I've had another student tell me that they went through a living hell during what seemed to me a to be a completely innocuous ice-breaker exercise on the first day of a PDC. And how about people from other cultural backgrounds? There are countless other cultures that are far more reserved and socially conservative than us Yorkshire folk. And it seems that those of us who are uncomfortable about this stuff are in good company. An experienced British permaculture teacher recounted a story of a similar exercise at an International Permaculture Convergence many years ago. He was standing in a circle next to Bill Mollison. When they were told to hold hands Bill turned to him and muttered "load of fucking woo-woo". And yet those of us who feel marginalised and excluded by these practices seem to keep going along with them. And those who promote them don't seem to "get" how others feel about it. Why? Well, I have a theory that goes something like this... Peer Pressure: Obedience & Conformity In group situations, most people surrender a great deal of power to the leader, be they a 'superior' colleague, a teacher, a facilitator, or other figure of authority. As the famous Milgram Experiment shows, most people have a strong tendency to obey authority figures, even if they are instructing them to take actions that are completely at odds with their internal ethics and morals. On top of our tendency towards obedience, we have a strong propensity to conform to group behaviours. Famous examples showing this include the Asch Experiment, the Smoke Filled Room Study and a clip - "Groupthink" - from the US T.V. show Candid Camera. What I find interesting in all of these examples is the degree of discomfort that the subject feels during the process. The situation places them in a state of cognitive dissonance between what their senses, ethics, beliefs and reasoning tell them and the signals received from superiors and/or the behaviour of the group. For many, the easiest way to reduce the dissonance and discomfort is to obey or conform: the alternative is to choose potential conflict with an authority figure or with a group: unfavourable odds. As teachers and facilitators this gives us an incredible amount of power in group situations. And with this power comes a great responsibility to care for the people in our charge. Ambiguous Feedback Signals I would hope that any professional permaculture teacher or facilitator who is serious about their practice would apply self-regulation and accept feedback. So why don't the people who are placing others in such discomfort seem to be doing so? One would think that a participant climbing out of a window to avoid an activity is a pretty clear feedback signal. But I'm not so sure. If a facilitator has personally derived a great deal of benefit from the kind of exercises outlined above, they're likely to be positively disposed towards the activity, and be keen to share them: "I found this really powerful and beneficial, so I'd like to share with others so they can benefit too". Their starting position about the activity is positive, and due to confirmation bias, they're likely to interpret feedback that does come to them in a way that confirms their starting position. And if they haven't personally experienced discomfort around this kind of activity, the likelihood of someone else being uncomfortable is much less likely to be on their radar: they aren't looking for negative feedback. If they're leading an activity with a group of 50 people, their adrenalin is likely to be high. They're thinking about what to say next; is what they've planned going to work? What's the weather doing? Are the group doing the task correctly? A myriad of questions and thoughts run through the facilitator's mind. The people who are a bit uncomfortable, but go along with the activity out of peer pressure are not necessarily outwardly giving a clear feedback signal; certainly, any signals that they do give may be too subtle for the facilitator's distracted and adrenalin-drenched brain to pick up on. Those who quietly slip away are not even visible. If the vast majority of the group seem to be going along with the activities and joining in, the feedback signal is overwhelmingly positive and reinforcing. In the absence of clear, unambiguous feedback signals, the facilitator is understandably likely to miss the fact that they've unwittingly made a number of their participants uncomfortable, that they've potentially alienated and excluded members of their group. But this is part of the challenge of truly welcoming diversity and creating a genuinely inclusive culture. To do so we must be wary of the danger of confirmation bias, cultivate empathy and actively invite - and deeply engage with - critical feedback and different perspectives. Summary
Hopefully, the EPT has provided a safe space for people to try out their teaching and facilitation techniques. As teachers of permaculture, any EPT participants that did feel uncomfortable during these exercises are already very much "bought-in" to permaculture and are probably used to seeing some of this stuff. No real harm has been done. But what about those people on the edges of permaculture: those we wish to invite in? What about PDC course participants that EPT participants are going to be teaching? Should teachers use any of these methods and activities on introductory courses or PDCs? If we're serious about living permaculture ethics of people care, and principles of integrating as diverse a range of people as possible into the permaculture community, I think we really need to pay attention to the feedback we receive from those people at margins. My plea to teachers and facilitators is this: If you're going to perform rituals, conduct group meditation, use techniques like those from The Work that Reconnects, or compel people to sing, please make these activities genuinely optional: be absolutely clear about what you're offering and what it entails, and be absolutely clear that it's absolutely OK to not join in. Better still, avoid putting people in uncomfortable situations by making the default option non-participation. Make it so that people who want to do this stuff have to actively choose to do it, rather than putting people in a situation where they feel they have to climb out of a window, hide behind straw bales or quietly slip away. Reflection Questions Here are some questions around inclusion that all teachers & facilitators might find useful to reflect on: What might it feel like to have a group leader and a group of people encouraging you to do something that makes you feel uncomfortable? Have you ever gone along with something that didn't agree with because the group encouraged you to do it? How did you feel about yourself afterwards? Have you ever taken an individual stand against a large group of people? How might it feel? Have you ever been excluded from a group? How did that feel? How could you develop your practice to avoid excluding people? Is a permaculture course or event the right place for spiritual practices or exercises designed to create deep connection?
45 Comments
Loved reading this. Im very aware of trends in facilitation and when done well, its amazing. Would you feel uncomfortable if the group put your in the middle of the room and read out all the lovely things people think of you? I feel confident enough now to go to the loo during a lecture if I need to rather than sit in agony. I have absorbed ways of behaving from 'hippy' gatherings but there is a whole world of folk out there that even having just veggie food scares them. Having to sit in a field is hard for others. I think the compromise takes place when we move just outside the comfort zone and nearly all folk really love the permacultural approach. For facilitators, having a glass of water, going to the loo and having a plan that includes feedback is really important. And if working with folk from Yorkshire....... or anywhere get an understanding of cultural norms. I reckon a bit of self mocking would have helped em take the hippy stuff on board? bla bla bla love the Bill Mollison comment too.....
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11/8/2014 04:42:09
Brave, I have only skimmed through the article presently but will re-visit it with gusto.
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11/8/2014 08:56:46
Yeah...good on ya...great article, must've taken a few hours, and consequently you must've been carrying it with ya for awhile. I support everything ya say and more. I have climbed out of a window and often watched all the other sheep or are they just all walking along with the flute player to the same cliff edge. Sheepocracy I call it. Churches all over the world rely on it. seemingly more than 30% of the worlds population jump to it. I have never been a sheep and have often been criticised for not conforming or playing with the group. Even though I had a long rugby career of staunch team efforts. "Cognitive Dissonance" a great term. Similarly we have conformation of new ways of managing or facilitating at Escherode it was Dragon Dreaming, Batak it was Sociocracy...seems we have thrown Davies model out for Andre's...what next...how about common sense, or just a sense of realism...I guess ya knew you'd probably get a reply from me Joe...who was it ya saw climb out a window ?....Steve Hart
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Irene
11/8/2014 09:14:50
Great article Joe! The EPT/EUPC was my first Permaculture-meeting and I was overwhelmed (and a bit.. well, very terrified) by all the hand-holding, song-singing and sharing of sometimes very personal stuff. I'm not an outgoing person, but hey: when in Rome, do as the Romans do. In the beginning it did help me feel part of the group and cross some personal boundaries, but after a while it started to feel a bit 'forced'.
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Tess
11/8/2014 09:15:30
Thank goodness. I have spent years thinking the same thing and quite frankly avoiding permaculture groups even though I like the principle of permaculture. All that stuff is so alienating for people who aren't into it.
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Steve Hart
11/8/2014 09:55:19
"experience that is still truthful but doesn't raise too many of my professors eyebrows"...Irene..quite the opposite...do not ever think your learned seniors will raise their eyebrows in disdane. Its 2014 not 1814. Ironically the challange though is to make them raise their eyebrows...jump out of the box and back it up...Steve Hart
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Irene
11/8/2014 10:45:20
Steve, I go to a Christian university. Some of my professors don't believe in evolution (how they teach Biology is beyond me). The non-Christian professors have a very scientific mindset. Hippy-stuff will not land well there. For the past 4 years I've spoken up and caused debates about the curriculum, teaching methods, the building, even the coffee machine ;) Luckily, most of the staff is very reasonable and a lot of the debates me and my classmates started ended in our favor (except the one about the coffee machine...).
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Malika
12/8/2014 03:43:17
This is great and more needs to be said along these lines. I believe that such teaching in 'spirituality' should be taken out of permaculture courses altogether, it totally undermines the practice and principles and minimises its potential impact, inclusion and adoption. If people want to teach/practice 'spirituality' teach it in such a course/platform don't hijack permaculture. And is teaching not about taking students from what they don't know to what they do, provide a platform for learning and development, not coheres them into their own ideals.
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Ana Huertas
12/8/2014 06:24:39
Thanks Joe for writing this article. I honestly believe you have a very valid point and that you have given voice to a concern that has been long standing within the permaculture community, and many other social movements that have stemmed from it (I personally know the case of the Transition Towns Movement, which also use Joanna Macy's work). Furthermore, this is something that needs to be discussed in a way that is inclusive and non-confrontational, and I fully support that people should be able to feel that they always have a choice in terms of participating in a certain activity or not.
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Joe
12/8/2014 18:36:07
Thanks Ana.
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Lovely discussion. Seems to have sparked lots of talk here at the PDC in Cloughjordan, going on presently, and with quite a handful of familiar faces from the EPT meetings here. I missed the process that happened yesterday evening, another fishbowl, as happened at Lake Batak, and one of the occasions with people jumping out of windows. I was one such person, when the room became way to stuffy to breathe. Be careful everyone, Joe, Steve, Ana, all, in analysing a person's behaviour, even if someone does cross their hands and make funny faces, or climb out of a window. You may find that you haven't at all captured what was going through their minds. Remember that opinions are always changing. They don't even last for more then a milli-second on occasion.
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Thanks Joe for bringing this into the light some more. With your blog, and with the 'Permaculture and metaphysics' blog last year, I do wonder about the value and effect of the words and labels that are used. I think they don't help us to understand the landscape and the points of design leverage well. Specifically, I do not see holding hands as a 'spiritual' activity, nor do I see singing as an implicitly spiritual activity, nor hugging, nor sensory meditations, nor standing in circles. These activities are used in religious activities, but that does not make them necessarily religious, or spiritual. Wine is drunk in some religious services, but does this mean wine drinking is a spiritual practice, or a religious one, and that wine should therefore be avoided in permaculture events?
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This got cut off the bottom of my comment -
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Wilf Richards
12/8/2014 11:36:10
Quality article Joe. So much depth and insights. I can relate to a lot of what you have said. As someone who finds singing and hand holding etc uncomfortable then it is avoided in a PDC for me. But there are other social settings when it seems really appropriate, usually when I already have deep connections that have built up over time. Would love to chat about your experiences more over a pint or two in a nice Yorkshire pub.
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(ctd. from above)
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(ctd. from above)
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Henrique
12/8/2014 16:34:37
Thank you Joe for your thoughts and words. Personally, they feel like fresh air entering my lungs, finally I can breathe normally again. This is the sign that my body and my soul are together once again, and that I don't feel lost anymore within the Permaculture "Culture".
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Great conversation. Possibly the most important one European permaculture teachers have had in the past two years.
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13/8/2014 08:35:41
JOE, great article! :-)
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13/8/2014 08:38:54
(CONTINUATION) Sad, to say the least. And very “energy-inefficient”, thus very “un-permacultural”! ;-)
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13/8/2014 08:36:58
They were, for most part and for many people, as I can see now, just imposed rituals lacking true meaning and practical, visible consequence. In our attempt to “become more spiritual” we, very often, loose our “humanity”. Sad, to say the least. And very “energy-inefficient”, thus very “un-permacultural”! ;-)
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13/8/2014 08:37:19
They were, for most part and for many people, as I can see now, just imposed rituals lacking true meaning and practical, visible consequence. In our attempt to “become more spiritual” we, very often, loose our “humanity”. Sad, to say the least. And very “energy-inefficient”, thus very “un-permacultural”! ;-)
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Mari
13/8/2014 09:42:15
Hmm so Joe do you mean in activities that are probably meant to bring trust, build community etc, there are times when it really has an opposite result for you and how relaxed, comfortable and trusting you find yourself feeling? And how to find ways to join the activities when it suits you at a comfort zone you're willing to be, and still be included, welcomed and appreciated in the group?
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Mari
13/8/2014 10:03:53
Ah, sorry I missed this before, but there it is as clear as can be (quote picked up from Carla's post):
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Noelia
13/8/2014 10:57:49
Interesting topic indeed! Thanks, Joe, and all the rest who have contributed up til now.
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Noelia
13/8/2014 10:59:05
Second part! :) ---------
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judith lashbrook
13/8/2014 13:42:39
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sandra
16/8/2014 04:10:04
hi all,
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moni
22/8/2014 11:16:20
thanks, Sandra. sometimes a (or several) picture says more than 1000 words, doesn´t it?
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Finally someone has written down what i felt for a long time. Thanks for that. I hope this will lead to a atmosphere during permaculture events in which everyone feels comfortable . Very important is that permaculture is accessible for people that are just not into those things, which i think is the large majority. In the end, when finite resources are gone, everything needs to be permaculture and to accomplish that we need everyone! BTW, was not at an EPT-event, but i've attended at quite a lot of permaculture events. One of those was a teachers training from Rosemary Morrow (Austria 2011) and the one of the things I remember the most was "the right to pass"...
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Henrique
17/8/2014 01:41:29
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Pietje Puck
17/8/2014 03:51:16
Thank you for your well written article.
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Graham Wood
17/8/2014 16:49:57
For me Joe this important subject is all about the "People Care" ethic - its an issue where those from certain backgrounds or upbringing could be made to feel uncomfortable - in effect excluded.
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Stef
18/8/2014 01:38:25
Great post Joe, respectfully articulated. This theme has been going in for a while now (the most popular PRI post was about this) - I wonder what may be the next steps from here. Would be really up for interviewing you about this for my radio/podcast show www.mixcloud.com/21stcenturypermaculture and thanks (after all this) still accepting my Mindfulness workshop for the coming UK convergence (there'll be no spirituality in it, but may be confronting, and easily slammed as Woo woo)
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Dawn
18/8/2014 04:19:21
Hello Everyone,
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Graham Wood
18/8/2014 04:26:09
We know in nature that the "edge effect" is where good interactions take place, but edges have a "depth" and beneficial interactions across edges fade the further its pushed across the edge.
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21/8/2014 02:04:49
I have read through the comments both here and in one of the facebook pages that this is discussed in depth on. I have experienced and used many of the things described in Therapy groups,
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Klara Hansson
12/3/2015 10:22:24
Hi,
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Stephen Meloche
25/8/2017 13:12:33
AMEN AMEN AMEN!!! Lol
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Hi Stephen!
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Steve Hart
28/8/2017 03:50:47
Hi new PDC graduate..where was this PDC and taught by who ? There is a wide variety of teachers and courses around the world. Many are very weak with divergent tendencies. Swaying way off the original curricula. The warning must go out "buyer beware" assess very carefully all courses on offer. There are a handful that do offer clean courses. One of the leaders in these is Robyn Francis www.permaculture.com.au Also Alan Enzo of Nashville offers a good online course. www.permaculture.education.com. Scott Pittman https://permaculture.org/about/teaching-team/ is also at top of the list.
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Stephen Meloche
28/8/2017 09:51:53
Hello Steve,
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29/10/2022 15:28:04
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