widening participation

With Rico Zook, International  Permaculture Teacher
OCTOBER 23rd - 25th,  2015 (only opportunity in Europe in 2015)

by Guntra A. Aistara, Central European University

July 4, 2014

Condensed summary of chapter published in Environmental
Anthropology Engaging Ecotopian Imaginaries: Bioregionalism, Permaculture, and Ecovillages for a Sustainable Future, Berghahn Books, 2013.

For this small survey, responses were given by only eight EPT partner countries (ES, GE, FR, BG, SLO, CZ, NL), whose educational activities are conducted in more than 17 countries in Europe and other parts of the world. Spain is exceptional in this case with reaching people in 4 continents through on-line teaching.

When designing a Permaculture course we have to consider many aspects, one of the most crucial being "Widening Participation".

The main consideration is our target market. Different target groups will require a differently formatted course. Mentally and physically challenged students may need different approaches and the use of different pedagogies. People also learn in different ways, some prefer self-directed learning, others need a  driven group.

Like every morning, we formed the opening circle to start off the day, where everyone shared something learned the day before. The morning was dedicated to working on widening participation when designing permaculture courses. The aim is to reach different audiences that are not usually represented in permaculture courses. The topics were chosen from a survey that had been passed among the members of the partnership. The topics covered in the session were: