Phoenix Permaculture Design Course

A full 72-hour in-person PDC on permaculture & regenerative design with an emphasis on dry lands and southwest ecosystems.

Spring 2027

Permaculture Design Course is open.  

This in-person, 72-hour course will take place
over ten days on multiple weekends.

The dates in Feb, Mar, Apr, May of 2027 are listed below.

Click HERE for FAQs

LIMITED CLASS SIZE.
You can save your seat in the next PDC with either a small deposit* now, or a full registration at discounted pricing.

*To secure your spot in the 2027 course see the payment options below!

The course is $1495 (see discounts below) for the full 72-hour course and includes the Introduction to Permaculture Textbook by Bill Mollison, Water Harvesting textbook by Brad Lancaster, and the student binder.

    • DEPOSIT: Hold your spot (and your Early Bird discount) for $250. 
      Deposits accepted* if spots are still available. No Deposits after January 31st. One deposit transaction per person.        *We will apply deposits only while spots available, otherwise we will contact you for refund options.
      • PREFERRED payment method: Zelle your payment to PDC@UrbanFarm.org
        or
      • CLICK HERE to use a credit card to hold your spot
      • Follow up with Email to PDC@UrbanFarm.org to ensure we got your details.

         

         

    • Full balance after deposit = due by February 10th.
    • Payment plans available upon request

Discount & Savings

    • Early Bird Discounts (by calendar dates):
      • Register by Sept 1st = $300 off.
      • Register by Nov 30th = $200 off.
      • Register by Dec 31st = $100 off.  
      • Registering after January 1st requires full registration amount.

         

         

         

         

    • Other Discounts (can be stacked with Early Bird discounts):
      • Couples registering at same time = $75 per person discount if registered by Jan 31st. (Only if spots are available).
      • Couples Textbook Sharing = $45 discount upon request if sharing textbooks – applied to one registrant only and must be requested when registering.
      • Friend Referral = $50 discount applied to your course balance if a friend registers for the same course and names you at time of registration.

PDC Spring 2027

Course is 10 days, 9am to 5:30pm. Saturdays & Sundays only in February, March, April & May.

Key Presentation Dates:

Day 8: Workshop Day with Draft Presentations of Group Research, Site Maps & Evaluation, and Discussion of Proposed Ideas with Feedback from PDC team.
Day 10: Group Final Presentations of Completed Designs

Schedule of Dates:

Days 1-2: Sat/Sun, Feb 27/28

Days 3-4: Sat/Sun, Mar 6/7 

Days 5-6:  Sat/Sun, Apr 3/4  

Days 7-8: Sat/Sun, Apr 17/18

Days 9-10: Sat/Sun, May 1/2

It is critical to be present for ALL of the dates. Absences must be approved, and will require make-up work in addition to the course work.

*Deposits accepted before 1/1/27 will secure one of the early registration pricing options.

“What is a Permaculture Design Course (PDC)?  

It is a 72-hour deep dive introduction into permaculture.  This course is designed to give you a whole new perspective on sustainability and regenerative design.  
I like to call permaculture ‘the art and science of working with nature’.”   
— Greg Peterson.

This Permaculture certification course covers many aspects of design with a Southwest dry-lands flavor, including a balance of classroom time, permaculture principles reinforcement, design practicum, and some hands-on experience. Dynamic exercises encourage pattern recognition, noticing the links between plants, animals, climate, and landforms that make up natural ecosystems. The course focuses on dryland communities with a strong urban and semi-rural emphasis, addressing individual site and neighborhood “problems” such as storm water flooding.

Students learn to read the landscape, to map and analyze energies flowing through a site, and to develop integrated designs for sustainable systems. The weekend format of the course makes it easier for people who hold a week-day job to attend and promotes better integration of the course material into daily life. By the end of the course students will have developed and presented a comprehensive permaculture design on a site of their choosing. Our course closely follows the standard 72-hour format developed by Bill Mollison and others.

Course topics include design principles and patterning, site analysis, drylands gardening principles, ecosystem restoration, philosophy and ethics of Permaculture, regenerative community economics, soils and erosion control, village and community design, water harvesting, invisible structures, agroforestry, appropriate technology, building design, and many other topics.

The classroom is a collection of multiple sites in the Greater Phoenix area. This course is taught and facilitated by Don Titmus & Janis Norton, with a team of permaculture-trained presenters to help round out the course.

Have Questions?

Check out our Frequently Asked Questions HERE, and then email us if you still need some clarification.