PINA continues to expand its Diploma offerings, recognizing that the implementation of a whole systems design encompasses a wide range of skill sets. Our newest Diploma is for Site Development and Implementation. Designing a site requires a specific skill set, but the successful development of the design entails another set of skills entirely, such as project management and development and care of plant systems and built environments. A successfully implemented permaculture design will create a surplus yield over the long term while benefiting ecosystems and people. We would like to acknowledge ability in this field with a specialized Diploma for site development.
This specialization covers the establishment of working systems at one or more sites, each development pursuant to a documented permaculture design. This design may be the work of the candidate or of another permaculture designer.
Establishment means, among a range of activities: earthshaping, water management, the creation of structures, including access ways, buildings, and energy systems, the planting and cultivation of vegetation, the introduction, removal, or management of animals and wildlife, and the implementation of systems for harvest, processing, and distribution of yields, including public education. Though it is hoped that all these will be addressed in each implementation, it is essential that they be represented in the portfolio.
The minimum duration of involvement is five years on a single site, or implementation of systems on 10 sites over the course of at least two years. These time periods must be post-PDC.
Documentation of each site development or implementation shall include a schematic of the basic design as well as baseline assessments of soil, water, biomass, and species from beginning of intervention to date. The portfolio presentation shall further describe inputs necessary for establishing the project, along with its human co-creators, and must reveal how the design and implementation together address permaculture ethics.
The candidate focusing on a single site will show evidence that the development has yielded substantial product for sale, trade, or free dissemination to the local community: examples would include produce, seed, nursery, livestock, breeding stock, botanicals, published research, craft from on-site resources, or equivalent surplus. In a public, communal, or natural setting, solid evidence of land repair, use for social benefit, or creation and use of a common pool resource from the land may substitute for product in establishing a beneficial yield to the community.
The candidate presenting 10 projects will offer a range of site scales to include at least one site of more than five acres, at least three occupied residential sites, and at least one site in urban conditions and one in rural terrain. She or he will also present an analysis of lessons learned from comparing multiple sites.
Respecting the standard’s intention to call forth experience with diverse conditions, the Field Advisor or Diploma Review body may adjust the balance of required examples where justified.
For full details on submission requirements, see the Diploma in Site Development & Implementation page.