This Diploma route is focused on the landscaper, homesteader, or long-term project manager, and is based in documenting a SITE or SITES.  The Diploma of Permaculture Site Development and Implementation is granted to honor achievement and excellence in permaculture site development or implementation.

Please review how the Diploma Program works so you will understand what is expected of you, and what you can expect of PINA. Diplomas are awarded to applicants who demonstrate experience and ability at a professional level. The program is based in self-directed learning; PINA classes, webinars, and workshops do not automatically apply toward the diploma. You will need to meet your Action Learning goals in ways that you and your Field Advisor consider appropriate. PINA will connect you with a Field Advisor suited to your program who can support you through your journey.

Once your application is accepted, your Field Advisor will meet with you to discuss your current qualifications and together you will develop an Action Learning Plan in order to meet all of the Diploma requirements. Upon completion of the Action Learning Plan, you will submit a Portfolio to PINA for review and earn your Diploma!

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Portfolio

Your portfolio must include the following documents:

• Completed Action Learning Plan
• Documentation of Advanced Coursework
• Documentation of Permaculture Design Work
• Documentation of Permaculture Site Development and Implementation Work
• Written references from two PINA-recognized diplomates with whom you have worked.
• Written references from two of your employers or clients.
• Two instances of the following: public speaking, media presentations or publications about the body of work, field days at the site(s), or workshops led by the candidate and centered on practices or systems he or she has developed.

Supporting documentation as applicable:

• Bibliography of publications.
• Roster of public outreach activities.
• Professional awards.
• Additional supporting evidence, such as field reports or photos.

Action Learning Plan

Developed with the guidance of the field advisor, the plan may entail mentoring, internships, paid work, self-directed projects, and direct instruction. A completed Action Learning Plan also includes documentation of how you implement permaculture in your personal life, including the design and status of your home site and livelihood. This item illustrates permaculture ethics in action.

Advanced Coursework

Participation in a PINA-recognized Advanced Permaculture Design Course or other advanced permaculture course is highly recommended, and may be required by the field advisor.

Permaculture Design Work

Completion of two comprehensive permaculture client-based designs and/or community project designs is required. At least one design must be a solo effort. We encourage the other to be a team-based design. Demonstration of skills is required that connect design to the real world, including problem solving ability, budgeting, generating estimates and scheduling.

Permaculture Site Development and Implementation Work

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.

View the Diploma Program Overview

Handout: Diploma Program Details (pdf). Note that this document describes the overall program in more detail but does not address the Site Development and Implementation standard specifically.  All the requirements are listed here and/or on the actual application.