Permaculture Course Map

A permaculture course teaches you to design gardens, farms and homes that work like natural ecosystems: perennial food plants, water held in the landscape and waste cycled back into soil. This map shows U.S. teachers, farms and colleges that were running a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course or permaculture workshops when we checked in November 2026.

How to use the map: enter your ZIP code in the box below the map to list the 10 closest permaculture course providers with their distance, or click a numbered circle to zoom in. If the site already has your ZIP code, it fills in for you. Click any purple pin for the address, a short description, the website and a Directions link. On a phone, tap the full-screen button (the square icon under the zoom buttons).

Where the list comes from: we started from the permaculture teachers and course providers on our 2023 map, then searched permaculture institute calendars, college and extension programs and course providers state by state in November 2026. Only providers with a PDC or permaculture course held in 2025 or 2026, or already scheduled for 2027, made the map; each pin notes what we found. Closed sites, duplicates, private homes and online-only courses were left off. The map now shows 42 course providers in 21 states. Course dates change, so confirm on the provider’s site. Spot something missing or out of date? Use the contact form link under the map.

What Is a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC)?

The word permaculture was coined by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the mid-1970s. The Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) is the standard course that grew out of their work: the Permaculture Association (Britain) requires at least 72 hours of contact time and bases the curriculum on Mollison’s Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual.

The course covers the design ethics and principles (the 12 permaculture principles and 3 ethics), then applies them to soil, water, plants, animals, buildings and community systems, and usually ends with a design project for a real site.

Choosing a Permaculture Course

PDCs come in three common formats: a residential course of 10 to 14 days, a course spread over weeks, weekends or evenings, and online courses, some paired with in-person field days. The providers on this map cover all three, and each pin notes the course we found.

• Hours and certificate. A full PDC runs at least 72 hours. Shorter courses and workshops are good introductions but do not lead to the certificate.
• Hands-on time. Ask how much of the course happens outdoors on a working site.
• Your climate. A teacher working in your region will use plants and water strategies that suit it.
• The design project. A good PDC has you design a real site and present it.

If you need a design rather than a course, you can also find a permaculture designer near you.

Online-only courses are not pinned, because there is no site to visit. If you would rather learn from home, these providers ran online permaculture design courses in 2026: Oregon State University (an online PDC), Midwest Permaculture (a self-paced online PDC with live support), Cornell University (three online courses that together earn a design certificate), Ecoversity (a six-month live online PDC) and the Soil Food Web School (a 13-week online cohort). Pair one with a workshop from the map for the hands-on part.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources and Further Reading

• David Holmgren: What is Permaculture?
• Permaculture Association (Britain): Permaculture Design Certificate — 72-hour minimum, curriculum and course formats.
• Permaculture Institute USA: Courses.
• Food Forest Nursery: course providers from our 2023 map, re-checked against each provider’s website in November 2026.