Dates March 20th-April 1st, 2009
Place: Maya Mountain Research Farm
San Pedro Columbia, BELIZE
Instructors:
Albert Bates, Andrew Goodheart Brown, Andrew Leslie Phillips, Maria Ros, Christopher Nesbitt & local guest instructors.
Cost:USD1250/Belize$2500 includes organic farm fresh meals, all course materials and expeditions, comfortable accommodation in the farm, and a certificate or Permaculture Design upon completion of the course.
For Details and registration, please see
http://www.mmrfbz.org or contact Christopher at info(at)mmrfbz.org
Through lecture, discussion, small groups, site visits and hands on experience, participants will gain the tools to create sustainable, ecologically based homes, farms, businesses and communities.
Tucked into the foothills of the Maya Mountains, two miles up river from the village of San Pedro Columbia in southern Belize, Maya Mountain Research Farm is a working demonstration farm and registered NGO that promotes sustainable agriculture, appropriate technology and food security using permaculture principles and applied biodiversity. With 20 years of organic management and conversion from an abandoned cattle and citrus farm to a polyculture, MMRF is one of Central Americas oldest permaculture farms.
Albert Bates is a former lawyer, paramedic, graphic artist and author of eleven books on energy, environment and law, and produced two films on ecovillages. He is the founder of the Ecovillage Network of the Americas and was active in the creation of the Global Ecovillage Network. He has lectured and universities and government agencies and worked on natural buildings, village infrastructure, and permaculture landscapes on 6 continents. He has been teaching permaculture design courses since 1994.
Andrew Phillip Leslie native of Australia, Andrew studied permaculture with Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton, He convenes and teaches permaculture in the north-eastern U.S. He is founder of Hancock Permaculture Center and consults through his consulting organization: Permaculture Design Solutions
Andrew Goodheart Brown: M.Sc. in Sustainable Use of Natural Resources; Permaculture Teacher and Practitioner since 1994; International Consultant in Ecological Agriculture; Organic Gardener and Home Orchardist; Gourmet Natural Food Chef; Artisanal Bread Baker and Home Brewer; Endangered Species Observer; Naturalist and Field Biologist.
Maria Antonieta Martinez Ros studied permaculture in Bolivia, and is the Mexican Representative of the Instituto Latinoamericano de Permacultura, Director of Ecodanza, and President of Ecoaldea Gratitud A.C., an ecovillage design program working with the state governments of Quintana Roo and Yucatan and the ejidos in the Yucatan. She has 15 years experience in permaculture, and has worked in Yucatan for the last 4 years.
Christopher Nesbitt has farmed in Belize for over 20 years. He has worked in agroforestry and cacao for much of the last 20 years and serves on the board of directors of Maya Mountain Research Farm, and is the on site manager. He also designs and installs renewable energy systems and photovoltaic pumping systems.
Agronomists, development workers, extension officers, land owners, people concerned about peak oil or interested in sustainability.
