Introduction to Permaculture Design; designing resilient systems

About this Event

Sumner Bays Union Trust in collaboration with Edible Canterbury, bring you this 4 Part Introduction to Permaculture Design course as part of the Ako Ōtautahi Learning Days Festival 2025. Come learn about Permaculture and how to design resilient systems of abundance.

This Introduction to Permaculture Design Course is broken into 4 different workshops held at 3 different places:

1. An intro to Permaculture Design: Discover the ethics, principles and background of Permaculture design philosophy. 6-8pm , May 27, in the Puoro-Raki Room@ Matuku Takotako (upstairs of Sumner Library) 14-16 Wakefield, Sumner (Sponsored by Sumner Bays Union Trust)

2. Designing Resilient Systems: Observing patterns in nature; How to read a landscape and design for resilience, 10.30-12.30, Sat 31 May @ He māra kai, 3 paisley st, Sumner (Sponsored by Sumner Bays Union Trust)

3. Permaculture Design in our Built Environment: Learning from lessons in nature we will tour the 7 layers of Ōtākaro Orchard Food Forest, with its diverse and beneficial relationships to see Permaculture Principles in action, then tour the Ōtākaro Orchard education hub to see these same principles at play in building design; With a blue green roof and solar array, compost toilets, adobe mud brick for passive solar heating, infiltration swales and grey water recycling, this community driven project is a living learning hub for us and our children, and a precious asset for the coming centuries. 

Sat June 7, 2.30-4.30pm at Ōtākaro Orchard (Sponsored by Edible Canterbury) 

4. Resource Management: Looking at our water, soil, and energy cycles we will explore ways to capture and store maximum energy while producing no waste; looking at what small impacts we can take in our everyday lives to effect positive change.. 6-8pm, June 10, in the Puoro-Raki Room@ Matuku Takotako (upstairs of Sumner Library) 14-16 Wakefield, Sumner (Sponsored by Sumner Bays Union Trust)

Please Note: Workshop 2 & 3 will be held outside in gardens so please bring appropriate footwear and weather protection. 

In the event of persistent rain these workshop’s will be postponed to another date.

There is no toilet available at the He māra kai.

At Ōtākaro Orchard there is a compost toilet & porta-loo onsite, with public toilets located across the road at the Margret Mahy playground .

Cost is a koha towards our community led project.