The Permaculture Teacher Training (PTT) is an international training offered in English and designed by the internationally-renowned teacher Rosemary Morrow. This was the first time the course was arranged as a collaboration between the Noridc Permaculture Academy and national associations in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and Finland, aiming at strengthening and increasing the momentum of the Permaculture network of learners and institutions within the Nordic region. The teachers were Alfred Decker from Spain, Cathrine Dolleris from Denmark and Andreas Jonsson from Sweden.
5 participants from Finland joined the Permaculture Teacher Training at Holma Folkhögskola. All of us are active permaculture teachers in different areas. All together there were 25 students from all Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Iceland), Estonia and Bulgaria.
On the way back home we felt tired but satisfied. The ten course days had been intensive. We haven’t had so much contact with permaculture teachers from other countries before, so it was great to get to know so many fantastic people from many different countries and dive deep into permaculture and practice our teaching skills together.
The team work and also freetime activities built new deep connections with colleagues from different countries. We really felt supported and encouraged by other people and shared and heard from each other. This gave us confidence as teachers and wider perspectives to adult learning.
The course gave valuable learning outcomes. The microteaching sessions gave us confidence for our teaching and taught us how to plan and schedule the teaching sessions.
The course also gave skills for new ways of decision making and conflict resolution. At the same time it gave also insights into how challenging it can be to make decisions together in a large and diverse group. Dozens of different games and plays showed us how important it is to take a break and have fun in the middle of learning. During our meals we got inspiring practical tips on how to connect permaculture principles with the food we serve and eat!
Overall, we got a holistic perspective to adult learning practises and new useful insights into teaching permaculture. Likewise we learned more about the permaculture network and movement in general. These ten days with other permaculturists were also able to show us what are our own strengths in permaculture.
All of us five participants will use the learning outcomes in different ways. Many of us have our own projects and teach permaculture courses and courses on holistic sustainability. Some of us work in the formal education, for example in secondary schools and elementary schools. Three of the us are involved in the new Finnish speaking Permacuture Design course (PDC) planned for July 2024. All the methods and the whole toolbox from the course will be used in different contexts in our country and in our own language. This is a valuable new resource in Finland!
The participants from Finland were Henna Jämsä, Selma Kilpi, Marja Nuora, Anni Rainio and Juha Ujula.
Photos: © Juha Ujula
