Santa Barbara City College

ASSOCIATE DEGREE CREDIT COURSE OUTLINE

 

Department:  Biological Sciences, Environmental Horticulture

Subject Area and Course Number:  ENVS 210/ EH 210

Course Title:   Permaculture Design

Discipline:  Biological Sciences, Environmental Horticulture

Units:  1

Repeatability:  None

Catalog Description: Application of ecological and environmental principles to designing human systems that are locally sustainable and require reduced inputs.  When taken with ENVS 110 or EH 110, the successful student is certified as a Permaculture Design Trainee and receives a Permaculture Design Certificate recognized worldwide.

Description for Schedule of Classes:  Application of ecological and environmental principles to designing human systems that are locally sustainable and require reduced inputs.  Satisfies SBCC General Education requirement in Natural Sciences in combination with ENVS 110 or EH 110.

Lecture Hours per Week:  None

Discussion Hours per Week:  None

Laboratory Hours per Week:  3.3

Plus Hours:    None

Prerequisites:  None

Co-requisites:   ENVS 110 or EH 110

Skills Advisories:  Eligibility for English 110, English 110H or English 110GB

Course Advisories:  None

Limitation on Enrollment:  None

Course Objectives:  Permaculture design asks the student to apply ecological and environmental theory to the design of human systems. The use of design as a motivation requires that students fully understand and apply the ecological and environmental principles learned in lab and the co-requisite lecture. As part of the lab, students visit various local ecological habitats and sites of environmental interest and familiarize themselves with the many interacting biotic and abiotic components.  By the end of the course students should be able to:

1.                    Articulate the philosophy and ethics of permaculture.

2.                    Identify and manipulate limiting factors, energy inputs and outputs, and nutrient cycles by designing sustainable food and living systems for a given site.

3.                    Recognize natural patterns and relationships and apply them to a design to increase diversity, stability, and yield.

4.                    Characterize climatic and vegetation zones through research and data collection and utilize these data to design sustainable systems regarding soils, hydrology, flora, and fauna.

5.                    Identify soil types, composition, and biota and describe various methods to prevent loss of top soil and methods to rehabilitate damaged soils.

6.                    Describe appropriate sustainable agricultural strategies for the temperate, humid tropics, drylands, and humid cool to cold climates.

Course Content and Scope:

Permaculture design provides the student with an opportunity to solidify ecology and environmental studies concepts taught in either the ENVS 110 or EH 110 lectures in an experiential and applied setting. The emphasis is on using the theoretical knowledge from the co-requisite lectures and the lab, and the techniques learned in lab to identify appropriate design principles to develop a productive and sustainable system for human use.

Occasional labs will be off site to illustrate particular points and may include:

Habitat analysis

Riparian woodland and stream habitat

Chaparral community

Sandy beach

Coastal wetlands

Rocky seashore

Sites of food production

                  Fairview Gardens

Sites of waste disposal or reclamation

                  Tajiguas Landfill

                  County composting facility

Sites that illustrate permaculture design principles

                  Residences or commercial properties using permaculture design principles

 

Methods of Instruction:   Laboratory hours will include

1.                    Presentations of general theory and principles

2.                    Discussion of the integration of ecological principles and design principles

3.                    Demonstration of and hands-on experience with equipment and techniques

Students will incorporate this information and the techniques to evaluate and develop design projects. 

 

Required Assignments:

1.                    Attendance at lab and field exercises

2.                    A two-page report on each of the major topics

3.                    A final group design project 

 

Methods of Evaluation:

Attendance and participation is expected.  Because of the hands-on nature of this lab/field course, students are expected to attend and actively participate in the educational exercise at hand. Such attendance and participation by students is closely observed.

Reports are evaluated for ability to accurately and concisely summarize major topics and identify key concepts.

The final design project will be evaluated on the ability of students to integrate the various principles, choose appropriate design elements, and address the design guidelines.

Appropriate Texts and Supplies:

Mars, Ross. 2005. The Basics of Permaculture Design. Chelsea Green Publishing. ISBN: 1856230236

Holmgren, David. 2002. Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability. Holmgren Design Services. ISBN: 0646418440

Hemenway, Toby. 2000. GaiaŐs Garden: A Guide to Home Scale Permaculture. Chelsea Green Publishing Co. ISBN: 1-890132-52-7

Mollison, Bill and R. M. Slay. 1991. Introduction to Permaculture. Tagari Publications. ISBN: 0-908-228-08-2

Mollison, Bill. 1988. Permaculture: A DesignerŐs Manual. Tagari Publications. ISBN: 0-908-228-01-5

 

 

 

 

 

 

AG/mej

Approved March 3, 2008

FRC (WPC)