Seneca Haynes (right), who will be teaching “Introduction to Permaculture Design”, a six-week non-credit course this summer at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College, helps with material salvage for a community garden project in rural West Virginia last year. The course begins Monday, May 19, on the DSLCC Clifton Forge campus. For more information or to register, call the Non-Credit Coordinator at (540) 863-2863 or email jclark@dslcc.edu.

Permaculture Design Course Offered at DSLCC   A new non-credit course being offered this summer on the Dabney S. Lancaster Community College campus is “Introduction to Permaculture Design”, a six-week course designed to introduce participants to the practice of sustainable agriculture and self-maintained agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems. The instructor, Seneca Haynes, is a permaculture design consultant with Alleghany Permaculture Design. “Permaculture is an ecologically derived holistic design system guided by three underlying ethics: Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share,” explains Haynes. “Development projects on any scale that are guided by the principles of permaculture design are, therefore, intentionally designed to protect and respect the natural ecology within which human settlements are made, also ensuring that the needs of the people are met in abundance, sustainably, indefinitely while preserving and promoting the highest degree of social equity, personal health and individual freedom.” Students will develop a practical understanding of the 12 basic principles of permaculture design, gain a familiarity with a variety of core permaculture design texts and the differing stylistic approaches various authors have taken to present the 12 principles of permaculture design. “Additionally, students will complete one independent project and document the process by submitting a series of photos with a short written work detailing their observations and experiences with the project,” says Haynes. Students will also be asked to complete six short written assignments. The class will meet every other Monday night, beginning May 19, from 6 to 9 pm in room 509, McCarthy Hall, on the Clifton Forge campus. Tuition is $160; students are asked to purchase their own project materials, but seed packets will be provided. For more information or to register, contact the Non-Credit Coordinator at (540) 863-2863 or email jclark@dslcc.edu.

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