Terra Alta Permaculture Education Centre

Logo of the Global Ecovillage Network with interconnected leaf and flower design.
  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • English
  • Ecological
  • Rural

Founding year

  • 2010

What we do

One of the most established Permaculture projects in Europe—the off-the-grid Permaculture education centre, Terra Alta. With 10 years as a permaculture site-in-development, a center for research and education, and with over 20 Permaculture Design Certificate Courses (PDCs) taught, Terra Alta, led by visionary Permaculture teacher Pedro Valdjiu, offers Permaculture education at the highest level. Alongside Permaculture, Terra Alta is committed to bioregionalism, evidenced by the involvement of local guest teachers and by the Waldorf school, “Escola da Terra”, that Pedro Valdjiu and his life partner, educator Rita Seixas run which, together with Terra Alta form the nonprofit “Waldorf Association of Sintra”.
We treat Terra Alta’s off-the-grid site as a teacher in its own right as students get to experience Permaculture daily, learning from our existing projects and being part of our intentional community by helping shape it. This hands-on, holistic learning environment is complemented by the collaborative methods of hosting we use.
Vision
A wild piece of land near the cliffs of Europe’s westernmost point is host to a journey of self-discovery, where community building is done in connection with nature, guided by the energy from the powerful site. An inclusive learning center, Terra Alta is a destination for people from all walks of life, where together they become regenerative agents, creating new ways for the future, inciting an international movement of cultural, land, and social transformation.
Mission
Inspired by the principles of permaculture, we are a community committed to regenerating the soil, producing healthy food, and building ecologically while actively contributing to the international web of eco-cultural transformation. Terra Alta offers experiential life-education programs for both youths and adults, preparing participants to become pollinators, spreading the word of abundance and nature connection throughout the world.

  • Purpose
  • Ecological
  • Languages
  • English
  • German
  • Portuguese (Portugal)
  • Community type
  • Land-Based Communities
  • Activities
  • Ecological Restoration
  • Permaculture
  • Education

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2010
  • Started living together

Video

  • Not open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
8

How to join

Please contact before a visit. We are not a drop-in project.
We run summer programs, internships and volunteerships and usually only host visits outside of our summer programs.

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Terra Alta Permaculture Education Centre

Promoted Needs and Offers

  • Events
10 years ago

Permaculture Design Course

Der Permakultur-Designkurs vermittelt den TeilnehmerInnen die planerischen und fachlichen Grundlagen, um Gärten, Betriebe, Projekte und Unternehmen nach den Prinzipien der Permakultur zu gestalten. Auch in der Bau- und Stadtplanung können die Prinzipien Anwendung finden, um eine zukunftsfähige Lebensweise zu fördern. Dabei steht das Verständnis der natürlichen Kreisläufe und Prozesse im Vordergrund, welches die Grundlage des Permakultur-Designs ist. Der Lernweg einer tiefen Naturverbindung wird während des Kurses beschritten, um den Menschen im ökologischen Netzwerk der Erde wieder einzubinden. Dabei ist auch die Gemeinschaftsbildung ein wichtiger Bestandteil dieses ökologischen Geflechts, die während des Kurses eine bereichernde Erfahrung für die TeilnehmerInnen sein wird. Der Intensivkurs umfasst alle Module des Permakultur-Designkurses nach dem internationalen Curriculum und schafft somit die Voraussetzungen für die Ausbildung zum/zur Permakultur Designer/in. Inhalte: – Einführung in die Permakultur – Permakulturplanungsinstrumente und Designprozesse – Selbstversorgung mit Permakultur – Bauen, Wohnen und Leben in der Permakultur – Permakultur in Dörfern, Städten und Gemeinschaften – Natur- und Sinneswahrnehmungsübungen – Pflanzenkunde, Kompostieren, essbare Waldgärten und vieles mehr weitere Infos auf www.alpine-permakultur.ch Preis: Seminarpreis: CHF 1600.- Frühbuchpreis bis 1. Mai 2016 CHF 1400.- Kost & Logis inkl. Vollpension: – Mehrbettzimmer CHF 95.- – Zelt CHF 70.-/Nacht Für wenig Verdienende: – Sommer: Zelt CHF 60.- – Frühling, Herbst, Winter: Mehrbettzimmer CHF 85.- Mitnehmen: – Schreibutensilien – wetterfeste Kleidung – gutes Schuhwerk Buchung: Per e-mail an in**@**********lp.ch oder online über die Webseite bis 3 Wochen vor Kursbeginn Ort: Verein Zentrum der Einheit Schweibenalp CH-3855 Brienz Telefon: +41 (0) 33 952 2000 E-Mail: in**@**********lp.ch Telefonzeiten: Mo. – Fr. 10.00 – 12.00 Uhr und 1
  • Events
11 years ago

Ecological Design Thinking

This postgraduate programme in Ecological Design Thinking will help to create a global network of design educators and practitioners able to respond to pressing economic, social and ecological challenges. It will enable students to play an active and transformative role in communities as we meet the challenge of transitioning to low carbon, high well-being and resilient places and systems. Never has there been a more important time for a new approach to design. students on an ecological design courseThe programme is rooted in an exploration of ecosystem dynamics, trends and behaviour, and socio-cultural systems and dynamics. It will focus on the design of the built environment and the connected ecological and social systems and services, but students will also be encouraged to apply lessons from nature to the design of all of our systems – political, economic, educational and sociocultural. Together, we will explore how transdiscplinary, collaborative teams can solve complex problems, and how using approaches from nature to shape all of our relationships might help us to create healthy, durable, resilient, just, and prosperous communities. Students will experiment with new ways of working first in studio where they will apply the principles of Ecological Design, and then through a series of short placements with partner organisations. They will be introduced to facilitation and participation techniques, and will be involved in the co-production of both the design, and the full lifecycle of projects. There will be a particular focus in the studio sessions on the design of settlements and the connected ecological and social systems and services. Taught elements will include input from leaders in the fields of ecological design, ecology, climate change, new economics and social change from around the world. This programme is the fourth postgraduate programme to be developed at Schumacher College and will contribute to and enhance the ongoing collaborative i

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