PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE (PDC)
Hands-On Ecological Design Training in Costa Rica
Join a transformative, two-week (72-hour) Permaculture Design Certificate Course (PDC) at Finca Tierra Education Center, located on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast.
This is not a theory-only course.
You will learn inside a working tropical food system that feeds a family year-round, applying design principles in real gardens, food forests, water systems, and homestead infrastructure.
Through a blend of classroom learning and hands-on fieldwork, you will gain the knowledge and practical experience needed to design regenerative systems for food, water, energy, and community resilience.
Taught by experienced instructors with over 15 years of tropical design experience, this internationally recognized course gives you the knowledge and confidence to design sustainable systems anywhere in the world.
You will leave confident designing productive ecosystems in the tropics, or applying these systems to your own land, farm, or community.
Study surrounded by rainforest biodiversity, eat farm-to-table meals grown on the land you are learning from, and design alongside a small, focused group of students.
You’ll Learn
• Permaculture principles and ethics
• Site analysis and landscape design
• Soil regeneration, composting, and biochar
• Water harvesting and management
• Organic farming and tropical food forestry
• Renewable energy and natural building
• Ecological waste systems and closed-loop design
• Local economies, regenerative communities, and ecovillage planning
Each student completes a one-acre homestead design project and leaves with the tools to build and manage productive ecosystems, from backyards to farms.
Tuition & Registration
Tuition: $2,000 USD
Early Bird: $1,850 USD
(when paid in full 30 days before the course)
Reserve Your Place
$400 deposit to reserve your place
Balance transferable to future courses if plans change.
Balance Payment Options
Early Bird Balance: $1,450 USD
(if paid 30 days before the course)Standard Balance: $1,600 USD
(if paid after 30 days)
Accommodation Priority
Private bamboo cabinas with queen beds are limited.
They are allocated to the first participants who complete their balance payment, on a first-paid basis.
All cabinas are included in tuition. There is no additional cost for private accommodation.
What’s Included
All classes and hands-on training
Accommodation
All meals
Field trip
PDC certification
Not included: airfare and travel to and from Finca Tierra.
Language: English
Group size: Limited to 12 participants
Refund Policy
The $400 deposit holds your spot in your selected course dates.
Tuition (minus deposit) is refundable up to 30 days before the course.
Within 30 days, your balance may be applied to a future course.