Sustainable Living Course 2025
Once a year we run our Sustainable Living Course: a 7-week series of modules exploring and teaching skills in resilient, holistic and sustainable living.
The modules include and incorporate:
We have options available to participate in the full course, individual and combined modules, or one day modules and field trips - find out more below.
Registrations close 4th January 2025
An awesome awakening to a new way of living. It feels like a paradigm shift that could really benefit anyone who is struggling to create a healthy life. I have experienced an amazing quality of friendships that has been a huge part of the whole experience, each person coming with their own motivation and ready to come together as a team. Learning from real masters in their fields the quality of information is superb and each one very personable.
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Ed Thompson, Student 2019
A spectacular course that has enriched my life in numerous ways. I look at the world with hope and motivation and I intend to live with nature. The topics covered in this hearty course are truly varied and fascinating. We formed a close group and friends for life, which is a real bonus! The location is perfect and always buzzing with activity. I recommend this course to anyone who desires to cultivate ideas and inspiration for their own lives or others that involve sustainability and ultimately treading lightly on the Earth.
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Jasmin Hales, Student 2019
Course Modules
Permaculture Design Certificate
-Don’t just DO permaculture, BE permaculture!-
This internationally certified residential Permaculture design course, focuses on design as a process. Learn how to transform degraded landscapes into thriving resilient habitats, discover your place within the natural world, and experience community in action.
This course covers the standard two-week international Permaculture Design Certificate curriculum through Earthcare Education Aotearoa, leading into an additional four days of ‘inner permaculture’ exploration through Deep Ecology and the Work that Reconnects. It also includes hands-on skill-building activities, mini-design exercises, and visits to inspirational properties who are demonstrating Permaculture in practice.
This course is in residence at two locations:
Tui Treefield, 4 – 16 Feb
Golden Bay Sustainable Living Centre, 16 – 22 Feb
Tutors: Robina McCurdy, Charles Bradley, Inna Alex & Sol Morgan
Permaculture Design Certificate
Dates: 18 days: Tues 4 Feb - Sat 22 Feb, 2025
Price: $2,250 (includes food)
Earth Building
- Get dirty, be inspired, build your own, locally resourced -
In this module you will learn about the health impacts of our modern building methods, why building with natural materials benefits all living systems, and what you can do to bring natural materials back into your home.
By getting your hands and feet in the clay you will learn different earth-building techniques and their properties, and be inspired by the creative possibilities of this material. You will go on field trips to meet the owners of earth-built homes and ecologically integrated properties here in Golden Bay, deepening your inspiration and knowledge in earth-building.
Tutor: Rita Scholten
Earth Building
Dates: 5 days: Mon 24 - 28 Feb 2025
Price: $570
Organic Growing and Health Care
- Be resilient, grow your own, invest in health -
Learn how to create a vegetable garden and orchard from scratch, following organic principles and utilising local resources as much as possible. In addition, you will gain skills and know-how to produce an abundance of fruit and vegetables throughout the seasons. This programme includes land preparation, managing soil fertility, composting, plant selection and propagation, creating a seasonal action plan, building growing structures, plant care, and saving seed for food resilience, combined with sustainable eating and preparing DIY personal and household care products.
Tutor: Sol Morgan
Organic Growing and Health Care
Dates: 18 days: Mon 3 - Fri 21 March, 2025
Price: $1,720
Full Sustainability Course
- Activate yourself , design your future -
Permaculture, Natural Building, Organic Growing and Health Care
This comprehensive course explores how sustainability can be integrated into your daily life, from personal habits to redesigning your lifestyle for greater food resilience and overall well-being.
Permaculture Design - 19 days, 4 - 16 Feb. Taught by Robina McCurdy, Charlie Bradley, Inna Alex and Sol Morgan.
Earth Building - 5 days, 24 -28 Feb. Taught by Rita Scholten.
Organic Growing and Health Care - 13 days, 3 - 21 March. Taught by Sol Morgan, Kerryn Easterbrook and Rita Scholten.
Each module features field trips, guest speakers, and hands-on practical learning experiences.
Our Permaculture course is residential, including accommodation and meals. The Organic Growing and Natural Building courses are non-residential and provide lunch and refreshments.
If you require accommodation, please let us know; we can assist with options.
7 weeks, 3 modules
Dates: Mon 4 Feb – 21 March 2025
Price: $4,540
Module Combinations
Permaculture Design Course, Organic growing and Health Care
6 weeks: Tue 4 Feb – 22 Feb, 3 Mar – 21 Mar
Price: $4000
Permaculture Design Course, Natural Building
4 weeks: Tue 4 Feb – 28 Feb
Price: $2820,
Natural Building, Organic Growing
4 weeks: Tue 24 Feb – 21 Mar
Price: $2280,
One Day Modules and Field Trips
Price: $115 each day module
Naturally Built Houses Field Trip
Fri 28 Feb with Rita Scholten
Affordable Food Solutions
Wed 12 March with Kerryn Easterbrook
Create Your Own Household and Care Solutions
Tue 18 March 2025 with Rita Scholten
Course Tutors
Sol Morgan
Organic Food Growing
Avid organic gardener, seed saver, educator and community activist. Sol is passionate about inspiring people to grow healthy food and treat the environment as a living organism, with care and respect. For the past 25 years he’s been involved with community gardens and community education around living more sustainably. He runs his own business GroWise Consultancy helping people develop healthy ecosystems especially edible landscapes.
Robina McCurdy
Permaculture
Robina McCurdy is the founder of the Institute of Earthcare Education Aotearoa, co-founder of Tui Land Trust & Community in Golden Bay, NZ and pioneer of the S.E.E.D. programme in South Africa and Brazil. She has been engaged in community development, organic growing, permaculture design/tutoring and educational resources production, on a global scale for the past 35 years – for households, neighbourhoods, schools, farms, ecovillages and entire bioregions.
Kerryn Easterbrook
Sustainable Eating
Kerryn is passionate about locally sourced, seasonal, organic, great tasting vegetarian food & has created a catering business around these values. She currently caters for several courses & enjoys inspiring people to create nutritious food. Kerryn also produces & manages her own olive oil soap business, Clean Earth Soap.
Rita Scholten
Natural Building
Personal Sustainability
By building a strawbale house I found out how toxic conventional building materials can be.
To be able to build firstly from local sustainable resources, secondly breathable creative warm buildings is such an empowering experience. When I teach I feel alive to share and inspire others.
