Family-Friendly & Bilingual (English-French)
Facilited by Starhawk et Alfred Decker
FULL PDC - Permaculture design course
“Earth Activist Training” and “12P Permaculture Design” are delighted to invite you to a two week intensive Permaculture Design Course (PDC), offering the internationally recognized 72 hour permaculture curriculum, enriched with social permaculture, organizing tools, and spiritual grounding.
This training is family friendly and provides live translation between English and French.
Come and share a deeply transformative experience with a group rich in intercultural exchange and a duo of committed and inspiring permaculture educators, Starhawk and Alfred Decker!
Course Goals and Content
Earth Activist Training (EAT) is an intensive course combining theory and hands on learning.
Completion of the full program enables participants to obtain a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC).
Participants will learn the principles and techniques of permaculture design. The course includes training sessions, discussions, practical work, slideshows, earth based rituals, and design projects.
We will examine the assumptions underlying modern consumer culture and globalized economics, and explore ways to contribute to the emergence of a regenerative, compassionate, and equitable culture.
The PDC covers a wide range of subjects to give a holistic overview of permaculture systems and sustainable living. Some of the topics include:
Evidence of change & ethics of sustainability
Permaculture principles
Site observation and analysis
Ecological design and planning methods
Organic food production & food security
Climate factors in design
Soils: natural soil improvement
Integrated animal systems
Water: harvesting, conservation, and management
Agroforestry and forest gardening
Appropriate technology and renewable energy systems
Mapping and design exercises
Urban and rural design techniques and strategies
Ecovillages and sustainable human settlements
Nature connection practices and personal resilience
Social permaculture
Collaboration tools
Communication skills and conflict transformation
Community ceremonies and celebrations
Bioremediation
Urban sustainability
Garden and farm design and planning
Pré-programme
Family Friendly
This training is one of the rare certified PDCs that allows parents to fully participate while benefiting from on site childcare.
In addition, the activities offered give children the opportunity to observe, explore, and connect with nature through their heads, hearts, and hands.
The children’s program is adapted to children aged 5 to 14 and is developed in parallel with the EAT themes, including:
Exploratory adventures: immersion in nature and discovery of the four elements — Earth, Fire, Water, and Air
Art, nature, and cooperative games
Sharing practices: talking circles, gratitude circles, and self connection tools (Sit Spot)
Permaculture and sustainability principles woven into daily life through small, practical activities
The children’s program is led by Daniella Querol, an artist, educator, and permaculturalist who lives in a collective project in Catalonia.
Parents wishing to bring their children can coordinate specific needs with Daniella.
Daniella speaks English, German, Spanish, and Catalan. For more information about her work, click HERE.
She will be supported by bilingual French English team members from Grains & Sens, experienced in organizing family PDCs, eco camps, and other children’s activities.
To contact Daniella directly regarding the children’s program, please write to her HERE.
Bilingual (English/French)
The trainers mostly speak English. The course will be translated live between both languages.
The trainers
Starhawk (she/they) is the co‑founder and Executive Director of Earth Activist Training. One of the major spiritual voices on humanity’s relationship with the Earth, Starhawk is an author, activist, teacher, and permaculture designer. Her 13 books include beloved works such as The Spiral Dance, The Earth Path, and The Fifth Sacred Thing. Drawing on 30 years of collective living, Starhawk wrote The Empowerment Manual, which forms the foundation of her social permaculture course, Empowering Collaborative Groups.
Starhawk has been recognized by the Permaculture Institute of North America (PINA) as a leading figure in permaculture and has received a dual diploma for excellence in education and site design.
As a teacher of magical activism and permaculture education, Starhawk’s work takes her around the world. She currently lives part‑time in San Francisco in a collective house with her partner and friends, and part‑time in a small cabin in the woods of Cazadero, California, where they practice permaculture in their extensive gardens and write. Her website is http://starhawk.org.
Alfred Decker is one of Europe’s most innovative permaculture educators; the educational coordinator of Permaculture For Refugees; a certified educator with the Permaculture Association of Britain; and an inspiring voice in the field of social permaculture. Since his first permaculture course in 1998 in California (where Alfred and Starhawk were fellow students), he has been involved in permaculture projects as well as social movements and initiatives throughout Europe and the Americas.
Based in Catalonia, Spain, Alfred is the founder of 12P Permaculture Design and teaches widely across Europe. Today, he is dedicated to facilitating online and in‑person permaculture teacher trainings. Alfred’s website is: 12pdesign.net/alfred-decker.
2026 is the ninth year that Starhawk and Alfred will be teaching together in Europe, after having already collaborated on 14 permaculture courses together.
Training location
GRAIN & SENS
Grain&Sens is an ecovillage founded in 2018 with the aim of creating a multicultural, bilingual community where people share spaces, land, and knowledge to help preserve natural resources. It promotes environmentally responsible and community‑focused activities connected to a global perspective.
Located at 750 meters altitude on the Domaine du Lavenant, the site is surrounded by 20 hectares of forest and meadows. It offers independent living spaces as well as shared areas for hosting groups and camps, supporting a low‑impact lifestyle close to nature.
how to get there?
Address:
360 Chemin de Lavenant, 07440 Boffres, FRANCE
Train:
The nearest station is Valence Ville (recommended) or Valence TGV (easy connection to Valence Ville). From Valence Ville, bus 46 departs at 16:10 or 19:00.
Bus:
Line 46 connects Valence Ville station to the village of Boffres.
Carpooling:
We will provide a shared document to organize rides.
Shuttle:
If needed, we can arrange shuttles to pick participants up from the bus stop in Boffres, and, if nothing else works (for a fee), in Valence.
food & accomodation
Food
Meals provided by Grain & Sens are delicious, colorful, and vegan.
Participants wishing to eat meat or dairy may bring their own or purchase local products, including goat cheese from a nearby farm accessible by a forest walk.
Accommodation
Shared rooms or family rooms at the Grain & Sens ecovillage are the recommended option.
Tent camping or van camping is also available at lower cost.
Fees for 13 nights / 14 days:
• Accommodation: €300 shared/family room // €150 camping
• Food: €350 full board
Children receive a 50% discount on all prices.
Course Fees
Course fees are separate from food and accommodation, which go to Grain & Sens.
EAT uses a sliding scale, encouraging those with higher incomes to contribute more.
For this certified training, the scale ranges from €440 to €540 per person.
Those paying the higher end help support those who can only afford less.
The sliding scale recognizes differing economic realities depending on country of origin and personal situation.
If you wish to propose a different amount based on your circumstances, please share what you can contribute and why you need support.
For children, the total cost (food, accommodation, activities) will not exceed €400 per child for the 14 days.
We also offer variable rate scholarships for people of color working in environmental and social justice movements. This is part of our commitment to reparations and bringing more diversity into the permaculture movement.
If you are BIPOC or a refugee/migrant and are interested in one of these scholarships, please apply HERE.
If someone wishes to contribute to fundraising for this course in Europe, please contact Alfred HERE.
Your fee includes
A life changing learning experience
A Permaculture Design Certificate
Digital resources
A new community of permaculture practitioners to join!
Registration deadline: June 15, 2026
By this date at the latest, we will confirm whether the course has enough participants to take place.