The 2012 Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course, which spanned 72-hours across 13 Sundays starting from April 2012, ended last month in June.

It is the second year that KFBG has held the PDC course. This year, the course focused mainly on the local ecological environment and was taught by experienced permaculture practitioners from KFBG. Twenty-eight students successfully completed the course and became holders of a PDC certificate. Not only organic farmers and farmers’ market organisers joined the course, the PDC students this year came from all walks of life including publishers, social welfare developers and architects.

"I think permaculture opens a new way of thinking to me," said Cheung Man, one of the participants and the person-in-charge of Project Grow (an urban rooftop garden initiative in To Kwa Wan). She was particularly inspired by one of the permaculture principles: turn problems into solutions. "When problems arise, we used to regard it as defects; but a permaculturist will turn defects into benefits." Other student, Amanda, who is keen on promoting green rooftops by starting it on her own office roof, echoes Cheung Man’s sentiments that as she knows more about permaculture, she has learned how to deal with the practical problems, such as how to take effective measures against mosquito breeding, how to improve water storage systems and how to handle compost, by going with the flow of nature rather than against it.

When being asked about what were her next steps to practice permaculture after graduating from the course, Dora from St. James' Settlement answered without hesitation, "I will apply the permaculture principles in my work." Dora has been working to develop social economy and social enterprises in Wan Chai. She said the course gave her a lot of inspiration for the famous Blue House’s renovation project, "Permaculture is a solution for urban planning and design; it is also a way to make proper and co-operative use of natural resources. Permaculture principles can be applied into different aspects, be it the social services, economy or community building efforts."

It is the worldwide tradition of the PDC course that the last lesson ends with a party of creative performances from the students. At the last lesson on 24th June, 2012; the 28 students, as well as the instructors in the class, gave their all in showcasing their talents in dancing, music, drama, and together brought a perfect end to the course with home-made food, laughter and creativity.