We jumped at the opportunity, since it gives us the possibility of integrating with the “mother” organisation, keeping things like PDC certificates consistent and supporting the great work that the Permaculture Research Institute is doing. Tom has been approved as a PRI accredited teacher and is now able to give out Permaculture Research Institute certificates to PDC graduates.

Our property name will remain Kin Kin SOULS at the moment (Souls stands for Sustainable Organic Utopian Living Space, and for people (souls)), but we now have a new website setup similar to the Permaculture Research Institute Australia. Find the website at permaculturesunshinecoast.org. You can email us at the old email addresses for now, or at the new one which is info (at) permaculturesunshinecoast.org.

After some deliberation with Geoff and Nadia, we decided to follow their courses structure in relation to the PDC and Internship (a 72 hour Permaculture Design Certificate followed by a 10 week Internship), since this system seems to be working well. Our PDC combines Bill Mollison’s and Geoff Lawton’s teachings with Tom’s lifelong agricultural and self reliance experience without any spiritual connotations. Our 10 week “Permaculture Life Skills” Internship is a hands on approach, which teaches the day to day operation of our permaculture farm, and deals with several individual projects during the 10 weeks as well, like building, earthworks, fencing, compost and soil making and all aspects of gardening, to name a few. There will also be opportunities to learn about food preserving, dehydrating , fermenting, pickling, making butter and yoghurt etc. Interns will learn how to save, salvage and re-use resources and how to be as self reliant and sustainable as possible.

We currently teach in an outdoor teaching space which doubles as a camp kitchen and after hours relaxation area. Close by there is a compost toilet and basic camp shower (wood fired hot water service will be put together before the start of the next course!) and grassy camp sites for our students. We are aiming to get a larger teaching space and communal area running as soon as we can. Our property at 34 acres is about half the size of Zaytuna farm, so everything is scaled down a bit, but there are plenty of projects to sink our teeth into!

We would like all our internet bookings to go through the PRI Australia, which will support them as well as allow us to focus on other things (such as a water heater…). Find our upcoming courses here! All in all, this is a sustainable , mutually beneficial and supporting relationship, and we are very excited and proud to be part of the PRI family and hope we can support the Permaculture Research Institute Australia in all its future endeavours.