PDC Student

The gratitude I feel now is bigger than any word! I am happy that I took this course (even though English really troubled me)! I love all the insights I have had and knowledge I have gain during this year I have spent with this course. I am happy that I had a second chance to complete this with full focus!

I am pretty satisfied with my first design. I know that it is a first attempt and with this little knowledge and experience, I probably already would do things differently. You gave a good tip in last office hour: ask for help! This is a learning journey and by doing, observing nature, talking with the trees and people and asking help we get better.

Thank you Javan for your patience. kindness, helpful feedback and your wisdom! Thank you! I have loved this Journey so much and it has taught me in so many areas of life!

The last six months were the most enjoyable experience and productive time in my life!

This course was the best experience of all online courses I’ve had. I will definitely follow the next courses available and hopefully sign up for them.

It was amazing to observe how the various topics learned throughout the course came together in the last assignment and formed the concept plan for my garden. Each design element is the outcome of new knowledge gained throughout the course and has a function which is well understood and accepted by us owners.

I am really proud of the outcome and grateful for the opportunity to attend this course, and I will miss this time a lot.

Javan provided such insightful and thoughtful feedback on every assignment through the OSU PDC Pro course. I really enjoyed learning how best to present our designs and delving deeper into topics of land management and regeneration: how to maximize plant polycultures, being careful to manage all water coming into and leaving the system, and how best to leverage materials and social capital available to us. You really get a handle of the Permaculture Principles in what is essentially a deep detailed design course. I can’t wait to break ground on our 2.4 acre lot!

I was drawn to permaculture initially because of two problems:

• First, I owned a piece of land that had been almost decimated by the Mountain Pine Beetle & was needing some kind of eco-friendly redesign.
• Second, I had some problems with my septic system & I hoped to find out what creative options there might be for dealing with wastewater (and water in general].

After investigating a number of course options, I came across some of Geoff Lawton’s videos & was intrigued by the possibilities I observed in permaculture. Geoff Lawton is from Australia & he wasn’t hosting any courses at the time so I looked at what was available in North America.

The OSU course came highly recommended. It offered me solutions to the two problems I stated above. It was project based allowing me to learn essential permaculture principles while redesigning my property. It also offered me creative alternatives to the conventional ways of dealing with wastewater that actually became an integral part of the design site.

Javan Bernakevitch was an excellent mentor & essential guide in the design process. His practical experience & creative approach to solving problems was a hand in glove fit for the OSU permaculture course.

The OSU PDC PRO course was a great learning experience that I highly recommend for anyone interested in making a meaningful difference in the way they interact with their lived space.

This course taught me that permaculture is really a connected view of things that matter, food, energy and structures (physical but also social, economical etc).

Javan Bernakevitch as instructor of our group was tremendously helpful in getting the knowledge into an assignment of over 130 pages where not one page is superfluous. Indeed, the assignment leaves no stone untouched (literally as it requires digging holes). The required designs cover the many connected aspects of permaculture in a practical way.

The designs are no less practical than planting crops because the edible result relies as much on a good design as it does on working with the earth.

I fully recommend the course, the inspirational videos of Andrew and Javan, and the excellent feedback Javan provides. A big thank you!

First of all, thank you for your thorough guidance throughout the course.

I had tough times managing my time for sight visits, various surveys and assignment works, however it was such a rewarding experience knowing the ecology around my site and exploring permaculture design for the first time.

The flexibility and the level of details were superb and I am happy that I applied to this course.

Thank you again Javan.

After being captivated with permaculture by some books. I found that OSU PDC was about to start so I dove right in. I didn’t regret it, as they did a great job guiding me through principles of permaculture and in showing me techniques for land design.

The Project Portfolio Template created in Google Slides was a nice straight forward format for quickly presenting work and for creating accurate maps.

Javan brought energy and a multitude of personal experiences to the zoom meetings, and was very helpful in clearing my doubt and giving me ideas for my design.

I would definitely recommend the course to anybody wanting to apply the principles of permaculture to their lives and landscapes.

First of all, thank you very much for everything! Going through this course under your guidance has been an amazing experience and a true pleasure.