2026 Edinburgh Permaculture Design Course

Please read all of this info before using this *booking form*

The course is run by James Chapman and delivered in partnership with A+E (Art and Ecology) at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral.

The course is accredited by The Permaculture Association of Britain.

What’s on this page ?

*Introduction

*Venue, dates and times

*Course content

*Meet the team

*Fees and booking

*Contact info and links

Introduction: 
This full Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) is accredited by the Permaculture Association of Britain. The PDC develops an understanding of permaculture ethics, principles, design processes and implementation techniques. Completion of the full PDC provides recognition as a Permaculture designer, and enables you to go on to study for the Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design.

James has been running permaculture courses for 15 years. Former students have gone on to run their own smallholdings, food businesses, create gardens, build houses, and some have come back to help teach on the course. Our courses are interactive, experiential, friendly and inclusive, and students of all backgrounds and levels of experience are very welcome.

This year I’m very excited to be working with the Art and Ecology (A+E) project at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh’s West End. Jonathan Baxter is the driving force behind this project and is working on social, art, wider environmental themes and practically in the grounds. You can read more about the amazing work happening with this project at https://artandecology.earth/

The Art and Ecology project is based in a room at the Cathedral, but the course is not religious and is open to everyone of all and no faiths.

Venue, Dates, Times:

This year, we are running a face to face course over 6 weekends with classroom, practical sessions and site visits.  We will be based at the A+E space at St Mary’s but will also be using a variety of other venues including James’ site Willowburn Lea at Leadburn.  The site visits will include woodlands, forest gardens, urban gardens and community projects.  Please note, we will coordinate travel to external sites (where possible by public transport), but the cost of travel is not covered in the course fees.

Module 1 : Jan 31st & Feb 1stVenue : A+E, St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral
Module 2 : Feb 21st and 22nd
Venue: A+E, St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral
Module 3 :  March 7th and 8th
Venue : A+E, St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral and Willowburn Lea, Leadburn
Module 4 :  March 28th and 29th
Venue: A+E, St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral
Module 5 : April  25th and 26thVenue : Sat 25th Willowburn Lea, Leadburn EH46 7BE with option to camp over. Sun 26th A+E, St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral + site visit in Edinburgh
Module 6 : May 16th and 17thA+E, St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral
  • Times:  9.45am – 5pm
  • Food: Please bring a packed lunch for yourself, or a dish to share with everyone else to create a varied and interesting pot luck meal. 
  • Travel : St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral is well serviced by Lothian buses and Trams. It is also a short distance from Haymarket station. There is no parking at the cathedral. When we are at Willowburn Lea, we will either lift share or you can also get there on the X62 borders bus. You will be given plenty of notice about venues so you can plan your travel.

   
Course Content: 

The PDC runs over 6 weekends. Each weekend forms one of the 6 modules which cover the core curriculum of topics on the Permaculture Association certified PDC.

Module 1 topics include:

  • What is Permaculture? 
  • Plant of the day
  • Ethics & Principles
  • Learning from Nature 
  • Design Process 
  • Zones and Sectors 
  • Input-Output Analysis

Module 2 topics include:

  • Observation tools 
  • Plant of the day
  • Mapping 
  • Patterns in nature
  • Climate and micro-climates 
  • Trees

Module 3 topics include:

  • Soil 
  • Plant of the day
  • Permaculture and organic gardening 
  • Forest gardening 
  • Practicals 

Module 4 topics include:

  • Design tools 
  • Plant of the day
  • Design examples 
  • Social systems/contexts 
  • Built environment 
  • Resource choices 
  • Money 
  • Ecological footprint 

Module 5 topics include:

  • Visit established permaculture sites 
  • Option to camp at Willowburn Lea
  • Plant of the day
  • Water 
  • Practicals 

Module 6 topics include:

  • Final design project 
  • Design Presentation 
  • Next steps on your Permaculture journey
  • End of course party

Meet the Team:

The Edinburgh PDC 2025 is led by two main teachers, James and Nenya. There will also be feature sessions with guest teachers, practitioners, designers and specialists in their area. 

We aim for classes which are relaxed, fun and interactive, with a mix of information sessions, hands-on practical work, observation opportunities, creative project work and participatory ideas exchange.  



James Chapman completed his PDC in 2008, his Diploma in Applied Permaculture in 2010, and set up NonStuff Industries shortly after. James has many years’ experience living with and applying permaculture principles and ethics. He’s lived in a self-sufficient community, managed woodlands, built sustainable timber frame structures, and worked on a Community Compost project. James has also worked as a consultant, designing large and complex projects and community businesses.

In 2016 James and his family purchased a 7 acre mixed site at Leadburn, 10 miles south of Edinburgh, which is evolving into a permaculture demonstration site. He is a keen promoter of living and working towards a sustainable and regenerative future, and is one of Scotland’s busiest permaculture teachers.



Nenya is a Permaculture designer, teacher, gardener and grower based in south Edinburgh. She completed her PDC in 2012 and Permaculture Educator’s Course in 2014, and has been teaching on the course since 2015. Nenya finished her Diploma in Applied Permaculture in 2023 and is a tutor at Scotland’s Permaculture Diploma College No 1. 
Nenya also teaches courses on forest gardening, unusual edibles, foraging, composting, plant ID, and botanical cosmetics. Her business Perennis Permaculture offers design and consultancy services on edible low-maintenance gardening and other forms of regenerative land use, and undertakes garden maintenance in line with Permaculture ethics and principles. Nenya’s home in south Edinburgh features examples in suburban-scale forest gardening, rain water harvesting, composting (inc. humanure), and renewable energy retrofitting (solar PV and storage, insulation).

Fees :

The course fees are on a sliding scale depending on your financial situation. The household incomes listed are intended as a guide; if you have savings or investments (Shares, land, ISA’s etc etc), please increase your fee accordingly. Also, if you are unwaged and your partner has a high wage, please use the average household wage.

Our fees structure and business model relies on honesty from the participants. Each year we provide many subsidised places but this is only possible if everyone pays their correct fee. 

If you are unsure about which fee to pay, please get in touch first.

Fees

TeirFeeIncome 
Teir 1£865Good household income, grant funding or work based training. 
Teir 2£735Average UK household income (Circa £40K for a couple, £30K for individual) 
Teir 3 (subsidised rate, limited places)£525Lower income
Tier 4 Bursary places – both bursary places have now been taken.
Work in exchange for feesIf you would like to gain some more practical experience and have spare time, there is an option of working in exchange for training. We ask for 12 days work for the 12 days of training. £30 non returnable accreditation fee plus £495 refunded deposit on completion of the 12 days. Maximum of 2 places. Please contact James.nonstuff.chapman@gmail.com before booking.N/A

Grant Funding or Training Budget:
Those paying using grant money or as part of work-based training will be asked to pay the full fee amount.  You can request an invoice for the full fees. Please contact me before booking a place with funding. Email james.nonstuff.chapman@gmail.com

Paying over 3 installments

There is an option to pay for the course over 3 instalments. This option incurs a 10% admin fee.

What’s Included?

  • Fees include all face to face tuition, practical demonstrations and instruction, specialist facilitator sessions, links to videos and additional online content for personal study.
  • Fees include Permaculture Association certification and 1 year membership.
  • Hot drinks

What’s not Included?

  • Travel expenses are not included in the fees. When travelling to field trips we encourage public transport or car share, depending on location. In the past this has come to approx £15 for the whole course.
  • Food.

Booking:
To book your place…

  1. Fill in this booking form
  2. Make the fee payment (your place is not confirmed until the fee has been paid). This can be done by bank transfer.

Bank transfer details:

Account Name:  James Chapman (personal account)

Sort Code: 071096

Account Number : 02632323

Bank: Nationwide

  1. I’ll email you to confirm your booking, and to give you more information.

  

Contacts and useful links:
You can contact us with all course enquiries at james.nonstuff.chapman@gmail.com or ring James on 07790 265883

    Other links of interest:

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