A select team of facilitators awaits you in Findhorn!

Gaia Education and Ecovillage Findhorn have teamed up to offer you an incredible learning opportunity and community living experience.

There are two courses in sequence (you can choose to participate in both or just one of them), which will provide an immersion in Findhorn and the principles, concepts and ethics that support one of the oldest ecovillages in the world. Plus, you will be supported by a select team of facilitators and teachers who will enhance your journey with a lot of knowledge and years of community life to share.

The Findhorn Permaculture Design Certificate Course (PDC), from August 26th and September 8th, is the official certification in permaculture, following the curriculum defined by Bill Mollison. You will learn and put the principles into practice, becoming a certified permaculturist.

The Ecovillage Introduction Week (mini-EDE), from Sept. 9 to 15th, will guide you into each of the core dimensions (Social, Ecology, Economy and Worldview) of community design and sustainability, led by experienced facilitators in their fields and special guests from the Findhorn community, while you get a taste of how it looks like living in an Ecovillage.

It will be 3 unforgettable weeks of learning, practices and experiences in Findhorn that will change your life!

Now it's time to meet all the facilitators who will accompany you on this journey:

Lusi Alderslowe, Lead Faculty for the PDC

Lusi is a permaculture teacher from Scotland with 13 years’ of experience designing, coordinating and teaching permaculture courses of different durations. She’s taught in many locations in various countries, including Scotland, England, Ireland, Turkey and online.

The theoretical basis of her permaculture work comes from studying Development Management and Human Ecology, for which she received a MSc with Distinction. She is experienced in both rural and urban permaculture, having studied her Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design while living in Glasgow for seven years, and then living in rural Galloway for the last nine.

Craig Gibsone, facilitator for the PDC and mini-EDE

Originally from Australia, Craig has been a central figure in the development of Permaculture and Ecovillage education at Findhorn and has lived at Findhorn for over 50 years. Learn more about Craig:

Maria Cooper, facilitator for the PDC and mini-EDE

Originally from Sweden, Maria is deeply involved in the Transition Towns and Permaculture movements locally and internationally, and runs the Permaculture Design Courses and Ecovillage Design programmes in Findhorn, where she has been living for years. Learn more about Maria:

Alan Featherstone, facilitator for the PDC

Alan is an inspirational public speaker, ecologist, nature photographer and writer based in the Findhorn Community. In 1986 he founded the award-winning conservation charity, Trees for Life, which works to restore the Caledonian Forest in the Scottish Highlands, and was its executive director for almost 30 years. During that time it became the leading organisation working to restore the Caledonian Forest in Scotland.

Kajedo Wanderer, facilitator for the PDC and mini-EDE

Kajedo is an illustrious resident, known as Findhorn's gardener. He was in charge of several planting and restoration projects in the community, accumulating a lot of knowledge and practice about gardening and permaculture. Learn more about Kajedo:

Eveline Rodenburg, facilitator for the PDC

Eveline lives in the Park Ecovillage and is a herbalist and nutrition practitioner, passionate about gut health. Her other passion is her no-dig garden and the compost she makes from food waste from the local café and her neighbours.

Taisa Mattos, facilitator for the mini-EDE

Taisa is passionate about ecovillages and regenerative education. She has coordinated and taught Ecovillage Design Education Programmes (EDEs) since 2009, having contributed to over 30 certified EDEs all over in Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Argentina, and online. She was the lead facilitator of Gaia Education Training of Trainers (ToT) in Mexico and a guest trainer of the ToT in Ukraine.

Rona Ribeiro, facilitator for the mini-EDE

Rona Ribeiro is a mother, an educator, a psychotherapist, and an enthusiast of human development. She is currently researching the biology of conflict, of loving, and of what can make one thrive. Rona has been living in the Findhorn Community for over 20 years, worked for the Findhorn Foundation for eight years and was an educator for Gaia Education for six years.