Permaculture Teacher Training
with Focus on Refugees
@ Sporos Regeneration Institute, Lesvos, Greece
June 7 - 15, 2025
In Person Training
Where the content and teaching of permaculture coincide harmoniously with the ethics
Register for the course HERE
If you have questions about the course, contact us HERE
If you have questions about the venue or registration, contact us HERE
Featuring a rare and special visit to Europe from Rosemary Morrow, the Permaculture Teacher Training with Focus on Refugees (PTT4R) is an international course offered in English and organised by Permaculture for Refugees (P4R), Sporos Regeneration Institute, and 12P Permaculture Design, and certified by the Permaculture Association of Britain.
The invasion of the Ukraine and the hundreds of thousands of refugees seeking asylum in the European Union has focused attention on the issue of mass migration. There is now a much greater opportunity to support displaced people by teaching and training refugees to teach and train each other. As P4R states, “Our aim is to support refugees in transforming the places where they live —be these refugee camps or communities in receiving countries — into productive permaculture-designed communities, and ultimately to equip them for integration into society for the collective benefit of all.” Following P4R’s definition, we use the term ‘refugee’ “interchangeably with asylum seekers, forced migrants, internally displaced peoples (IDPs), refugees and stateless person.”
Join us for an intensive training that will provide you with an invaluable toolkit to use in the classroom, as well as life in general. The training was designed by Rosemary and draws on her four decades of permaculture teaching experience. Whether you are already a teacher, or thinking of becoming one, the PTT4R makes teaching a transformative and fun exchange. Classrooms (indoor and outdoor) will never be the same again!
Why this training?
The PTT is an international training program in English, designed by permaculture educator pioneer Rosemary Morrow, which empowers you to:
- Build teaching confidence and overcome fears of public speaking or facilitation
- Transform classrooms into dynamic, participatory learning spaces
- Gain hands-on experience for teaching online and in person
- Design and deliver impactful courses that create real change in your students’ lives
- Join a global community of supportive, like-minded teachers
Whether you want to run full PDCs or smaller courses and workshops, this training will help you connect with your audience and teach with confidence and passion.
Where
The training will be held at the farm of the Sporos Regeneration Institute, a project focused on the regeneration of the earth, culture and human relations. Through its plethora of educational tools, it aims to teach people of all backgrounds and ages how to live more sustainable, healthier lives while caring for each other and the environment.
Situated on the island of Lesvos in Greece, one of the main gateways of refugees into Europe, Sporos acts as a bridge between the two worlds of refugees and locals on the island. We facilitate integration, hosting activities that bring disparate communities together to bring lasting social change. Rosemary Morrow taught a Permaculture Design Course for refugees here in 2019, which served as an inspiration to create Sporos.
The farm is located on the coast of Gera Bay in Lesvos, in the Dipi-Larsos wetland area, a pristine natural environment which is part of the Natura 2000 network of core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species.
In and around the farm there is a wide variety of wild greens, flowers, herbs and wetland plants which we respect and protect. The area is also a popular landing site for the many migratory birds which fly over Lesvos on their annual journey to Africa and back as well as a sanctuary for numerous wild animals such as deer, foxes, ferrets, hedgehogs, many reptiles and the last place where sea otters were spotted on the island in previous years.
Our farm protects two and a half acres of land, part of which is coastal. In the farm we grow olives, pomegranates, pears, grapes, cherry plums, walnuts, almonds, persimmons, apples, quinces, plums, peaches, mulberries, tangerines and most of the seasonal vegetables you can imagine.
This course is for...
You will learn how to:
- Design a short or a long course
- Develop clear course outcomes and ethics
- Adopt appropriate body behaviour and use nonviolent communication
- Prepare learning resources and use teaching aids effectively
- Organise classroom and learning environments
- Work with a broad range of people from different cultures and backgrounds
- Draw on strategies that promote thinking and integrate practical experience
- Deliver clear explanations and concepts
- Explain the structure and function of the Permaculture Design Course
- Give engaging digital presentations
- Debrief, appraise, and apply other teaching techniques
- Work collaboratively in groups
- Practice teaching in a safe, supportive community of peers
When
Begins: Participants arrive for registration starting on Saturday, June 7 at 16h. Course starts the morning of June 8.
Ends: The training officially ends on the afternoon of Sunday, June 15, with optional dinner and No Talent Show, and breakfast the following morning. You are encouraged to stay until Monday morning! But we realise that some people may need to leave on Sunday.
With Rosemary Morrow’s four decades of teaching expertise, this course offers timeless wisdom and practical tools for teaching in today’s world.
Community
You will be part of an international community during this training. Previous participants testify to the value of learning and practicing in a supportive group; making global connections and even finding future teaching collaborators!
The PTT4R Facilitation Team
This will be our fourth PTT4R training!
Rosemary Morrow
We are thrilled to welcome Rosemary back to Europe for this special training. She is known and loved worldwide as a permaculture teacher, practitioner, and activist. She has travelled the globe for four decades, often in countries shattered by war and disasters, sharing her passion for permaculture and social justice. Her belief is that access to useful knowledge is a basic human right.
Several years ago, Rosemary decided to focus on teacher training courses in order to have a “multiplier effect”, believing that the bottleneck keeping permaculture from growing more rapidly is not a shortage of curriculum and experience, but rather a shortage of competent permaculture teachers. So she created this training to give people the skills and confidence needed to take the big step from being a practitioner to becoming a teacher.
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Her pragmatic and effective approach working with and being led by local people has created community-scale permaculture projects and outcomes across a broad range of environments from drylands in Ethiopia, to the wet tropics of Vietnam. The knowledge and experience she brings to creating abundance, food security and successful sustainable farming models is unparalleled in permaculture education today. She is the author of the Earth Restorer’s Guide to Permaculture, the Earth User’s Guide to Teaching Permaculture, The Family Seedsaving Book, and A Good Home Forever.
Alfred Decker
Alfred Decker is an award-winning permaculture designer; the Education Coordinator of Permaculture For Refugees; a certified educator with the Permaculture Association of Britain; a leading voice in Social Permaculture; and one of Europe’s innovative permaculture educators. His journey into ecological design began in 1998 when he completed his first Permaculture Design Course in California. Since then, Alfred has been involved with social movements and projects across many borders. He is the founder of the 12P Permaculture Design consultancy, Permacultura Barcelona and the Forest Gardens project at Can Masdeu; is a co-founder of the Spanish Permaculture Academy (Academia de Permacultura Íbera); and was a member of the European Permaculture Teachers Partnership and the Permaculture Council of Europe. Alfred holds a post graduate diploma in sustainable architecture and renewable energy (Centre for Alternative Technology).
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After taking a PTT course with Rosemary Morrow in 2011, he undertook a two year mentorship and later co-facilitated six courses as her assistant, ultimately earning a Diploma in Permaculture Education & Community Development in 2013 through the Blue Mountains Permaculture Institute (Australia). Committed to furthering the PTT course that Rosemary developed in over four decades of teaching experience around the world, Alfred facilitated over 20 PTT courses as lead facilitator and co-edited all three versions of the PTT manual. Rosemary has asked him to organise the PTT trainings in Europe, and he has developed an online version of the course on the Permaculture Association of Britain’s online educational platform.
In 2024 Alfred joined the Global Council of Permaculture For Refugees. He is passionate about how permaculture can be useful to refugees and migrants, and how permaculture education can be designed for them as learners…and how they in turn can best share their valuable knowledge and experience with others.
Konstantinos Tsiompanos
Konstantinos is a human rights barrister, a permaculture teacher, a forest school teacher and an environmental educator. He practices law in Greece, where he represents and advises asylum seekers and refugees, mainly unescorted minors and victims of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence. He holds a research Masters degree in Environmental Sciences with a focus on the formation of environmental identity and has wide and diverse teaching experience in Europe and the USA.
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After attending a PDC with refugees taught by Rosemary Morrow in Lesvos, Greece in 2019, Konstantinos was very inspired by what he experienced and founded Sporos Regeneration Institute, a non-profit organisation active in permaculture education, refugee integration and vocational training. He has since organised and taught numerous permaculture courses for refugees.
Habiba Youssef
Habiba holds a degree in Economics and Sustainable Development, and has worked in international development, focusing on the regenerative and sustainable use of natural resources for income generating activities aimed at the reduction of poverty in rural areas. She is the co-founder of La Bolina, an Andalusia-based association working on land regeneration, capacity and awareness building and socio-economical integration of migrants and refugees. Habiba is an expert in agroecology market gardens.
Yau Fan
Yau is a permaculture designer and facilitator. He did his first PDC in 2017 and afterwards took courses with Lesley Martin, Hugo Oliveira, Mirka Faya Hlavacova, Patricia Pereira, Geoff Lawton, Daniel Halsey, Gerard Ducerf, and Elaine Ingham. Since taking a teacher training with Alfred Decker, he has taught 5 PDCs and other permaculture courses for refugees in Brussels. Yau is in the process of designing a PDC for refugees together with Alfred Decker, Rosemary Morrow and the Permaculture for Refugees working group.
Marguerite Kahrl
Marguerite is an artist, activist, permaculture designer, and facilitator who explores innovative ways to build meaningful and restorative relationships with the natural world. Her “relational objects” reimagine community practices, enhance awareness, and prepare us for change beyond our physical existence. She has taught and lectured widely about her art projects and participatory practices in Europe, the United States, China, India, Turkey, and Armenia.
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In 2016, she co-founded Permaculture for Refugees alongside Rosemary Morrow and a group of permaculture educators and practitioners. She currently serves on the global council for this initiative. She has experience in developing and facilitating participatory workshops and permaculture courses for migrant communities. Marguerite received a Merit diploma for International Permaculture Innovators from the Blue Mountains Permaculture Institute in Australia, which recognized her innovative artwork that combines permaculture with art. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honors) and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Colorado, Boulder, as well as a Master of Fine Arts (Honors) from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Her permaculture journey began in 1993 with Rod Everett at the Middlewood Trust in Lancaster, UK. She obtained her Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) from Bill Mollison and Scott Pittman in 1997. Additionally, she is a trained facilitator for The Work that Reconnects, where Joanna Macy mentored her. Marguerite is dedicated to promoting permaculture principles and driving meaningful change. She lives in Northern Italy. More on her work at www.kahrl.com
Sonita Mbah
Sonita Mbah is a passionate food grower, facilitator and Applied Permaculture Designer – Certified by German Permakultur Akademie. She has led Permaculture courses in Cameroon, Germany and Kenya. For over 10 years, she was the Administrator of Better World Cameroon and co-initiator of Bafut Ecovillage, an off-grid learning center North West of Cameroon. As Executive Secretary of the Global Ecovillage Network Africa, she brings regenerative community and social enterprise development to several African communities. Sonita received the Gender Just Climate Solutions Award by the Women and Gender Constituency for empowering women on the earthen cook stove technology and the One World Award for her work with the Global Ecovillage Network.
Fees
We normally offer a sliding scale for this course, and ask participants to offer what they can pay. The scale is between €800-€1300 for this professional, certified training. Those who can afford to pay more on the higher end of the scale will help those who can only pay less. The sliding scale recognises the differences in economic reality depending on what country a participant comes from, as well as their individual circumstances, so this is a practical way that people with more resources can act in solidarity. We don’t offer reduced-fee work exchange options because this is an intense course, and we want every participant to be able to get the most out of it and not have to sacrifice learning because they can’t pay a certain amount.
If you are a Greek permaculturalist, we may be able to offer you a discount. Priority of the training is to develop the Greek permaculture network. Please contact us HERE if you need support with this.
If you want to propose a different price based on your economic situation or request a scholarship, please share with us what you want to contribute and why you need support by applying HERE.
Your fees include:
- Three healthy meals a day plus snacks, tea, and coffee
- A teacher training certificate issued by the Permaculture Association of Britain
- A pack of digital teaching resources
- A new generation of permaculture teachers and doers for you to join!
- Participants who subscribe to Permaculture Magazine receive a 30% discount on Permanent Publications books and free postage and packing for the UK
- Option to buy a printed copy of Rosemary’s PTT Manual at the cost of printing (free download HERE)
You can pay for the training by credit card, bank transfer, Paypal or cash by indicating your preference on the registration form.
This teacher training is certified through the Permaculture Association of Britain
Accommodation
The farmhouse can accommodate 14 people in shared accommodation (bunk beds). We prioritise elders and those with mobility issues for these beds. Once these beds are full we can also provide various sizes of tents and mattresses without extra cost. Important: please bring your own sleeping bag.
There are also other private accommodation options you can rent on the island, please contact us here if you need help with this.