Joshua Cubista - Experiential Design and Capacity Building in Permaculture Education

Though the title for this episode is a bit of a mouthful, and what follows stays rather technical in how Joshua shares the message with us, the core of the conversation is fairly simple: how do we create better educational experiences for students by design, and build their abilities, talents, and skills to accomplish their personal goals inside and outside the classroom, and collaboratively in community. As we cover a lot of ground in less than a half-hour, you will find copious links in the Resource section of the show notes, which include Joshua’s website and how to connect with him.

This conversation with Joshua is important to me because the easy work of permaculture, the space we focus on in a Permaculture Design Course, the landscape is well known. There are academic and other libraries full of information on how to manage plants and animals for human use. The permanent agriculture side of permaculture is upon us. We can do that. We know-how.

Moving from the land and towards creating permanent culture is a completely different issue and set of, if you will, softer skills, that are not as tangible or direct. As teachers, that includes better pedagogical approaches to teaching permaculture that includes more conversations about the invisible structures and delving deep into design, not just on-the-ground techniques. Using that idea of experiential design, we must design and educational experience, including the classroom and curriculum, to meet the needs of the students so they have a larger toolbox of skills. Then, through capacity building, help them find the skills they need along the way.

Finally, at least for this conversation, when students complete a course and go back into the world, to offer ongoing support that also connect them with or helps to create the community they’ll need for systemic change. It’s a big picture, but I can’t imagine us doing this if we weren’t ready to tackle some incredibly complex issues. We can decide to use permaculture to homestead, and I appreciate everyone who does that, but there’s also an imperative within the ethics that we do something more. By practicing permaculture, you are part of a larger community. By listening to this show, you are part of a portion of that group. If you are a part of my community. Thousands and thousands of people to call upon to help you.

Regardless of where you are in the world, there is probably someone near you that I’ve talked to or traded email with. If not, then I can put out a call on the podcast if you are looking for someone. All you’ve got to do is get in touch by leaving a comment below.