About the Course

This two-day immersion is for anyone taking their first steps into permaculture, organic food growing and low impact living. It’s the first time we’ve run a permaculture course at Goat Grid, and we’re delighted to be bringing it here.

Held at Goat Grid, a six-year-old food forest at the foot of the South Downs near Lewes, inspired by syntropic agroforestry, this weekend brings together practical learning, regenerative design and shared meals cooked in our outdoor kitchen, with the yurt as our base. The experience integrates theory and practice, so that you experience permaculture through doing, observing, reflecting and working alongside others.

It’s also the first step towards a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC), if you’d like to go further.

What You’ll Experience

Over the two days you’ll explore permaculture as a practical philosophy (the ethics and principles), a system of design thinking and a set of practices for regenerative living.

You’ll experience:

Practical food growing, forest gardening and seasonal awareness
Hands-on work in the food forest
Regenerative design thinking, explored at a beginner’s level
Group co-coaching and reflection to deepen learning
Shared meals, conversation and community as part of the immersion

Much of the learning happens through doing. Time in the food forest is balanced with conversation, reflection and group work, helping you make sense of what you’re experiencing and how it relates to your own life.

Food is a central part of the weekend. Growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing meals becomes part of the learning, connecting practical skills with a wider understanding of nourishment and seasonal eating.

There is also space to slow down and notice what’s happening, both around you and within you.

What You’ll Leave With

By the end of the weekend, you’ll have greater confidence in applying permaculture through practical experience, along with new skills, ideas and connections to support your next steps.

You’ll leave with an understanding of how permaculture thinking and practices can be applied to your own life, work or project.

You’ll also complete the Introductory section of the modular Permaculture Design Certificate curriculum, and receive a certificate of completion for this module. You can choose to complete the remaining elements at a later date.

Who Is This For?

This weekend immersion is perfect if you:

are new to permaculture or food growing, and would like to begin your learning journey
want to learn how to adjust your lifestyle in response to the challenges of our time, through hands-on experience in a supportive community
are interested in growing food, regenerative living and working more closely with natural systems

Please do feel free to book a discovery call and talk to us further if this is of interest.

The Cost

Supported £140 · Standard £185 · Pay it forward £230

Supported places are limited, so if you need one, we’d encourage you to book early. Find out how our pricing works on our Fair Share page.

We ask participants to choose the tier that best reflects their circumstances, trusting that this shared responsibility supports both individual access and the wider learning community.

Book your place >

The Accomodation

This is a camping-only course, with free onsite camping at Goat Grid. The yurt will be our shared base, and meals will be cooked in the outdoor kitchen.

Learn more about Goat Grid >

Learn more about Permaculture >

Accessibility & inclusion

We want everyone to feel welcome, and we also want to be honest about the site. Goat Grid is a working food forest with uneven ground, and it would be difficult to access for wheelchair users. There is no indoor teaching space, and the course takes place outdoors and in the yurt.

If you have access needs or questions, we warmly encourage you to get in touch before booking. We’re happy to talk through what’s possible and how we can best support you.

The course team includes:

The weekend will be led by members of our teaching team. Not everyone will be at every course, and we’ll confirm who’s teaching nearer the time.

Steve Charter – (MA, Pc Diploma) has around 30 years’ experience in sustainability education and regenerative design, and has led Permaculture Design Certificate courses in the UK and Spain.
Rachel Owen – (MSc Arboriculture & Urban Forestry) is a landscape designer and educator, with specialist experience in trees and urban forestry.
Nir Halfon – (MSc) specialises in sustainable horticulture and regenerative farming education, and set up the Sustainable Horticulture Management degree at Plumpton College.
Caspar Dickinson – is the founder of Goat Grid, a food forest, nursery and agroforestry business in Sussex. He designs, plants and maintains food forests, and has a first-class degree in Chemistry from the University of Bristol.
Marianne Lindfield – has a strong background in community engagement and co-founded The Pod Project in Northern Ireland, a permaculture and wellbeing hub.

Food is by Joshua Dickinson.

More information in About Us

Continuing the journey

This two-day immersion can be enjoyed in its own right, or become the beginning of a longer permaculture journey.

If you’d like to go further, you can join our seven-day Permaculture Immersion (Part 1), followed by Part 2, with your learning contributing towards the modular Permaculture Design Certificate.

We run both parts at two sites, and you can choose to do each part in a different place:

Goat Grid, Sussex: Part 1, 18–24 May 2027; Part 2, 18–22 August 2027
Coed Hills, Vale of Glamorgan: Part 1, 12–18 July 2027; Part 2, 18–23 October 2027

You’ll also be invited to join our online cohort calls, helping you stay connected, share how you’re putting your learning into practice, and keep building community beyond the immersion.

If you’d like to explore the thinking behind our approach to learning, community and care, you might enjoy our reflection Why a Wild Life?

Please do feel free to book a discovery call and talk to us further if this is of interest.

Book your place >