Design Cover Sheet

Title of Design Dates of Design Design Brief

The Action Learning Pathway sets out what you hope to achieve during your time as a diploma apprentice. It is a statement of intent, a planning tool, as much as an opportunity to creatively re-asses where you are going with your life. The aim is to review it regularly, adapt it to your changing needs where necessary, but most importantly to use it as a tool to make your time more constructive. Learning Pathway Design January 2011 January 2013 (Ongoing design) Intensive design periods: January 2011, August 2011

How this design meets the Assessment Criteria: Demonstrating Design Skills Overview of Design Process
To complete this design I used the framework below: Goal a specific statement of what I hope to achieve. Holmgrens Domain which is basically a way of categorizing my interests in a coherent way that flows with David Holmgrens work. Theory in Action/Permaculture Lifestyle this how I can implement this goal on a personal level, so that I am really walking the talk to so speak. Learning & Skill development opportunities This is how I can learn the skills to achieve my goal, via courses, reading etc. Design Practice Opportunities/Potential Projects how I can put the learning into action Complementary Criteria: Dissemation how can I share my experience of achieving or working towards this goal with others Community Building - how can I apply it to my community Symmetry - can it contribute to the permaculture community in some way? Evaluations & Costings is there an opportunity to measure its effect or use my outcomes towards further research Timeline/Scale when am I aiming to achieve this goal by, setting a date makes it a measurable goal.

My learning pathway however was re-designed further when I began my BSc Integrative Ecosocial Design with Gaia University, where I undertook a Learning Intentions & Pathway Design. The design process included: Survey: completing a life & career review, surveying my areas of interest, current and skill flexes. Analysis & Design: Exploring how these skill flexes could be gained and designing output packets and projects that could support me to meet these learning needs. This was also designed into a pathway plan with logistics & SMART targets.

You can read my Learning Intentions & Pathway Design here: http://portfolios.gaiauniversity.org/view/view.php?id=549

Use of Permaculture Ethics, Principles & Theory

Each goal area was categorised using David Holmgrens Permaculture Principles. The pathway was also designed to ensure that activities were congruent with the three permaculture ethics. The pathway was designed using permaculture pedagogy such as recognising action learning and the need for active reflection and re-design.

Design Tools & Techniques Used How this design meets the Assessment Criteria: Learning from, and developing your permaculture practice Effectiveness of Design & Design Outcomes
I believe the design of my learning pathway was extremely effective and a major contributing factor to how enjoyable and productive my experience as been in undertaking the Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design. This can be evidenced by my review of relevant activities and the abundant projects I have been involved with. Stacking the diploma in with Gaia University has meant that my learning pathway has been well-tracked and evaluated, with large outputs of work being produced regularly and a final end of year review being completed. This output best shows the outcomes of this pathway design process: http://portfolios.gaiauniversity.org/view/view.php?id=1466 Survey: exploring areas of interest, skill flexes Applying David Holmgrens principles

Evaluation Summary
What went well: Extensively surveying my desired skill flexes. If you dont know what you want to gain skills in, you probably are unlikely to and so consciously articulating what specifically I wanted to gain from the diploma at the start meant I was much more likely to achieve these aims. Stacking with Gaia University obviously accelerated my use of design skills, which in turn benefited my diploma projects. Also have a monthly advising session and regular peer guilds meant I had an extremely supportive system that I could optimise for my own learning.

What I would have done differently: My end of year review in December 2011 shows elements needing to be redesigned, where perhaps there may have been too many goals or goals were not as high a priority as first thought. Having a mechanism to prioritise goals I felt would have been effective. I think finding a way to make a smaller document that I could stick on one page for example to help me feel focused would have been useful. In hindsight I would have invested more energy in tracking and documentation systems, especially for my design work so that I could upload designs faster online. Having start and end times for projects would have been useful in managing workloads.

Costings Summary

Please see the uploaded costings spreadsheet.

Learning Pathway Reflections

I realise that my learning pathway design did not following a specific structure or design process e.g. SADIM, however I had unconsciously followed this process, by starting first by looking at my areas of interest and surveying myself to articulate my goals. It is difficult to try and place work in a design framework after its completion and so its been more beneficial for me to recognise this intuitive undertaking which was actually a very effective design process. Completing the Learning Pathway Design was empowering and liberating. As someone adverse to formal education, having self-directed projects, autonomy and self-determination over my own pathway, this kind of learning system has brought out the best in me. By getting pen to paper and designing my learning pathway, it set the pace for my diploma as I knew from the start I was in control of making the most of it and what I put in would be what I get out, hence two years of immense action learning!

How this Design Meets the Assessment Criteria Applying permaculture in your own life
Designing my learning pathway, for me, was not just an opportunity to look at what skills I would learn or what courses I would undertake, it was also about what projects I would engage with and how I would craft my life in alignment with the permaculture ethics e.g. increasing self-reliance at home, feeling more balanced and rested, participating in community projects, designing land-based systems congruent with earth care and so forth.

How this design meets the Assessment Criteria: Applying permaculture to your work and projects
Assessment categories engaged with through this design: Personal development and the inner transition as evidenced in my design documentation. Art, Media, Culture and Communications this design has been disseminated via my website, uploaded to the Permaculture Association website so forth.