Darren Doherty makes a stop at Apiganias, Crete in 24-26 October during the Regrarians World Tour 2014
We are pleased to host Darren J. Doherty in Crete for a regenerative agriculture development course in collaboration with the Association “Friends of Apiganias”.
This Regrarians Open Consultancy & Practicum Design Workshop is ideal for land professionals and amateurs alike, including: farmers, ranchers, property and preserve managers, rural landscapers, large and small property owners, agriculturists, earth and water scientists, forest scientists, and anyone else involved in and interested in learning more about the care and stewardship of public and private land, farms, agricultural fields, orchards, properties and communities in Greece, all the mediterranean neighborhood and any area in the world with similar climatic conditions.
The Workshop is a dynamic 3-day program designed to involve participants directly in the delivery of an integrated farm and property planning and development consultancy. Led by one of the worlds most renowned & experienced farm planners, Darren J. Doherty (AU), this course is all about having participants work to understand the 10 step process logic involved with the Regrarians Platform which methodically covers each and every element of land design, farm planning and development. In short, this course will be a highly useful and functional Professional Development for producers & land managers when it comes to production landscapes, enterprise planning & site development.
The RAC+RAD experience will result in participants understanding some of the process behind re-booting their own farming enterprises with an opportunity for feedback based on their own unique and specific site challenges. This course also offers a step by step approach that is highly adaptable to any site and circumstances.
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Apiganias, the site that the Workshop will take place is a 500-hectare public piece of land, that could be a case study for all the environmental as well as social issues that burden this corner of the world: semi-arid climate moving rapidly to arid, severe erosion due to centuries of overgrazing, fire and poor resources management, uneven distribution of water resources, environmental pressure from modern agricultural practices and touristic development, overall degradation of the brittle ecosystem.
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The “easy” solution, forced upon a crisis-laden society lacking resources and struggling to cope even on an individual level, would be to sell this public property to an investor and see yet another hotel resort sprout, exploiting the stunning beauty of the Greek shoreline to the benefit of a few, who will most probably not even belong to the local community.
Friends of Apiganias is a group of people who believe that another form of development is possible, one that can regenerate natural ecosystems and human communities alike.
They believe that this is feasible without multi-million projects but with firm understanding of natural processes and with the innovative approach of the Regrarians as well as of other groups that thrive all over the world. We deem essential to bring this knowledge to Greece and, as Darren puts it, make a serious effort to change the climate between the ears of people, their way of thinking, so that we start to see things change. So, “Friends of Apiganias” have proposed to create a botanical park on the site, one that will host as many native plant species as possible, with focus on land regeneration practices but also on an educational role for the wider area and the whole mediterranean basin. They are quite aware that this can no longer happen relying on public funds, which are scarce in Greece theses days, but on building a robust model leading to self-sufficiency, and this is also where Darren’s insights will prove invaluable.
Participants will have the opportunity to learn and use Darren Doherty’s Regrarian Platform and site design process, through this real-project “Open Site Consultation”, providing an integrated vision for the future of the course site. Participants will also work in practicum groups and analyze their own individual land management challenges with potential solutions offered by Darren and others. The practicum will explore real-life local needs and offer practices and approaches towards better production rates and overall land resilience. Program includes a field workshop focused on understanding integrated water systems design to maximize water retention, use and efficiency, as well as how to find the “keypoint and keyline” for building water harvesting earthworks, pattern cultivation and Keyline plowing systems, among others.
In summary, this course will explore integrated and holistic site design, planning and management practices and how to place the various elements of human settlement, including infrastructure, as well as productive systems of grazing, orchard crops, pasture, and forestry in an arid Mediterranean climate.
The course will be bi-lingual, conducted in English and translated into Greek.
RAC + RAP Course and Workshop
3-Days of Professional Development, Practicum and Integrated Land Design Experience
RAC + RAP (Regrarian Learning Models):
RAC = Regrarians Open Consultation Course – This RAC will be a two day professional development workshop in which attendees witness and experience an “open” consultation on a real-life project and in so doing become exposed to the practical application of Regrarians Platform and this unique integrated design process as outlined by Darren Doherty in his forthcoming book, “The Regrarian Handbook.”
RAP = Regrarians Practicum – This RAP will be a one day project practicum and Keyline Design workshop, which will be experiential and project development-based where participants are involved in the process of implementing Regrarian systems. RAP’s are for anybody who wants to build their physical skills, knowledge and experience as part of a regenerative land management and integrated production system toolkit. This RAC will be for integrated water and soil systems design, including Keyline Design and Pattern Cultivation.
Darren J. Doherty is a 5th generation Australian-Bendigo farmer, developer, author & trainer whom has delivered over 190 Regenerative Agriculture & Living courses & seminars to more than 12,000 people since 2001, including more than 40 Permaculture Design Courses (PDC’s), as well as creating Keyline® Design, Carbon Farming, Carbon Economy, RegenAG® & Regrarians® course series across Europe, the Americas and Oceania. Darren has also completed nearly 2000 property development plans since 1993 in 47 countries and is widely recognized as a leader & pioneer in the Regenerative Agriculture & Permaculture movements.
Darren has extensive experience across the world in project design, development, management & training. A career-long focus on the profitable & regenerative retrofit of broad-acre landscapes has seen Darren acclaimed as a pioneer in this important & often overlooked field. This wide experience has created an international reputation of achievement plus enviable & expansive networks that integrate many disciplines.
Globally many of Darren’s alumni of over 12,000 are at the cutting edge of the movement towards regenerative agriculture & living systems. Darren is the originator of the Regrarian Platform, which outlines a strategic & logical process to the development of regenerative agricultural systems, central to which is another Doherty innovation, called ‘IntegriPasture’, which provides an integrated framework for multiple species pasture and localized processing, logistics and marketing.
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Darren is no stranger to Crete and Greece: he has consulted on the island and he has also taught a Permaculture Design Certificate course in Athens, which has been an unforgettable experience to all participants, some of whom we are certain to see again in this course, coming back for more of Darren’s insights.
For a full reference to Darren’s work, please see here.
WHAT IS A “REGRARIAN”?
Regrarian, a portmanteau of “Regenerative Agrarian”, is a term first coined by Darren J. Doherty in 2013 to describe those who are actively undertaking the serious & timely process of regenerating, restoring, rehabilitating, rehabitating, rekindling (etc.!) & rebooting healthy production landscapes across this planet.
REGREATIANS PLATFROM
About Crete
It is very difficult to squeeze what Crete is about in a few words. A crossroads of three continents, with rich history, vibrant people, natural landscapes of stunning beauty, but also under a lot of environmental, economic and social pressure. We do recommend that you take some more days off than needed for the Workshop and explore Crete: the sparkling waters of the Aegean and Libyan Sea will await you, still comfortable to swim in at the end of October.
FEES
The fee will be in the range of 200-250 euros, including meals and accommodation. We hope to lower the fee for participants living in Greece and we are actively looking for sponsors in order to make it possible for more people to attend the course.
This is not a profit making venture; our aim is to spread Regenerative Agriculture principles and methods here in Greece and it is no coincidence that we start from Crete, Ierapetra, one of the most active agricultural regions in the country.
We need only to be sure of covering our costs. If a profit is made it will go into the Association “Friends of Apiganias” to support their work in the regeneration of the area.
The prices are as low as we can risk making them at this point. Foreign students, please consider that you are likely to pay the higher rather than the lower fee and that you will thus be sponsoring a Greek participant who might not be able to attend otherwise.
Featured image © Son Felip: Organic & Regenerative Agriculture Masterclass