2026 Permaculture Design Certification Course (PDC):
Permaculture Design Course May 2026 with AVER, Valle Escondido
Monteverde, Costa Rica
Come and experience our Permaculture English taught Design Course 2026 with AVER
non-profit organization. Learn, connect, and design regenerative systems.
May 20th to - June 5th, 2026
(Annual Course for Costa Rican nationals will be held September/October, more information coming soon)
Join a diverse and experienced team of permaculture instructors in this two-week intensive experience, organized by AVER and hosted at Valle Escondido in Monteverde.
This Permaculture Design Course (PDC) is designed for those interested in deepening their knowledge of regenerative design, sustainable agriculture, and living systems, within a truly unique natural environment.
The course will be taught in English and combines theoretical learning with hands-on experiences, encouraging the exchange of ideas, a strong connection to nature, and the creation of meaningful networks among participants from around the world.
Accommodation is included at Hotel Valle Escondido (www.valleescondidocr.com) as part of the experience, and the course takes place in a setting that invites observation, deep learning, and conscious community living.
This course is offered by application only
Information
If you'd like more information about this course or any of our future programs, please feel free to send us a message.
Our team will be happy to assist you and answer all your questions.
THE COURSE
The course follows the full internationally recognized Permaculture Design Curriculum and centers on the creation of diverse, multifunctional human landscapes inspired by ecological patterns. Using Valle Escondido’s Nature Reserve, hotel, and regenerative farm as a living classroom, participants will integrate theory and hands-on practice while exploring practical design solutions to the social, ecological, and economic challenges facing our communities today.
The final project consists of developing a complete permaculture site design through collaborative, student-led teamwork. A distinctive feature of the Valle Escondido AVER PDC is that participants will create real-world design proposals for actual clients in the Monteverde region. This applied component ensures that learning is grounded in meaningful, place-based impact.
This course is ideal for anyone seeking to design a resilient and regenerative future, as well as for professionals working in architecture, planning, ecology, education, agriculture, hospitality, and community development.
Throughout the program, participants are introduced to systems thinking and an integrated design framework that provides practical tools to redesign and enhance environments — from gardens, farms, and homes to livelihoods, relationships, organizations, and communities.
This marks the first time in the history of AVER and Valle Escondido that a market-priced, English-taught Permaculture Design Course is being offered. Guided by Permaculture Ethic #3, “Fair Share,” AVER has long provided one of the most financially accessible PDCs available to Costa Rican nationals and participants from Central America, supported by donations from Valle
Escondido and private donors, at a cost of $400 per participant.
All proceeds from this year’s English-language PDC will directly support AVER’s ongoing initiatives, including its longstanding commitment to making permaculture education accessible to changemakers from underserved communities throughout Costa Rica and Central America.
The course fee is $1,800 (early bird) or $2,000 (regular rate). Accommodation at Hotel Valle Escondido and all meals are included.
To apply, please complete the course application form.
What you’ll gain from this Permaculture Design Course
Design with confidence
Learn how to read landscapes, understand natural patterns, and design systems that regenerate soil, water, and biodiversity.
Turn ideas into real projects
Move beyond theory by developing practical designs you can apply at home, in community spaces, farms, or professional work.
Grow food in resilient systems
Discover strategies for creating productive, diverse gardens and agroecosystems that thrive in changing climates.
Strengthen your role as a changemaker
Gain the tools to guide initiatives, teach others, and support regenerative transitions in your community.
See the world through systems thinking
Understand how energy, ecology, economy, and culture interact — and how small interventions can create lasting impact.
Build meaningful connections
Join a network of practitioners, educators, and land stewards working toward healthier ecosystems and communities.
Develop skills for regenerative livelihoods
Explore how permaculture can support careers in education, design, tourism, agriculture, and sustainability projects.
Contribute to a living future
Leave with the knowledge and motivation to actively restore ecosystems and support long-term wellbeing for people and the planet.
Gain hands-on real world experience
Participants will work with new and existing Monteverde locations finishing the course with a positive impact within the surrounding community.
To learn more about our onsite examples of permaculture design in action please visit our virtual library which showcases many onsite examples: (www.virtualpermaculturecr.com)
Instructors: Jose Pablo Fernánez, Vero Flores, Allan Campbell & Valle Escondido Team
Jose Pablo Fernández
José Pablo Fernández is a permaculture designer, naturalist, and cultural guide, as well as a passionate advocate for art, ancestral cultures, and their relationship with nature. For more than 20 years, he has worked as an environmental educator, accompanying groups of international students visiting Costa Rica to engage in community service while learning about agroecological systems, rural livelihoods, and tropical rainforest ecosystems.
His foundational training in permaculture was guided by Rick Valley of Lost Valley Ecovillage, Rony Lec of IMAP, and Scott Pittman of the New Mexico Permaculture Institute—direct students of Bill Mollison, founder of the Permaculture movement in Australia. Building on this lineage, José Pablo has expanded his practice through forest design and ecological restoration using Analog Forestry, as well as studies in natural resource management, ecological landscaping, organic agriculture, and social permaculture methodologies such as Dragon Dreaming and Sociocracy.
Over the years, he has lived in and managed a variety of ecocommunity projects and permaculture centers, including Punta Mona Center, Finca La Flor, Posada Natura, Finca Paraíso Verde, and Finca Inspiración, in addition to community-based initiatives such as Finca Antorcha and Ecoaldea Iriria.
For the past nine years, he has been based in the South Caribbean region of Costa Rica, where he co-founded the environmental association Guardianes del Bosque. The organization focuses on environmental education and a community-led effort to protect the Talamanca–Caribbean Biological Corridor. As part of this initiative, José Pablo stewards an ecological restoration nursery that supports landscape regeneration and biodiversity recovery.
Guardianes del Bosque connects multiple farms and households with ecological gardens, forming a collaborative territorial network of regenerative practices. As of 2026, this landscape encompasses more than 400 hectares, collectively committed to long-term stewardship guided by permaculture principles.
José Pablo has facilitated numerous Permaculture Design Courses (PDCs) with diverse collectives and farms. In collaboration with the Red Permanezca network, he co-organized the first Spanish-language PDCs in Costa Rica and contributed to organizing the two National Permaculture Convergences held to date.
Today, he continues to cultivate regenerative processes that strengthen both biodiversity and the social fabric. By encouraging reconnection to the land, solidarity-based local economies, and the revitalization of ancestral Indigenous knowledge, his work seeks to nurture collective awareness and support the emergence of future econeighborhoods, ecocommunities, and ecovillages.
Vero Flores
Vero discovered permaculture through her deep interest in the relationship between human health and the health of the Earth. After earning her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Health from the University of Costa Rica in 2009, she began working in tourism sustainability on the Osa Peninsula, supporting hotels and agritourism farms in strengthening their sustainable practices.
In 2018, she launched her own regenerative project, cultivating the land while sharing knowledge about permaculture, healthy nutrition, fermented beverages, and yoga. This initiative reflected her holistic approach to wellbeing, integrating soil health, food, community, and personal balance.
Later, as Farm-to-Table Manager at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge, she deepened her expertise in fermentation, herbalism, and natural medicine, weaving together culinary practice and ecological stewardship.
Today, Vero is an active member of Comunidad Hierba Buena, a social permaculture initiative with over six years of collective living experience. Within this community, six families co-design their shared life, practicing collaboration, sustainability, and regenerative culture.
Inspired by ancestral wisdom and social permaculture, Vero has continued her studies with CASA Latina and Gaia University in Sociocracy, Nonviolent Communication, and Social Design. Teaching permaculture is one of her greatest passions; she offers it from the heart, sharing both knowledge and lived experience through Permaculture Design Courses (PDCs).
Allan Campbell
Allan Campbell is originally from Uruguay, where he spent much of his childhood on his grandparents’ farm, helping care for cows, sheep, and horses. Much of the daily work was done on horseback, fostering in him an early connection to land-based living.
He currently lives in San José, Costa Rica, with his wife, their three children, a beloved dog, and a small but vibrant food forest that serves as both a living classroom and family playground. Allan practices permaculture design and education locally and online, supporting individuals and families in creating regenerative systems.
A mechanical engineer by profession, Allan discovered in permaculture a lifelong passion. He sees it as a practical and philosophical toolkit for navigating life in alignment with natural systems—cultivating resilience, meaningful connection, and greater freedom.
Allan has extensive experience designing permaculture landscapes and developing permaculture-based educational curricula. Over the past six years, he has designed and taught courses for youth through Family Permaculture and Chispitas Silvestres, and for adults through Food Forest Abundance and Ecoversity, helping diverse communities integrate regenerative principles into everyday life.
