We are looking forward to seeing you there.

Seeing the global disasters and local impacts of today’s climate crisis, it’s almost impossible not to ask —

what can I do to make a real difference, here, today, for my loved ones, community, and coming generations?

AND THAT’S WHAT WE’RE OFFERING IN OUR UPCOMING ONLINE SUMMIT…

Day 1: Friday, October 15th – What is Permaculture? 

Our speakers will give their perspective on what permaculture is, and how it has impacted their lives and livelihood.

Hope, Knowledge, and a Plan Global Summit Kick-Off

Join your hosts, Rob Avis and the Verge team and our Sponsor New Society Publishing, as they introduce the summit, and build some excitement for the weekend to come!

9:00 – 10:00 am MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x Building your Permaculture Property

Taking Permaculture From Backyard to Broad Acre with Rob & Michelle Avis 

Rob and Michelle left the oil and gas industry in 2008 to launch Verge Permaculture and Adaptive Habitat. Leveraging 20 years of combined experience in engineering, project management, ecological design, and sustainable technologies, Rob and Michelle recently left their urban home in Calgary and are currently developing their dream homestead in Central Alberta.

10:15 – 11:45 am MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x Building Your Permaculture Property

Graham Bell: The Prime Directive, History, Ethics, and Effects of Permaculture

Over the last 30+ years Graham has built a legendary forest garden that provides a great deal of food, fuel, and company (wildlife). He lives in the Scottish Borders with his wife Nancy. He is the author of two books, The Permaculture Way, and the Permaculture Garden, which thousands of people have enjoyed as easy introductions to what permaculture means in a Northern temperate climate. He has been teaching permaculture for more than 30-years and has taught on six continents.

12:00 am – 1:30 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 1 x The Edible Ecosystem Solution, 1 x The Food Forest Handbook

Jen Noble: The many faces of permaculture and where it can take you.

Initially an architectural graduate, Jen first heard of permaculture on a trip to Sierra Leone with Earthship Biotecture in 2011. Everything seemed new yet was so basic; permaculture struck such a chord with Jen that she felt like her brain was being rewired. After taking the Verge Permaculture Design Course (PDC), Jen moved away from architecture and interior design to launch her own company, and now holds a key role with Verge as the PDC course co-coordinator.

1:45 – 3:15 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x Creating Cohousing

Dan Chiras: A Life Dedicated to a Sustainable Future

Dan Chiras is a long-time practitioner of self-sufficiency and sustainability. In addition to being a special guest in the upcoming Verge PDC, he lives on a 60-acre, solar- and wind-powered farm where he and his wife have dedicated their lives to living by the principles and practices of permaculture. Dan has published 40 books and hundreds of articles that cover a wide range of topics focused largely on self-sufficiency and sustainability such as The Solar House, The Natural House, and The Homeowner’s Guide to Renewable Energy. His most recent titles are The Chinese Greenhouse and Grow Beets in Your Bedroom, a guide on indoor LED gardening.

3:30 – 5:00 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x The Chinese Greenhouse

Panel Discussion with Keynote Speakers Dan Chiras, Rhamis Kent and Verge Lead Instructor Takota Coen

Our speakers will give their perspective on what permaculture is, and how it has impacted their lives and livelihood.

5:15 – 6:45 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x Building Your Permaculture Property

Rhamis Kent: Working with Local Farmers to Serve Those In Need

Rhamis Kent is a consultant with formal training in mechanical engineering (University of Delaware, B.S.M.E. ’95) and permaculture-based regenerative whole systems design serving as a registered certified Permaculture Design instructor with PRI Australia. He is a former co-director of the Permaculture Research Institute (PRI), a member of Permaculture Sustainable Consulting Pty Ltd (PSC), United Designers, and is on the Supervisory Board of The Netherlands-registered non-profit Ecosystem Restoration Camps.

7:00 – 8:30 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 1 x Earth Repair, 1 x An Economy of Wellbeing

Day 2: Saturday, October 16th – How to “do” permaculture

What are the tools of permaculture and how can we use them to effectively change our land, life and communities?

Permaculture Solutions for Climate Change and Activism Abroad with Rosemary Morrow

Rosemary is an Australian Permaculture teacher and writer. She works almost full time with what she calls the ‘Crowded Margins‘ – in countries and places where permaculture isn’t typically available. As a Quaker, she has made a commitment to creating peace through permaculture by working in countries recovering from war and civil war.

Starhawk: Permaculture, Earth Based Spirituality, and Regenerative Culture

Starhawk directs Earth Activist Training, teaching permaculture design grounded in spirit, with a focus on organizing and social permaculture. A PINA diplomate, she is the author or coauthor of 13 books, including her permaculture novel The Fifth Sacred Thing and her ‘social permaculture’ work, The Empowerment Manual. With Donna Cooper Read, she also wrote and co-directed Permaculture: The Growing Edge.

9:00 – 10:30 am MT

Free Giveaways: 1 x The Empowerment Manual, 1 x Indigenomics

Carmen Lamoureux: How to Maximize Yield in Small Suburban Spaces

Owner and founder of Calgary’s Urban Farm School, Carmen is a Master Gardener, renowned Permaculture Educator and lead instructor of the upcoming Verge Permaculture Design Course, with nearly 5 decades of experience in her field. 

10:45 am – 12:15 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x Farm The City

Natalie Pepin: Overcoming Barriers to Bringing a Family’s Food Chain Back Home

Natalie is a Harvard graduate who left university with a profound desire to live simply and regain a connection with the land. With a limited budget on a single income and little experience, she learned how to grow and store all of the food her family eats for the year. Natalie teaches traditional skills full time from her homestead in Northern Alberta, through the ReSkilled Life Learning Center, where she helps others learn how to be empowered through simple living skills.

12:30 – 2:00 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x Grow a Sustainable Diet

Mark Krawczyk: How to Hydrate a Landscape

Mark Krawczyk is an applied ecologist, educator, and grower with a background in permaculture design, agroforestry, natural building, traditional woodworking, and small-scale forestry. He co-owns and operates Keyline Vermont LLC, teaching, designing, and consulting for farmers, homeowners, and homesteaders.  Since 2008, Mark has taught over 30 Permaculture Design Courses and been a specialist guest instructor in dozens more, including the Verge PDC.  He holds Diplomas in Permaculture Design and Education from the Permaculture Institute of North America.  He and his wife also co-manage Valley Clayplain Forest Farm – 52 acres of field and forest in New Haven, Vermont, USA.

2:15 pm – 3:45 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x Coppice Agroforestry (available Spring 2022)

Stefan Sobkowiak: How to Design a Permaculture ‘Lab’

Biologist, landscape architect, educator, Film Maker, farm manager, husband, father of 3. Sobkowiak wears many hats and is a highly influential Permaculturalist in his region. He has lectured with McGill University,  is a special guest in the Verge PDC and is the current director of Miracle Farms: the renowned Permaculture Orchard in Quebec. 

4:00 – 5:30 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x The Permaculture Handbook

Panel Discussion with Keynote Speakers Stefan Sobkowiak, Penny Livingston and Verge Lead Instructor Carmen Lamoureux.

What are the tools of permaculture and how can we use them to effectively change our land, life and communities.

5:45 – 7:15 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x Building Your Permaculture Property

Penny Livingston: How to Get Started in Permaculture and Where It Takes You

Penny has been teaching internationally and working professionally in the land management, regenerative design & permaculture development field for 30 years and has extensive experience in all phases of ecologically sound design and construction as well as the use of natural non-toxic building materials. She specializes in site planning & design of resource rich landscapes integrating, rainwater collection, agroforestry systems, edible and medicinal planting, spring development, pond and water systems, habitat development and watershed restoration for homes, farms, co-housing communities and businesses. She is currently teaching online courses with Ecoversity and the Permaculture Skills Center.

7:30 – 9:00 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x The New Carbon Architecture

Day 3: Sunday, October 17th – Why “do” permaculture?

How can we use permaculture principles to create hope and reimagine the World and communities we live in?

John D. Liu: Restoring the Earth as The Great Work of Our Time

John D. Liu is a filmmaker and an ecologist, and you may recognize him from his work in the Loess Plateua. John is also Ecosystem Ambassador for the Commonland Foundation. As a journalist, ecological researcher and ecosystem ambassador has traveled extensively throughout the world. Many of John’s films and published works can be found here. John is the founder of the Ecosystem Restoration Camps movement, and an advisory board member of the UN Decade on Restoration.

9:00 – 10:30 am MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x Human Permaculture: Life Design for Resilient Living

Rob Avis: Regenerating the Planet by 2047

After pursuing international training and certifications in renewable energy and regenerative design Rob, along with his wife and business partner Michelle, began Verge Permaculture, now a globally-recognized and award-winning design, consulting, and education company. In the last decade, they’ve helped more than 3000 students and a growing number of clients to design and/or create integrated systems for shelter, energy, water, waste and food, all while supporting local economy and regenerating the land.

10:45 am – 12:15 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x Building Your Permaculture Property

Andrew Millison: Why Watersheds are Foundational to Permaculture and Civilization

Andrew Millison is an agent for change who shares permaculture wisdom through expressions of art, design and multimedia storytelling. Andrew is an instructor at Oregon State University, where he’s taught Permaculture in the Department of Horticulture since 2009, and is dedicated to using his position in a major state university to further the spread and adoption of permaculture principles. Andrew has developed a successful online Permaculture program through OSU and in recent years moved into media production, traveling internationally to film and produce educational content focused on permaculture-based food and water systems. His most well known work is his Youtube video series “India’s Water Revolution“.

12:30 – 2:00 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x The Permaculture Earthworks Handbook

Takota Coen: Why Disguising Your Farm As An Ecosystem Regenerates the Planet

Takota is a second generation organic farmer, journeyman carpenter, author, guest instructor for the Verge PDC and avid permaculture educator via Podcast, YouTube, and Verge Permaculture. He is also the co-owner of Coen Farm, an award winning 250 acre farm that has been practicing regenerative agriculture for over 30 years.

2:15 – 3:45 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x Building Your Permaculture Property

Judith D Schwartz: The Ever-growing Global Ecosystem Restoration Movement

Judith D. Schwartz is a journalist who explores nature-inspired solutions to global challenges. She is the author of Cows Save the Planet, Water In Plain Sight, and, most recently, The Reindeer Chronicles and Other Inspiring Stories of Working With Nature to Heal the Earth. She lives, works, and grows things  on the side of a mountain in southwestern Vermont.

4:00 – 5:30 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x Human Permaculture: Life Design for Resilient Living

Panel Discussion with Keynote Speakers Judith D. Schwartz, Warren Brush and Verge Founder Rob Avis.

How can we use permaculture principles to create hope and reimagine the World and communities we live in?

5:45 – 7:15 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x Building Your Permaculture Property

Warren Brush: Permaculture’s Contribution to Regeneration, Resilience, and Hope

Warren Brush is a global resilience design consultant, educator, lecturer, and implementer. He has worked for over 30 years in agroecological education and regenerative system design for communities, private and public organizations, households, farms, and conservation properties worldwide. He is co-founder of Quail Springs Permaculture and True Nature Design, his private consulting firm. He was also a member of the USAID’s TOPS team where he helped to develop the Resilience Design Framework and Permagarden Approach. He is currently working as a consultant on a variety of food security projects around the globe including: the SCALE award for USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance and is a lead Resilience Design consultant for the Danish Refugee Council. For more informaiton visit: www.permaculturedesign.

7:30 – 9:00 pm MT

Free Giveaways: 2 x Essential Light Straw Clay Construction