The Victory Garden Initiative will host the complete Bill Mollison Permaculture Design Certification course, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., August 17 through 26, at the Washington Park Urban Ecology Center. Teachers for this professional urban permaculture course include members of the Victory Garden Initiative Urban Permaculture Guild.

Topics include communities, economies, patterns, design methods, trees, water, soils, earthworks, gardening, farming, built environments, aquaponics and urban applications. The 10-day course comprises more than 70 hours of live instruction, plus materials and several required precourse webinars. Participants that attend all sessions of this class and complete the final design project will receive a certificate of permaculture design.

Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that mimic the relationships found in natural ecologies. Victory Garden Initiative Director Gretchen Mead says, “You can change the ecology of your entire community by learning how to plant your own land and that of community gardens with permaculture principles. This is a grassroots movement to grow more food for a nutritious, sustainable food system. By intentionally designing and planting perennial ecosystems, we remove carbon dioxide from the air, provide habitat for wildlife, produce food, prevent soil erosion and begin the creation of ecologically sustainable human habitats.”

Advanced registration is required. Cost: $600 to $900, based upon a sliding scale, payable at VictoryGardenInitiative.org. Location: 1859 N. 40th St., Milwaukee. For more information, visit VictoryGardenInitiative.org.