Workshops

How to read this list

These are workshop providers at various cost ranges; most include lodging and meals, some don't. Always check the org's current calendar before planning travel. Asterisks flag entries that need a current-status double-check.

Multi-domain

• Lost Valley Education CenterDexter, OR, USA

  87-acre ecovillage and education center offering PDCs, natural building, social forestry, and a Holistic Sustainability Semester.

  Saturday PDC (June–August 2026), Community Experience Weeks, multi-day Cob Camps, longer internships · Varies by program; pricing on individual program pages

  One of the few US sites where the workshop provider is also a functioning intentional community you can live in during your stay.

• Midwest Permaculture *Stelle, IL, USA

  Bill and Becky Wilson's PDC school. 100+ PDCs taught and 2,000+ graduates over 18 years.

  Extended-Weekend in-person PDC (4 days; 2026 dates May 28–31 and Sept 24–27); also an on-demand online PDC · ~$650–950 in-person; ~$300–500 online

  One of the most accessible US PDCs cost-wise; the on-demand format is unusually flexible compared to the standard 72-hour residential PDC.

• Occidental Arts & Ecology Center (OAEC)Occidental, CA, USA

  PINA-accredited PDC plus residential workshops on water and watershed, food forests, and resilient community design. Particularly strong on conservation hydrology.

  Multi-day residential intensives on an 80-acre Sonoma County site · $200 early-bird discount in August; group discounts for pairs+. Subsidies for BIPOC-led organizations.

  Faculty includes Brock Dolman and Gopal Dayaneni. One of the most respected California PDCs.

• Wild AbundanceWeaverville, NC, USA (near Asheville)

  Carpentry, tiny-house building, permaculture, earth skills, foraging, and herbal medicine. Notable for women-focused carpentry tracks.

  1–10 day workshops; also a 4-month in-person Carpentry Training Program · Sliding-scale tuition based on household income; lodging from $35/night, free camping at most workshops

  One of the few schools with dedicated Advanced Women's Carpentry classes; runs a deep multi-month program alongside shorter intensives.

• Cob Workshops (directory)Global

  Crowd-sourced calendar of cob and natural-building workshops worldwide (US, Canada, Portugal, Morocco). Aggregator only.

  Directory; partner providers run 2-day to 5-week workshops · $150 day workshops up to $2,877 multi-week builds

  Useful as the master cob directory the way ic.org is for communities. Link from here rather than treating as a primary provider.

• Discover Permaculture (Geoff Lawton)Online (Geoff Lawton is based in Australia)

  Geoff Lawton's online Permaculture Design Certificate. One of the highest-profile online PDCs globally.

  8-month self-paced cohort, 57 hours core content, 750+ lessons across 18 weeks, weekly Q&A with Lawton · $1,947 USD (2026 PDC)

  Lawton is one of two living people Bill Mollison personally designated to carry his work forward. The 2026 cohort is the only one scheduled.

• Permaculture Institute of North America (PINA)Distributed across North America

  Accreditation and certification body for North American permaculture practitioners; coordinates a network of partner organizations that teach PDCs and Diploma pathways.

  Directory and accreditation body; partner organizations set their own formats · Varies by partner organization

  The legitimate accreditation backbone for North American PDCs. Use the calendar at pina.in/calendar to find a vetted PDC near you.

Natural building

• Cob Cottage Company *Coquille, OR, USA

  Pioneering North American cob and natural-building school founded by Ianto Evans and Linda Smiley.

  No on-site workshops currently scheduled; affiliate instructors teach courses elsewhere in Oregon. Tours of demonstration buildings available by appointment. · Contact directly: (541) 396-1825 M/W/F 10am–2pm. Historical pricing was ~$1,000–2,500 week-long.

  The literal birthplace of the modern North American cob revival. Founders are elderly; teaching legacy is migrating to affiliates.

• Earthship Biotecture AcademyTaos, NM, USA

  Michael Reynolds's academy for the Earthship method: tire-and-bottle off-grid passive-solar self-contained homes.

  Level 1 (5-day classroom), Level 2 (5-day deeper classroom), plus 3–4 week Field Study to graduate. In-person or online recorded. · Level 1 $950, Level 2 $1,100, online $1,200 for 3–6 months access; optional housing $200–300/week

  2026 schedule confirmed: Level 1 in Apr, May, Jun, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov; Level 2 in May, Aug, Oct. Single, highly defined building methodology. This is not general natural building.

• Heartwood SchoolAlstead, NH, USA

  Timber framing and energy-efficient home design. Teaches design and construction of durable wood-framed structures.

  Multi-day workshops, apprenticeships, and a "Heartwood on the Road" traveling program · Contact request@heartwoodschool.com for current pricing

  Long-running specialty in scribe joinery and traditional timber raising. The school relocated from Massachusetts to New Hampshire.

• North House Folk SchoolGrand Marais, MN, USA

  Northern-Scandinavian folk school with 350+ courses a year in traditional crafts: timber framing, boatbuilding, blacksmithing, fiber arts, and outdoor and foodways skills.

  1–7 day courses and occasional week-long intensives; on-campus housing optional · ~$150–400 weekend course; ~$600–1,500 week-long course

  One of the largest and most professionally run folk schools in the US. 75+ open summer/fall 2026 courses currently advertised.

• Shelter Institute *Woolwich, ME, USA

  Timber framing, woodworking, and building-science courses. Operating since 1974 with 10,000+ alumni.

  In-person and online formats; flagship multi-week "Post & Beam" intensives · Post-and-beam intensives historically ~$1,800–2,800

  One of the oldest continuously operating owner-builder schools in the US. Call (207) 442-7938 to confirm 2026 programming before booking.

• The Year of MudMount Vernon, KY, USA

  Immersive natural-building school covering cob, timber framing, Japanese carpentry and plastering, and permaculture in practice.

  5-day immersive workshops with on-site camping and three meals a day included · ~$700–1,200 for the 5-day all-inclusive (historical range; check individual workshop pages)

  One of the only US schools with dedicated Japanese carpentry and Japanese plastering workshops alongside cob.

• This Cob HouseParrottsville, TN, USA (in-person); online-first business

  Earth-masonry education from Alex Sumerall: cob, rammed earth, straw-clay.

  5-day in-person "Intro to Cob and Straw" workshops in Tennessee; self-paced video Cob Building Academy · Online academy is the lower-cost entry; in-person workshop pricing on individual pages

  2026 in-person dates: April 20–24, May 18–22, June 22–26, July 20–24. Free cob construction eBook on the site.

Food

• Polyface FarmSwoope, VA, USA

  Joel Salatin's pasture-based polyculture livestock farm. The canonical regenerative-grazing demonstration site.

  Farm tours, "Intensive Seminars," apprenticeship program, "Farm Like a Lunatic" online course · Tours historically free–$20, intensives $500–1,500, apprenticeships full-season

  The most internationally famous US regenerative livestock operation. A touchstone for any food-systems curriculum.

Energy

• Aprovecho Research Center *Cottage Grove, OR, USA

  Clean-cookstove R&D and rocket-stove development for global development contexts.

  2026 programming is a webinar series rather than in-person Stove Camp · Webinars appear free or low-cost

  The originator of much of the rocket-stove world's testing methodology. Hands-on workshops appear to have been replaced by remote programming. Contact info@aprovecho.org if you want in-person training.

• Solar Energy International (SEI)Paonia, CO, USA

  PV solar workforce training: design, installation, operation, and maintenance. NABCEP-aligned curriculum.

  Week-long in-person trainings at the Paonia lab and large online catalog · Online courses ~$200–700; week-long in-person labs ~$1,000–2,000

  Operating since 1991. The most established US 501(c)(3) solar training nonprofit.

Governance

• Sociocracy For All (SoFA)Online (US-headquartered, global participation)

  The leading English-language sociocracy training organization. Dynamic-governance training for organizations and communities.

  Sociocracy Academy: Level 1 meets weekly for 2 hours over 5 months (~28-person cohort); Level 2 every 2 weeks for 5 months. Short intro workshops also offered. · Level 1 Academy historically ~$600–1,200 sliding scale

  2026–27 Academy cohort starts Sept 8, 2026. The most rigorous formal training in sociocratic governance available in English.