TESTIMONIALS

The following testimonials have been provided by students of the APW PDC.

  • “The course is the ultimate way to understand what is happening in the world today and what the earth is experiencing. The first step and a great way to learn how we can adapt to these changes.”
  • Anon, 2020
  • “I really enjoyed the entertaining and engaging delivery of the workshops and am inspired by your positivity – despite being very aware of the challenging times ahead for humanity.”
  • Dean Stewart, 2020
  • “This has crystalised what I wanted to do but did not fully understand how to do it.”
  • Debra Brand, 2020
  • “A great course that taught me how to treat the earth, people and create a resilient environment”
  • Lambert Hoogereen, 2020
  • “It was an inspiring and constructive space that bought together personal, social, global spirituality… It pushes me to look for more, research and try and learn more things.”
  • Elliot Pryor, 2020
  • “The instructors wealth of knowledge and willingness to share has been really great”
  • Debra Brand, 2020
  • “Very worthwhile – needs to be in the education system from kindergarten”
  • Anon, 2020
  • “The incredible wealth of knowledge and information that the APW team have accrued and their desire to spread this and empower people to design more resilient lifestyles never ceases to amaze me – Awesome bunch of co-students also.”
  • Dean Stewart, 2020
  • “It’s like a gardening course but for radicals, visionaries and revolutionaries”
  • Elliot Pryor, 2020
  • “I have really enjoyed the classes, readings and group interactions. The conversations were gold!”
  • Debra Brand, 2020
  • “Enlightening and revealing.”
  • Lawrence Speedy, 2020
  • “Thank you Finn, Gary and Ron for being wonderful, approachable tutors.”
  • Margaret Jayne Palmer, 2020
  • “It is a fantastic experience and confirms information that is vital to anyone wanting to understand and adapt positively.”
  • Anon, 2020
  • “It’s challenging, confronting and empowering. The skill level of all the facilitators enhances the learning”
  • Debra Brand, 2020
  • “Helped me think differently about the world”
  • Anon, 2020
  • “I loved this course”
  • Kim Smith, 2020
  • “Life changing!”
  • Martin, 2020
  • “For me, this was the perfect point in time to gain an understanding of permaculture and of how to best care for myself and my family moving forward.”
  • Megan Livingstone, 2019
  • “Life changing! Empowering, unsettling and inspiring.”
  • Jenny Klosser, 2019
  • “Loved it. Would love to live in an Auckland where more people had done this course”
  • Jenny Klosser, 2019
  • “All of the tutors were approachable with relaxed teaching style”
  • Robyn Dyer, 2019
  • “Engaging, challenging, full on.”
  • Joanna, 2019
  • “Meeting a lovely group of people and being inspired by the facilitator and people on the field trips who are living their own flavour of permaculture.”
  • Megan ​Coup, 2019
  • “A jam-packed course bursting at the seams with information that will both shock and inspire you to create change in your own life and start designing a future that you desire.”
  • Megan ​Coup, 2019
  • “I really enjoyed it and although the design project was added work, it really helped to cement the design process as it can be applied in real life.”
  • Megan ​Coup, 2019
  • “Learning how to be resilient in my current lifestyle.”
  • Anon, 2019
  • “Being more conscious of the uses and impacts I have on the planet.”
  • Anon, 2019
  • “Amazing community all with powerful knowledge in different areas of permaculture.”
  • Anon, 2019
  • “Informative, stimulating, impactin​g”
  • Arana Taumata, 2019
  • “Enlightening. Impressed by your knowledge, articulation and delivery.”
  • Clare Hindmarsh, 2019
  • “It’s important stuff!”
  • Clare Hindmarsh, 2019
  • “Loved the big picture thinking this course gave us. Providing insights and knowledge that were outside mainstream thinking.”
  • Anon, 2019
  • “Understanding of energy, land and resources especially locally.”
  • Nicola Yuen, 2019
  • “Loved it.”
  • Viv Sherwood, 2019

  • “Finally some people who make sense”
  • Anon, 2018
  • “Amazing insights, tutors and course content that changes the way you approach life!”
  • Sarah Allcock, 2018
  • “I wish I had done it a decade ago. But better late than never.”
  • Ursula Dantin, 2018
  • “APW offers an amazing opportunity to learn and interact with like-minds alongside enthusiastic and knowledgeable facilitators”
  • Richard Orjis, 2018
  • “Thank you for a life changing experience”
  • Wendy Masters, 2018
  • “Although I completed a Bachelor of Environmental Science and specialised MBA in Sustainable Business, this course highlighted the great amount I still have to learn and opened my eyes to a more hands on approach to learning by doing, not preaching.”
  • Carli Davis, 2018
  • “I thought it was all about gardening, and I was pleasantly surprised that it’s an entire mental/lifestyle shift”
  • Marc Conaco, 2018
  • “One of the most important courses anyone can take to improve the wellbeing of their whānau/families, communities and the planet”
  • Jim Heays, 2018
  • “Amazing! Awesome! I truly believe it is a life changing course”
  • Amandine Paniagua, 2018
  • “Thanks so much to the amazing Auckland Permaculture Workshop (APW) for providing me with my #environmentalawakening moment and the backbone to follow my true purpose”
  • Louisa Viall, Loop Property 2017
  • “This course will change the way you think about your impacts in the world – and more importantly charge you into action.”
  • Kim Nugent, 2017
  • “The APW permaculture course is the most high quality education experience I remember having in my life. There is so much rich knowledge shared at every workshop that each one feels like a gift. The feeling of community and connection with others with a similar worldview was my second favourite part of the course.”
  • Natalie Thomson, 2017
  • “I’ve been studying and practicing permaculture for 20 years. The APW PDC was still full of insights and filled in many gaps in my understanding of urban design, economics and resiliency.”
  • Heidi O’Callahan, 2017
  • “Life changing. Mind blowing. An inspirational exploration of the potential for positive change.”
  • Scott Crickett, 2017
  • “You will learn a whole new way of seeing the world and the systems we live in.”
  • Zoë Carafice, 2017
  • “The course opened my eyes and helped shape how I choose to live my life.”
  • Kelli-Jo Walker, 2017
  • “Completely life changing! This year has honestly been so amazing. The personal growth and content I have learned about has really changed my family’s trajectory for the better.”
  • Louisa Viall, 2017
  • “I enjoyed all of it – found it stimulating and always interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed the time learning with other like-minded people.
  • I was already ecologically/environmentally inclined, now I have a great understanding of the current situation we live in and (most importantly) I now have an understanding of things I can do to contribute positively.”
  • Cathy Robinson, 2016
  • “Rich, world-changing learning. Stretched over a year it is much more doable and in depth than a 2 week PDC”
  • Marisa Pene, 2016
  • “Life changing”
  • Angela Zalewski-Guest, 2016
  • “Every person in Auckland needs to do this course… Soon!”
  • Kyle Parker, 2016
  • “Paradigm shifting. Life changing”
  • Alex Raichev, 2016
  • “A surprisingly comprehensive course systematically enunciating the many layers of permaculture. Loved the depth of analysis on many levels of each subject (based on the [Permaculture] flower) from financial and social to physical and practical.”
  • Meg Back, 2016
  • “Stimulating content. Very practical (in thinking and technique)”
  • Claire Liesching, 2016
  • “[I am] looking at our city through a new, inspiring and eye-opening lens. Thank you!”
  • Brennan Panzarella, 2016
  • “[It] slides a lens over your eyes, which allows you to see possibilities everywhere. Really good, held so much valuable information”
  • Logan Drummond, 2015
  • “Great bunch of knowledgeable people forging a positive path forward for Auckland’s future”
  • Anon, 2015
  • “This course has been an incredibly rich, intense experience of new learning for me. Highly stimulating, so much valuable information. I really enjoyed the practical design project element and I met a group full of fun lovely keen people. A very positive learning experience!”
  • Julie Crocker, 2015
  • “I enjoyed the prolonged period of the year to allow concepts to percolate and explore them”
  • Anon, 2015
  • “A great programme that encourages a thought-provoking journey towards a better, greener and more sustainable, liveable future. Was awesome. Sad it is over.”
  • Andrea Reed, 2015
  • “Insightful, powerful & informative”
  • Anon, 2015
  • “This course has been amazing – truly life changing. I cannot thank APW enough.”
  • Eliza Donald, 2015
  • “Excellent course, knowledgeable facilitators. I will recommend to others.”
  • Anon, 2015
  • “So much information, and so many ways to help the world!”
  • Lloyd Cooper, 2015
  • “It has been what I have been after – an eye opening, resource rich, challenging experience.”
  • Dave Champion, 2014
  • “Inspired and knowledge packed! I have thoroughly enjoyed this course and it has sparked an interest and thirst for a lifetime of learning. Thank you!”
  • Belinda Watkins, 2014
  • “Every workshop offered so much for me and the design project alongside it enhanced my learning. It has changed the way I view the world, my community and myself. It has been a far more rewarding and rich process than I ever imagined and I feel that it has changed me, and my outlook and choices forever. I’m looking forward to continuing the journey!
  • “The best thing I’ve done! I’m proud to be a fledgling permaculturalist!”
  • Nicky Ismay, 2014
  • “APW has answered so many questions that I have been mulling over for the last few years. You have provided a whole network of support and inspiration. I now have a whole lot of new questions I’m looking forward to investigating.”
  • Fiona Ting, 2014
  • “This course helped me empower myself to be stronger and confident, meet like-minded people and to know that each little thing (I do) counts towards making a transition.”
  • Melanie Camoin, 2014
  • “I learned a whole new way of looking at the world. I am rethinking my career direction and mapping what skills I need to develop.”
  • Daniel Scott, 2014
  • “APW, you have whelmed me, and for that, I am unendingly grateful. This is one of the most indelible, gorgeously complex and breathtakingly simple, and professional workshop series at the cutting edge of what’s possible if Homo Sapiens is to get its act together, and fast.
  • “[APW] approach the escalating tarantula of current issues with grace, patience and gravity. It’s impossible not to feel extremely well-supported in such an environment.
  • “For those of you who are wondering if this is for you, worth the time, worth the money, the Saturday away from family, I have only this to say of permaculture: it’s ultimately a way of life on and with the planet and each other, and I can see nothing more important or urgent for anyone to be doing. What APW provides is priceless, and will last far beyond the confines of the year or the month or the Saturday. Whether you are a complete novice or a seasoned campaigner, planner, designer, it honestly doesn’t matter – there’s something extremely worthwhile to take away for everyone.”
  • Nalini Singh, 2013
  • “Changed my way of thinking about the world”
  • Barbara van Ryn, 2013
  • “Inclusive, great facilitation, passionate people, great application of tools, and access to heaps of great information and resources”
  • Sophie Allen, 2013
  • “Great course. Best course I’ve done. Life changing”
  • Phillip Lockyer, 2013
  • “Great way of framing a lot of complex theories into a set of principles that can be so easily applied to so many different aspects of life. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into the course. Course fee does not come close to covering it. Excellent course!”
  • Kristen Spooner, 2013
  • “A feast of innovative, practical and challenging means of addressing real-world issues in our rapidly changing society for post carbon living”
  • Stephanie Nossiter, 2013
  • “It was always highly informative with heaps of fun”
  • Stephan Sellar, 2013
  • “Rewarding. Holistic and comprehensive. Practical and relevant. It was all really great. You’ve done an awesome job at keeping us all informed, enthused (and entertained). I’ve recommended this to so many people”
  • Jennifer Parlane, 2013
  • “A thorough, rigorous overview of permaculture thinking and practice. Great. Challenging. Confirming. Encouraging.
  • This course has had a profound impact on my world-view, relationships and behaviour and fundamentally altered my frame of reference. My working life has also benefitted.”
  • Gerard Mostert, 2013
  • “This course has been life-changing for me. I have learned so many practical & philosophical skills that are greatly beneficial to me and my community”
  • Nicola Groves, 2012
  • “A fantastic mix of theoretical and practical opinions and knowledge on a very rich and valuable subject”
  • John Allan, 2012