Mission
“The world will continue… it is up to us to decide how we will participate in its future”
At the Permaculture Academy we aim to train the next generation of thought leaders that will steward systems that are regenerative and environmentally, socially, and economy sustainable.
As an internationally recognized school of Permaculture Design we focus on practical, tangible, and actionable principles and tools that honor permaculture's pioneering history while also maintaining a clear focus on the future.
We providing a diverse and innovative space for students to discover their deepest purpose and to learn the very real and very needed skills of:
Self-reliance
Modern Homesteading
Scientific Sustainability
Community Resiliency
All while being immersed in a diverse and supportive community of fellow permaculture enthusiasts.
Instructors
Larry Santoyo
Founder of the Permaculture Academy and lead instructor. He has been a teacher and practitioner of Permaculture Design for the 28+ years and spent over a decade studying and teaching with Bill Mollison. He has taught environmental design at colleges and universities nationwide, including UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, Evergreen College, CSU Northridge, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Elijah Santoyo
Eli is the Director of the Permaculture Academy and the President of Earthflow Designs. He was raised on a farm in Stevens County, WA. He attended California Polytechnic San Luis Obispo and majored in Economics and Psychology with specializations in Macroeconomic, Psychoanalysis and Experimental Design.
Eli is a professional chef and trained as an apprentice under Master Toshi Suigara in Japanese cuisine and as a sake sommelier. He spends his free time walking the earth.
John Valenzuela
John is a permaculture designer, consultant educator, and rare fruit aficionado. John has taught extensively throughout the Hawaiian Islands and has also been a lead instructor at the Bullock Family Permaculture Homestead on Orcas Island, Washington. His special expertise is in traditional agriculture, plant propagation, and ethnobotany.
Scott Pitman
Scott is one of the foremost teachers of permaculture in the US. He has taught the subject extensively worldwide on four continents and is the founder of the Permaculture Drylands Institute and co-founder of the Permaculture Credit Union.
Scott co-taught with Bill Mollison, and helped to establish permaculture movement in the Southwest. His experience includes working with indigenous and traditional people worldwide, design projects that range from backyards to thousand-acre farms and activism in promotion of sustainable living.
Collaborators
The Bird House
The BirdHouse is an oasis of connection in a world of separation. It is a community based organization in the Los Angeles area creating the conditions for connecting people to place through arts and ecology. Partnering with public, private and nonprofit organizations the BH hosts workshops and events such as Permaculture and plant medicine, singing and craftwork.
Permaculture Institute
Permaculture Institute Inc. is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit that is a global leader in the promotion of Permaculture. For the last twenty years, it has been offering the standard of Permaculture Design Courses, Teacher Training Retreats, and the Diploma of Permaculture Design in North America. Founded in 1997 by Scott Pittman and Bill Mollison, the Institute’s work uses education and demonstration to accomplish the mission of training the next environmental and social changemakers to uphold the highest standards of Permaculture
Earth Conscious Films
Earth Conscious Films was founded out of a desire to participate in solving problems in the world, and the capacity to do our part through film and video. Film and video have become the common language of the world, and by extension, the most powerful. We want to make solving fundamental problems more popular, more entertaining, and more satisfying than the perpetuation of fear.
https://vimeo.com/earthconsciousfilms
The Tree People
TreePeople is an environmental nonprofit whose mission is to inspire and support the people of L.A. to come together to plant and care for trees, harvest the rain, and renew depleted landscapes. We unite with communities to grow a greener, shadier and more water-secure city at homes, neighborhoods, schools and in the local mountains. We work with volunteer leaders using our unique Citizen Forester model, and we influence government agencies for a healthy, thriving Los Angeles. Born from the efforts of a teenager over 40 years ago, we have involved more than 3 million people in planting and caring for more than 3 million trees
Sacred Ecology Films
Sacred Ecology is a production company that creates Films, Photography, Design & Media and serves as an online publication about Cultural & Biodiversity Preservation. Our commitment is to honor the messages of indigenous elders, cultural leaders, and ecology experts around the world by offering media services and an online platform to share their knowledge and wisdom.
Kiss The Ground
Kiss The The Ground is a 501 (c)(3) charity that empowers people to restore soil and helps accelerate the adoption of regenerative agriculture and global soil restoration. We focus on creating award-winning media and educational curriculum to raise awareness and educate brands, farmers, policymakers, consumers and students about healthy soil.
The Seattle Tilth
Our mission is to build an ecologically sound, economically viable and socially equitable food system. A healthy environment is the foundation for growing healthy food.We focus on educating our community in organic, biodiversity and sustainable farm practices, gardening, local business and market support, and cooking and nutrition.
L.A. EcoVillage
Eco-Village Intentional Community members demonstrate the processes for creating a healthy neighborhood ecologically, socially and economically. The strategy is to reduce environmental impacts while raising the quality of neighborhood life. The LA Eco-Village is a demonstration of sustainable community development. We share our processes, strategies and techniques with others through tours, talks, workshops, conferences, public advocacy and the media.