Work Trade & Scholarships
Work Trade: We offer a limited number of work-trade positions for each course. If accepted, students are required to pay half or more of one of our sliding scale prices, a deposit, and must be willing to come early and stay late on course days. Additionally, we ask that you submit an application and personal letter giving us some information on your specific skills. The deposit is due with your registration form, and without all of the above materials, we cannot consider you registered.
Scholarship: A full scholarship award (100% tuition without exchanging work hours) is very rare. If you are requesting full scholarship without work trade, please send us a letter and let us know why. Otherwise we will assume you’re applying for normal work trade.
We are committed to increasing the diversity of the permaculture movement and offer a limited number of scholarships for people of color working in environmental and food justice areas. Please email us at to apply.
Cancellations: We cannot offer refunds of your fees or deposits, but we can apply them to a future course if a cancellation is made up to 30 days before the course start date. If you register at the last moment (space allowing) we will work out a specific plan with you.
Scholarship: A full scholarship award (100% tuition without exchanging work hours) is very rare. If you are requesting full scholarship without work trade, please send us a letter and let us know why. Otherwise we will assume you’re applying for normal work trade.
We are committed to increasing the diversity of the permaculture movement and offer a limited number of scholarships for people of color working in environmental and food justice areas. Please email us at to apply.
Cancellations: We cannot offer refunds of your fees or deposits, but we can apply them to a future course if a cancellation is made up to 30 days before the course start date. If you register at the last moment (space allowing) we will work out a specific plan with you.
To Apply for Work Trade and Scholarship Consideration
- First, fill out the registration form for the course here.
- Second, fill out the Work Trade/Scholarship Request form below including a personal letter. Maximum 500 words.*
- Third, please send us your deposit. We need to cover our expenses for each student. Work traders are required to pay one of the lowest sliding scale prices, and your work trade deposit is one half of that amount.
*In your letter, please tell us about yourself, your background, age, experience in any areas related to this training. We hope our community will reflect diversity at all levels, so let us know anything about yourself you think is relevant. Please tell us why you want to take the training, what kind of community work you are currently doing, what use you will make of the training, and how you will be able to share what you learn with your community when you are done.
Please be upfront with us about your financial needs. How much can you afford? Will you do some fundraising for yourself to take the course? Tell us about your skills and your ability show up. Can you come early and stay late during our training days? Tell us about your work ethic and sense of personal responsibility. Will you do the work you agree to do?
We need our work traders to be stalwart can-doers who can adapt to changing needs as the course unfolds. We hope our work traders will be hard working, hands-in folks who will help us get the logistical and material details of the course handled so our teachers can be freed up to teach.
The following is a list of likely tasks for a work trader:
Please be upfront with us about your financial needs. How much can you afford? Will you do some fundraising for yourself to take the course? Tell us about your skills and your ability show up. Can you come early and stay late during our training days? Tell us about your work ethic and sense of personal responsibility. Will you do the work you agree to do?
We need our work traders to be stalwart can-doers who can adapt to changing needs as the course unfolds. We hope our work traders will be hard working, hands-in folks who will help us get the logistical and material details of the course handled so our teachers can be freed up to teach.
The following is a list of likely tasks for a work trader:
- Set up and clean up – set up takes place the day before class and the early morning before class begins. Clean up happens a bit throughout the day and at the end of the training day.
- Procurement of materials for course days – this means shopping before the course begins and making sure we have what we need on each teaching day
- Food and snack coordinator – this means shopping for food and snacks for course days, and making sure people have what they need during the day.