Confidently Lead Teams With an Operations Management Course

Behind every successful business is a competent business operations manager. They are the “go-to” person in an organisation, overseeing various departments to plan and meet business goals. But what is business operations?

Our Certificate of Business (Operations Management) is ideal for Managers, Operations Managers, and Team Leaders, those from a technical, sales, retail or trade background seeking to move into a management role, or those in an admin role wishing to take on more responsibility in their current career.

This business operations management course will provide you with the essentials required for a successful career in business planning and operations. You will explore taxation, financial management and record keeping, business law and regulations, the money market, business plan writing, and the foundations of successful business planning, as well as common pitfalls to avoid.

Requirements for Operating a Business

Running a business is a day-to-day task, but businesses don’t run themselves. Goals need to be set and decisions made to achieve them. A business’s goals involve acquiring the means to deliver a product or service and then selling it. In terms of business operations management, some days will be challenging and others inspiring; however, most will just be integral to the daily routine. But what is business operations?

Typically, there are three key areas involved in running a business:

1. Management process – this includes hiring the right people, staff management, training, and getting the best results from the people you hire.
2. Business strategy – this defines your short and long-term goals in relation to achieving targeted profit and turnover.
3. Business operations – these are the means by which you achieve your set goals, for example, tools, resources, set procedures, processes and business plans.

Things you will need to do to fulfil your business goals:

• Buy or make your product or determine the services you will offer.
• Make the correct buying decisions based on market research and the needs of your customers.
• Fix prices after you determine your costs.
• Keep costs down.
• Promote your services or products via advertising and marketing.
• Sell.
• Deliver.
• Follow-up with your customers.
• Hire and train new employees as the business grows.
• Motivate your employees.
• Measure your performance against your set goals.
• Keep the appropriate records.

The daily work of any business operator, however, can vary in many ways:

• Small business operators typically need to do everything! This includes planning, management, creating the product or delivering the service and marketing it.
• Bigger business operators often have the luxury of delegating areas of work to employees, but that luxury is offset by the added complexity of managing a larger organisation.
• Some businesses need to allocate more resources to acquiring their product or service than others. Other businesses may find acquiring the product easy, but usually, when one aspect of the business operation is easier, other aspects will be more difficult.
• Some businesses need to continually review and change the products or services they offer, while others may only ever make minor changes in terms of what they are selling.

Common Elements of Business Success

If you are looking to launch a start-up, it’s worth remembering that founding and growing a business is not for the faint-hearted. However, undertaking a business operations management course is an excellent place to start!

A 2018 study done by KPMG was an effort to establish some baseline information on high performance in Australia’s growing community of business founders. It surveyed 70 business founders who reported working an average of 64 hours per week, which is well above the national standard of 40 hours per week. Founders reported that it’s an all-consuming enterprise.

What’s it take to scale and grow fast?

“Scaling” a business up can be difficult. Research has shown that only one per cent of organisations make it past the $10m-a-year mark. Harvard Business School Professor Noam Wasserman, the author of The Founder’s Dilemmas, says that 65 per cent of startups that fail do so due to ineffective management by the founders, not product or marketing problems.

The Growth Project, a global study by Professor Charlene Zietsma from Penn State University that tracked companies across seven countries has identified common features. University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Business School Associate Professor Danielle Logue MAICD, who leads the Australian arm of the project, says there is much attention in Australia on startups but fewer insights on how to build high-growth firms and the scaling process.

The Australian companies surveyed included those from capital cities and regional areas, ranging from high-tech startups to innovative firms in traditional industries such as mining, hospitality, construction, agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism.

Findings identified eight important features that fast-growing companies have in common. Logue says these factors transcend industries, cultures and countries.

Features included:

1. Beginning with the end in mind. This means having clear long-term objectives for the business. For example, is this a lifestyle business? Is this a family dynasty? Are you going for world domination?
2. Nailing it and scaling it. For example, what value will you deliver to whom, how will you deliver it consistently, what’s your profit formula, and what’s your go-to-market plan? It also involves refining the business model, then scaling it up and repeating the process.
3. Pivoting with a purpose. When a business model isn’t working, you should be prepared to pivot to a plan B to maximise the chance that your model will appeal to customers. Pivoting can be costly but extremely valuable.
4. Letting go as you grow. This is about realising you can no longer do everything — hire, delegate and consult. When you start out, you’re really in touch with customers, the market and technology. As you start to grow, you can no longer do everything yourself.
5. Hiring agile people. Hire the right people — especially those who can be fluid in their roles.
6. Building scaffolding for growth. This means developing the systems, structures and processes needed to scale up.
7. Focusing on cash. Speed cash flow through the system if you can because it is the oxygen that fuels growth.
8. Undertaking targeted execution. This involves developing a metric-driven culture and a focus on key priorities.

Gain the confidence to explore further studies in business operations or take on greater responsibility in your role with a business operations management course, such as our Certificate of Business (Operations Management)

Did you know there is a shortage of earth scientists in Australia? Future career opportunities are also wonderfully varied. An education in earth science could see you working in the energy sector, mining industries or for government agencies like the CSIRO or in environmental consulting roles.

Our Certificate of Earth Science is an online earth science course that explores various challenges, from acting against pollution and climate change to understanding earthquakes and eruptions and developing new technologies to counteract environmental problems.

In this professional development course, you will explore the scope and nature of the Earth’s forces and structure, including in rocks and minerals, the air and weather and in our tides and oceans.

You will also study global weather patterns, the greenhouse effect, the geological time scale, and contemporary environmental issues like conservation, pollution, waste, and resource depletion.

Would you like to gain a richer understanding of the environment and environmental resources? Do you see yourself affecting change for the benefit of science, industry, our planet, and its inhabitants?

If so, we urge you to explore our earth science course.

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved if you study our earth science corse include:

• Understand the major structural elements of Earthand the major internal forces which affect them.
• Classify rocks and minerals according to their characteristics and formation.
• Learn about the external processes that cause topographic and soil changes on the Earth’s
• Understand the oceans of the Earthand their role in global processes.
• Describe the Earth’s atmosphere and the forces which create weather.
• Describe some well-known effects of particular atmospheric conditions like the Greenhouse effect.
• Identify global weather patterns and their relationship to different climates.
• Describe how the Earth’s surface has changed over time.
• Identify environmental issues which are of current significance.
• Research how a mountain/mountain range in or near your region was formed.
• Explain plate tectonics.
• Collect and classify rock samples as either sedimentary rock, igneous rock, or metamorphic rock.
• Describe four ways that weathering breaks down rocks to help form soil.
• Explain how the speed of a stream affects the shape of the landscape.
• Name the three main layers of the ocean, describe the characteristics and ocean life in each.
• Keep a record of atmospheric and weather changes in your environment.
• Explain the highs and lows associated with air pressure and how they affect weather.
• Create a questionnaire to determine understanding of the Greenhouse Effect or the Ozone layer.
• Explain why your region has its overall climate.
• Research what life forms (plant and animal) inhabited your region before the formation of humans.
• Identify the rules and laws used to date fossils.
• Research an environmental problem in your area, and discuss possible solutions.

And more!

5 Major Areas of Earth Science  

Earth science is made up of many branches of knowledge about our planet’s systems. The main areas of earth science include geology, oceanography, climatology and meteorology, environmental science and astronomy.

In each area, scientists explore and seek to understand all aspects of the Earth, from its landforms to the atmosphere and the oceans.

1. Geology

Geology is the study of the Earth’s solid materials, structures and processes. Geologists seek to understand the composition of rocks, minerals and landforms and how they’re created. These are important explorations to understand better how we can use Earth’s materials as resources.

2. Oceanography 

Oceanography is the study of everything in the ocean environment from water movements, distribution and quality. Planet Earth is made up of 70 per cent water. Yet there’s still so much of the ocean that’s a mystery.

3. Climatology and Meteorology

Climatologists study the atmosphere and explore how and why climate changes. Meteorologists, on the other hand, study weather patterns, clouds, hurricanes and tornadoes. Using high-tech equipment, meteorologists can predict major storms to save lives and damage to property.

4. Environmental Science

Environmental scientists study the effects of people on the environment. This area of science explores landscapes, atmosphere, water and all living things.

5. Astronomy

Astronomy is the study of outer space and the physical bodies that are beyond Earth. Astronomers use telescopes to make discoveries and help design spacecraft that can provide new insights into the universe.

15 Fascinating Facts About Planet Earth

National Geographic and Encyclopedia Britannica provide hundreds of fascinating facts about Earth and science; here are 15 of the most interesting (according to us anyway!). But, this is just the beginning …. there’s so much more to explore in earth science courses.

1. Earth zooms through its orbit at an average velocity of 30 kilometres per hour – though we don’t even feel it!
2. Earth rotates on its axis every 23.9 hours bringing night and day to its surface dwellers.
3. We experience seasons because the Earth’s axis of rotation tilts 23.4 degrees away from the plane of the planet’s orbit around the sun.
4. 4.5 billion years ago Earth was formed from the gaseous, dusty disk that surrounded the sun with a bit of help from gravity.
5. At Earth’s heart, there is an inner core, which is a sold sphere of iron and nickel that’s 1,200 kilometres wide and as hot as 5426 degrees Celsius.
6. Almost 70 per cent of Earth’s surface is covered in oceans of liquid water that average four kilometres deep.
7. Earth’s atmosphere nourishes and protects life on Earth – it provides a block for many meteorites that burn up before impact from friction, and its gases—such as ozone—block DNA-damaging ultraviolet light from reaching the surface!
8. Earth is the only planet of the solar system that does not come from Greco-Roman mythology – instead, its name is derived from Old English and German for ground.
9. Viewed from another planet, Earth would appear bright and blueish.
10. The distance from Earth to the sun is about 149,600,000 kilometres
11. Earth’s gravity keeps the moon in orbit around the planet – the moon’s gravitational force causes tides, but so does the sun.
12. About one-third of the solar energy that reaches Earth is expended on evaporating ocean water.
13. Ten million kilograms of meteors burn harmlessly in the Earth’s atmosphere each day.
14. Due to the Earth’s axial tilt – which exposes our planet’s northern and southern hemispheres to the sun, depending on the time of year, some places near the poles experience 24 hours of straight daylight or darkness!
15. Earth’s landmasses move about as fast as fingernails grow, which is called the ‘continental drift.’

Gain insights into the world’s many wonders and help affect change in science and industry with an earth science course, like our Certificate of Earth Science.

Protecting our planet is an issue on the global stage, and those with environmental research skills are in high demand. This course is ideal for those wanting to take the first step towards an environmental consultant career, or as a professional development course for those who are skilled in this area but would like to “sell” their expertise effectively.

The Certificate of Environmental Assessment will teach you how to use your knowledge of plant and animal ecology and identification to undertake and leverage environmental research.

You will study the basics of environmental study design, analysis and reporting within a legal framework, and the assessment techniques that have been developed and used around the world.

You will also learn about report structure, presentation and layout, review and leverage a variety of Environmental Impact Statements, and develop your networking skills which is a vital skill to have in this ever-changing industry.

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved by undertaking this course that will assist you with securing an environmental consultant career include:

• Learning about the principles of environmental assessment
• Exploring pre-purchase inspection sites, gathering baseline data and survey and sampling methods
• Gaining an understanding of assessing environmental impacts
• Studying open space management plans
• Gaining insights into license compliance
• Examining multi-disciplinary teams
• Understanding how to employ specialists
• Learning about ethics and environment assessment
• Exploring the origins of environmental assessment
• Gaining an understanding of the environmental assessment process
• Studying the importance of good scoping and the methods of environmental assessment
• Gaining insights into environmental law including international environmental law and its milestones
• Examining the principles of environmental law
• Understanding the institutions that influence environmental law
• Learning about impact assessment
• Exploring the differences between international and domestic law
• Gaining an understanding of evolving domestic law
• Studying domestic environmental policy strategies
• Gaining insights into the types of environmental assessment
• Examining environmental auditing
• Understanding regional risk screening
• Learning about ecological risk, fauna impact, ecological impact and health impact assessments
• Exploring economic and fiscal impact, strategic environment (SEA) and cumulative impact assessments
• Gaining an understanding of the design and process of environmental assessment
• Studying the steps in the environmental assessment process
• Gaining insights into screening, scoping, the collection and analysis of information and public consultation
• Understanding reposting study findings
• Learning about impact prediction and evaluation, impact identification methods and data collection and presentation
• Exploring basic mathematical principles and the statistical analysis of data
• Gaining an understanding of descriptive and inferential statistics
• Studying analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Chi-square test
• Gaining insights into writing environmental reports and report structure
• Examining environmental statements
• Understanding layouts and examples of environmental impact statements

And more!

Australia’s Environment Assessment and Approval Process

Australia is home to many plants, animals and habitats that are found nowhere else on earth and therefore it is important we protect them. If you are keen to undertake an environmental consultant career, it is important you understand Australia’s environmental laws.

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) ensures “nationally significant” animals, plants, habitats and heritage places are identified, and any potential negative impacts are carefully considered before changes in new developments or land use are approved.

The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment is responsible for managing the environmental assessment and approval process under the EPBC Act. The Act ensures that developers, companies, governments, landowners and individuals seek Commonwealth approval in addition to state and territory or local government approvals if their plans might significantly impact on matters of national significance. The Australian Government continuously updates this list, and a common set of processes is used for all applications.

There are nine matters of national significance that come under the EPBC Act:

1. World Heritage properties
2. National heritage places
3. Wetlands of international importance (listed under the Ramsar Convention)
4. Listed threatened species and ecological communities
5. Migratory species protected under international agreements
6. Commonwealth marine areas
7. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
8. Nuclear actions (including uranium mines)
9. A water resource, in relation to coal seam gas development and large coal mining development

The History of International Environment Law

Learning about the history of International Environment Law (IEL) is a fascinating component of an environmental consultant career. But where did this global discipline come from and how has it evolved?

The rules of IEL have not been dictated by an international authority or a national institution. Rather, they are a collection of treaties, declarations and rules — some voluntary and some binding — that have developed alongside scientific awareness and knowledge of the current state of our natural world.

The history of IEL can be divided into three stages and is separated by two of the most relevant international conferences held so far — the Stockholm Conference in 1972, and the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992. In 2016, with the signing of the Paris Agreement, a new platform began to confront humanity’s most important natural challenge — the current climate emergency.

The Stockholm Declaration

Before the 1960s, there was little environmental awareness and only a few isolated international environmental regulatory initiatives. It was in this decade that public opinion really became aware of the dangers threatening the planet. The Stockholm Declaration was devised in 1972 and was the first international document to recognise the right of individuals to a healthy environment.

The Declaration also established the Principle of Cooperation, which recognised that countries should unite in their efforts to meet the global challenges of our shared environment. At this time, UN General Assembly also created the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which is the central body in charge of environmental affairs today.

In 1983, the UN created the World Commission on Environment and Development, known as the Brundtland Commission. Its work, which focused on the difficult relationship between environment and development, resulted in the report Our Common Future (1987). This document mirrored the concept of sustainable development, which is the basis for the evolution of IEL.

At this time, some of the global environmental problems that still afflict us today began to manifest themselves, including risks to biological diversity, the depletion of the ozone layer, and the threat of climate change. In 1987, the Montreal Protocol was signed to combat the depletion of the ozone layer.

Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit

During this Conference in 1992, two conventions were presented to be signed by national governments: the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Rio Declaration was also established, which reaffirmed the Stockholm Declaration and the Agenda 21 action program, which continues to guide governments and non-state actors in environmental protection activities, and the central concept continued to be sustainable development.

After the Rio Summit

After the summit in Rio, all major economic treaties began to include environmental protection. A case in point is the Marrakech Agreement, which created the World Trade Organization in 1994, and was the first economic treaty to recognise the goals of sustainable development and environmental protection.

The Convention on Climate Change of 1995 deserves special mention since its signatories have met every year at the Conference of the Parties (COP). Within this framework, in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was presented. Despite not having been successful in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, it was the first international agreement to establish legally binding obligations for developed countries.

In 2000, 189 countries adopted the Millennium Declaration in New York, which strengthened the importance of sustainable development by recognising the need for sustainable economic growth with a focus on the poor and respect for human rights.

Two years later, in 2002, representatives from 190 countries attended the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg to follow up on the commitments of the Rio Summit. On that occasion, they adopted the Declaration on Sustainable Development,.

In 2012, the UN organised the third Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio + 20, which brought together 192 Member States, private sector companies, NGOs, and other organisations. The result was a non-binding document called The Future We Want. In this document, States renewed their commitment to sustainable development and the promotion of a sustainable future.

The Kyoto Protocol to address climate change gave way to the Paris Agreement in 2016.  In this agreement, the signatory countries committed themselves to do everything possible to prevent the average temperature of the planet from rising by 2°C, compared to pre-industrial levels and hopefully staying below a 1.5°C rise.

Source: International Environmental Law: History and milestones

Gain the skills to undertake your own environmental research assessment project and present it as a professional report to test your skills for an environmental consultant career with our Certificate of Environmental Assessment.

The word permaculture refers to “permanent agriculture”, and it is a set of design principles centred around simulating or directly using features observed in natural ecosystems. Our Certificate of Permaculture will give you insights into how to plan and develop a productive, self-sustaining and environmentally stable permaculture system.

When you study permaculture, you will explore the nature and scope of permaculture concepts, including energy recycling, biological pest control, plant identification, ecosystems and ecology. You will learn how to describe the characteristics of climate, soils, water and forest systems, and apply this knowledge to a permaculture design environment.

If you want to expand on your knowledge  and enhance your career as a garden designer, landscape architect, ecologist or horticulturalist, consider our Certificate of Permaculture (Advanced). In this course, you will discover how to evaluate the appropriate design strategies for specific development sites, understand the natural patterns occurring in the local area, undertake planning work, and prepare efficient and value-added cost estimates.

You will also study how to develop strategies for the management of water and earthworks, design a permaculture system for dry, humid and temperate to cold climates in urban and rural areas and explore alternative sustainable systems.

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved when you study permaculture include:

• Learning about permaculture concepts including life ethics and guiding principles – relative location, multiple functions and elements, elevational planning, energy recycling etc.
• Exploring permaculture ideas and techniques from around the world
• Gaining an understanding of natural gardening, organic growing and no-dig gardening
• Studying crop rotation
• Gaining insights into the biological control of pest and disease
• Examining integrated pest management
• Understanding how living things vary from place to place
• Learning about plant names and an easier way to identify plants
• Exploring the pronunciation of plant names
• Gaining an understanding of why the environment is key to permaculture design
• Studying ecology and ecosystems
• Gaining insights into abiotic and biotic components
• Examining ecological concepts
• Understanding the Web of Life, Replicating Nature and Successions
• Learning about how to start a permaculture property including structure, cost, size and location
• Exploring permaculture design
• Gaining an understanding of soils in permaculture and the role of soil
• Studying soil components including silt, gravel sand and colloids
• Gaining insights into peds
• Examining how to name a soil and manage it including cycles
• Understanding fertiliser application
• Learning about nitrogen and the factors affecting nitrogen release from organic sources
• Exploring microorganism populations
• Gaining an understanding how pH, heat and chemical treatment, soil temperature, cultivation and cover crops and draining and erosion
• Studying how to measure pH, the organic and water content of soil and how to determine the solubility of soils
• Gaining insights into how to test the affect of lime on soil and measuring salinity
• Understanding how to take soil samples for lab tests
• Learning aboutColourimetry
• Exploring climate and water in permaculture
• Gaining an understanding of site types, degree days, infiltration, rainfall, temperature, frosts, evaporation and evaporation

…and more!

Outcomes achieved when you study permaculture in our Advanced course include:

• Learning how to evaluate design strategies
• Exploring low input, regenerative and conservation farming
• Gaining an understanding of biodynamic and organic systems
• Studying polyculture, integrated management and permaculture planning
• Gaining insights into sectors, zones, spirals, circles, pathways, keyhole beds and small-scale sun traps and shading
• Understanding patterns, how to evaluate a site, weather patterns, soil pH, temperature and water etc.
• Learning about electromagnetic, herbicide and pesticide consideration
• Exploring land carrying capacity, assessing land capability and indications of sustainability
• Studying water supply, water saving measures, tanks and dam and pond building
• Gaining insights into construction, liners, collect rainwater, use farm waste water and recycle waste water
• Understanding well drilling, pumps and plumbing supplies, pumping subterranean ground water and pumping from natural supplies
• Learning about water use – power and diesel generators
• Exploring fish and water plant culture and seasonal changes in a pond
• Gaining an understanding of swales and key lines and key line design
• Studying earthworks including site clearing, levelling, drainage and surveying techniques
• Gaining insights into erosion, salinity, sodicity, soil compaction and soil acidification
• Understanding the build-up of dangerous chemicals and how to use lime, gypsum and acidic materials
• Learning about humid tropics – precipitation, wind, radiation and sources of humus
• Exploring mulches, soil life, barrier plants and animal barriers in the humid tropics
• Studying permaculture systems in the wet tropics including garden beds and what tropical fruits to grow
• Gaining insights into dry climates – water storage and conservation, drylands gardens and orchards, planting on hills and corridor planting
• Examining how to overcome dry soils
• Understanding vegetables, fruits, vines and drought tolerant plants
• Learning about temperature to cold climates
• Exploring the characteristics of a temperate biozone
• Studying cool temperature garden design and useful crops for this zone
• Gaining insights into crop protection and soils in cool temperate areas
• Understanding how to grow berries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, nuts and herbs
• Learning about planning – the process and alternative planning procedures

And more!

Some Common Practices in Permaculture

When you study permaculture, you will gain insights into the wide variety of practices adopted by those in the agricultural sector around the world. Here are some of the more commonly used.

Agroforestr

Agroforestry uses the interactive benefits of combining forestry and agriculture — for example, combining shrubs and trees with livestock or crops — to create more productive, diverse, profitable and healthy land-use systems. This enhances the sustainability and functionality of the farming system (for example, trees product a wide range of useful and marketable products from fruits and nuts to wood products and medicines). The intentional combination has multiple benefits, including increased biodiversity, reduced erosion, improved soil structure and health, and enhanced yields from staple food crops.

Vermicomposting

A common practice in permaculture, this practice in involves using various species of worms to create a mixture of decomposing food or vegetable waste. The worms (usually white worms, red rigglers or earthworms) produce worm casings. These can be used to organically fertilise gardens, increase plant growth and decrease heavy metals in soil. They can also help to improve water retention and aerate the soil. The rearing of worms for this purpose is called vermiculture.

Rainwater Harvesting

Another common practice of permaculture, rainwater harvesting is the accumulation and storage of rainwater for re-use before it runs off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a cistern, aquifier, tank, deep pit (shaft, well or borehole) or a reservoir with percolation, so that it seeps down and restores the ground water. Rainwater harvesting differs from stormwater harvesting as the run-off is collected from roofs rather than drains, creeks, roads or any other land surfaces. Its uses include watering livestock, gardens, irrigation, domestic heating and domestic use (with the proper treatment).

Domesticated Animals

Animals are a critical component of any sustainable ecosystem, and often incorporated into a permaculture site design. Research indicates that without animals’ contribution, ecological integrity is diminished or lost. Nutrients are cycled by animals and transformed from their less-digestible form (such as twigs or grass) into more nutrient-dense manure. Multiple animals can contribute including cows, geese, turkeys, rabbits, goats, pigs and chickens. Activities that contribute to the system include weed maintenance, spreading seeds, pest maintenance, clearing fallen fruit and foraging to cycle nutrients.

Hügelkultur

This is the practice of burying wood to increase soil water retention. The porous structure of wood acts as a sponge when it decomposes underground. During the rainy season, sufficient buried wood can absorb enough water to sustain crops throughout the dry season.

The Hügelkultur technique can be implemented through building mounds on the ground as well as in raised garden beds. In raised beds, the practice imitates natural nutrient cycling found in wood decomposition while also improving bed structure and drainage properties. This is done by placing wood material (for example, sticks and logs) in the bottom of the bed before piling compost and organic soil on top.

Natural Building

This involves using a range of materials and building systems that apply permaculture principals. The focus is on durability and the use of plentiful, minimally processed or renewable resources, as well as those that (while salvaged or recycled) maintain indoor air quality and produce healthy living environments.

Natural building attempts to lessen the environmental impacts of buildings without sacrificing health, comfort or aesthetics. It also employs abundantly available natural resources like rock, clay, straw, sand, wood and reeds and draws heavily on traditional architectural strategies found in various climates.

Most materials are sourced locally, regionally or even on-site.

Minimising the ecological footprint is common as is the on-site handling of on-site water capture, alternative sewerage treatment, water re-use and energy acquisition.

Sheet Mulching

Mulch is essentially a protective cover placed over soil. Mulch material includes leaves, stones, wood chips, cardboard and gravel, although in permaculture, mulches of organic material are preferred because they perform more functions. These include reducing evaporation, absorbing rainfall, providing nutrients, suppressing weed growth, creating habitats for soil organisms, reducing erosion, protecting against frost and increasing soil organic matter.

Sheet mulching is a gardening technique that attempts to mimic the leaf cover on forest floors and therefore natural forest processes. When deployed correctly and in combination with other permaculture principles, it can generate productive, healthy and low maintenance ecosystems.

Fruit Tree Management

Some proponents of permaculture advocate heavily restricted pruning. This technique was adopted and developed by Austrian permaculture advocate Sepp Holzer. He grew fruiting trees far above their normal temperature, altitude and snow load ranges. He noted that the longer and more naturally formed branches bent over under the snow load until they touched the ground, thus forming a natural arch against snow loads that would normally break a pruned, shorter branch.

Marine Systems

Permaculture derives its origins from agriculture, although the same principles can also be applied to mariculture. An example is marine permaculture where an artificial upwelling of deep, cold ocean water is induced. When attachment substrate is provided in association with such an upwelling, and kelp sporophytes are present, a kelp forest ecosystem can be established, and micro-algae proliferate as well. These marine forest habitats are beneficial for many fish species and the kelp is animal food, a renewable resource for food and various other commercial products.

Gain insights into the variety of disciplines that relate to permaculture and a greater awareness of concepts that can be applied to sustainable land management when you study permaculture courses like our Certificate of Permaculture and our Certificate of Permaculture (Advanced)