What is the process to become a LAND Centre in England?

1.    You will need to be confident that you fulfil all the essential criteria, although exceptions will be considered in very rare circumstances. If you have any doubts, you can talk to another LAND Centre or contact the office.

2.    If you are certain that you meet all the criteria, please apply by completing the form at the bottom of this page, which goes to the office. 

3.    The office will make contact with a nearby LAND Tutor and arrange for them to contact you directly to carry out an Assessment Visit.

4.    The LAND Tutor will visit your place to see how well you fulfil the criteria. Based on their assessment, they will pass on a recommendation to the LAND Advisory Group.

5.    After the LAND Advisory Group have considered your application, the office will contact you to tell you whether or not you have been awarded LAND Centre status.

6.    If the Advisory Group considers that you do not meet all the essential criteria, they may suggest the supported LAND Learner route to becoming a LAND Centre in the future.



This short video explains the LAND application process.



The Network in ScotLAND is administered slightly differently. A network for Wales (Tir Dysgu) is in the process of development.



How much will it cost to become a LAND Centre?

Until July 2013 generous financial support from the Local Food Fund covered all the tutors’ costs in England. We are now finding different ways to make sure that LAND Centres are appropriately verified as an excellent public demonstration of permaculture.



We are committed to paying our tutors a fair wage for their work to ensure that they provide you with the best possible service. Whilst tutors will normally be paid following the fee schedule below, some LAND tutors are willing to provide support or assessment because they see an opportunity to recruit future students or generally nourish permaculture practice in their area.



Some people have “crowd funded” their permaculture projects through WeTheTrees.com. Other options for funding are Awards for All, local council's Community Chests and one of the 54 community foundations, which cover all of Scotland and Wales, and most of England.



The following fees apply:

Assessment Visit: £135 + tutor travel costs. This includes a 2½-hour site visit and an hour of report writing by the LAND Tutor. It also includes 2 hours of administration by Permaculture Association staff.





Is it worth it?

Becoming a LAND Centre is public verification that your project is an excellent demonstration of permaculture in practice. This means you get to use the LAND Centre logo, brand, signage and Permaculture Posters. Many LAND Centres get more visitors, volunteers, people paying for courses, and long-term volunteers (eg. WWOOFers). You can also be included in the new permaculture visit scheme, through which you can be paid to show groups round your site.





Part of a supportive Network

As the LAND Network is growing in number and diversity, so is the sharing between LAND Centres of knowledge, experience and skills. Some of this happens at the training gatherings across Britain, but mostly it happens organically and fraternally between LAND Centres and LAND Learners. We are a unique network: see our Facebook group for evidence of how well it works.





Can becoming a LAND project be linked to the Diploma?

If you are working towards your Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design, achieving LAND Centre status can count towards one of the designs in your final portfolio. The LAND Record of Progress document is an important link between the two. This is completed by your tutor during your assessment visit. The Record shows how your project uses the ethics and principles of permaculture and how it fulfils the LAND criteria. You can use the Record as a starting point in assessing how your project also fulfils the Diploma Criteria.

A guide on how to engage with learning support groups and/or peer support guilds can be found in the Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design guidebook.





Maintaining excellence

To help ensure LAND Centres are continuing to be excellent public demonstrations of permaculture we are introducing biennial checks. This will involve peer-learning visits between LAND Centres near to one another. Visits will involve completing a checklist to evaluate how the Centre is doing and how it can further improve. This should be a rich learning experience to share ideas and improve each Centre's permaculture design practice. Feedback from visitors will also soon be visible on the individual Centre pages.





Insurance shouldn't be a barrier

Some projects are put off by the need to have appropriate insurance to welcome the public. You could try CaSE Insurance or TCV for affordable options.