Social Permaculture & Cultural Emergence design workshop
Beyond gardening - design your life with permaculture!
Discover how to design thriving relationships, resilient communities, and a regenerative future, starting with yourself.
This course weaves together personal wellbeing, Cultural Emergence and nature connection, offering tools and inspiration to create a life rooted in care, purpose, and true belonging.
This interactive course blends social permaculture and Cultural Emergence, giving you the tools to apply permaculture thinking in all areas of life.
- Learn how smart design can improve your projects, work, and daily decisions.
- Discover practical strategies from our permaculture farm and real-life examples.
- Create your own personal design for a more balanced, resilient life.
Join us for a hands-on experience that connects people, nature and innovation
When: Monday 14 - Friday 18 September 2026
Where: permaculture farm Bogata Šuma, Vojnic, Croatia
€ 550,- bursary support
€ 475,- normal price
€ 400,- low waged, under 18 or over 70, or from former Yugoslavia
€ 100,- when you volunteer here afterwards for 3 weeks or more
The price includes all tuition, breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and a camping spot or a bed in a (2-persons) room.
Bring a friend and get 25% off
At Bogata Suma you can experience a permaculture lifestyle, as you gain the necessary skills to implement permaculture and Cultural Emergence in your own life.
Permaculture is about designing with nature, by observing her functions, patterns, connections and systems. Cultural Emergence is about growing, protecting and cultivating thriving people and environments. It is about creating a healthier and happier ecosystem for a peaceful, connective life and a positive, regenerative future.
In this course you will have fun learning together with likeminded people on a permaculture farm in Croatia. This will be a richly nourishing, empowering and life transforming course.
Challenge & awaken, move & invigorate, nourish & empower
With a growing awareness and feeling of responsibility you need tools for transformation. Asking questions, thinking differently, pattern recognition and disruption all lead to growth. How to grow your vision, connections to self and others, your resilience and your effectiveness. We will grow ropes, build trust, appreciate and celebrate.
Enhance your confidence and skills in designing any aspect of your life.
We will use Looby Macnamara's Design Web, with a nice balance between theory and practise. Her Design Web is an effective toolkit that translates the use of permaculture ethics & principles, and helps you design for people based systems.
You will leave this course with...
- A personal design for an aspect of your life that you want to improve.
- A group design for a positive change in the world
Within the first 3 months following the course you can have 2 consultancy calls with us, to bring your theoretical and practical knowledge together for your situation.
This course is regarded as a CEED course, one of the modules of the Cultural Emergence learning pathway from Looby Macnamara. For more information about the learning pathways see here.
Thank you for an amazing, relaxed and lovely 5 days. It's been an absolute pleasure to stay at Bogata Šuma, eat wonderful meals and sample your exdpansive knowledge - Sander
The venue Bogata Šuma
Experience and enjoy permaculture in reality at our homestead Bogata Šuma! Together we can discover how permaculture can be a solution to many (world) problems.
This course is a transformative opportunity to focus on something meaningful and practical in your life and bring intention to it, using the toolkit of permaculture and cultural emergence to take it to the next level.
Permaculture farm Bogata Šuma is situated on the top of a hill in the heart of Croatia, with forests all around. We have been on this land since 2005, after it was abandoned by the previous owners after the Yugoslavian war. 15 Years ago we found a jungle with overgrown fruit and nut trees, and we turned it into a beautiful edible landscape where guests have been enjoying camping holidays ever since.
For us, permaculture is an inspiring way to design our land and life in a sustainable way. Growing a lot of our food, staying healthy with home grown herbal remedies (teas, oils, tinctures) and natural building techniques is part of that.
We love to use permaculture principles to develop our land and our lives. We take care of the earth, of the people around us and we love to share our knowledge, skills and good food from the garden.
In the afternoons you have time to work on your own designs, to explore the area or swim in the river
The games and activities were funny and attention keeping and very introspective and motivational - Eva
Facilitator
Barbara Scheltus has been working with permaculture ethics and principles for almost 20 years now. She designed for land and for life, teaches people how to bring permaculture into practise and how to design for personal and social issues.
Barbara works with Looby Macnamara ("People and Permaculture"), Chris Evans, Tomas Remiarz and Delvin Solkinson. She learned also from international teachers like Rosemary Morrow, Mark Shepard, Rakesh and Taco Blom.
Barbara lives with her family on permaculture farm Bogata Šuma in Croatia. They live almost food-self sufficient, have hosted over 350 volunteers over the last 15 years. Recently they have setup a Country Life Academy and now they are growing a village on their hill top.
The group culture was absolutely safe. It was full of richness, listening and growing through each other. We grew bonds and ties forever.
I usually learn by experience. I have enjoyed all of the activities and gained a lot of insights through fun!
When: Monday 14 - Friday 18 September 2026
Where: permaculture farm Bogata Šuma, Vojnic, Croatia
€ 550,- bursary support
€ 475,- normal price
€ 400,- low waged, under 18 or over 70, or from former Yugoslavia
€ 100,- when you volunteer here afterwards for 3 weeks or more
The price includes all tuition, breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and a camping spot or a bed in a (2-persons) room.
Bring a friend and get 25% off
Meals are also available before or after the course, or for friends or family members that come with you.
Breakfast: € 10,-
Lunch: € 12,50
Dinner: € 15,-
(reduced prices for kids)
More information: barbara@bogatasuma.com or call +385 (0)95 5555 677
Barbara is so passionate about what she was teaching and her way to teach something is so simple and easy to understand. With lots of smart and on-topic games! I loved it!