WELCOME TO THE PERENNIAL CROPS & PRACTICES ONLINE COURSE!

 

COURSE ORIENTATION

 

Welcome! We are excited to be your guide through the wide-ranging world of agroforestry. Savanna Institute staff and collaborators have created and compiled a wealth of material describing what it means to practice agroforestry and regenerative agriculture, and we hope that these resources will help you launch projects of your own. The course has been designed to stand alone, but also works together in the suite of eight online courses that as a package culminate in helping you create a unique plan for your situation.

 

As you work through the content of the course(s), you will find videos, readings, and audio files linked throughout the text–these multimedia links are part of the content. Skipping over the multimedia content will result in missing much of the material and some critical points and discussion of the lessons.

 

One final point we want to make centers around the language we use in this course. Although this course is primarily geared towards beginning agroforesters, we intend it to work for a diversity of people and situations. Therefore, we purposefully refer to people as agroforesters, practitioners, stewards etc., recognizing that not all people interested in beginning agroforestry projects identify as a farmer. Some of you may be current farmers looking to add agroforestry to their operations, others of you may be looking to start farming someday, and yet others of you might prefer to operate in urban settings. We also welcome those wanting to learn more about agroforestry in order to teach others the benefits of agroforestry. Regardless, whether you’re looking to diversify your income or landscape, or to help and strengthen your community, agroforestry has a lot to offer.

 

So let’s get started!

 

Course Format

Here’s what you can expect in every course:

  • Introduction – This is your roadmap for the course. Check out the overview to get a head start on what will be covered in the course and how it will be broken into lessons, the essential questions, which help frame the content for each course, and the learning objectives, which define what you should expect to get out of the course.

 

  • Farmer voices – What better way to learn about agroforestry than from the people who are doing it! These sections will give you a chance to see, hear, or read what an experienced agroforester has to say. 

  • Content – The multimedia content of the lessons walk you through each of the topics covered in the course. The content includes the text within the course as well as linked videos, readings, images, and audio files scattered throughout. The multimedia links provide important context and critical discussions of the topics presented. Feel free to re-read, watch, and listen-to these links as much as you want!

  • Reflection questions – No busy work here! These questions will get you started thinking about how the lesson applies to your own work, dreams, or anywhere in between. 

 

  • Supplementary resources – Want to go above and beyond the course to learn more about a particular topic? Check out this section to take a deeper dive into the material covered. Some of the resources may be linked, and some resources you may need to acquire access to through a local library.