Explore the Natural Building Movement: For more information about other events in the natural building movement visit www.naturalbuildingnetwork.org.

Friends of Kleiwerks International are leading the following events:

• Permaculture Internship in Asheville, NC, August 10 - October 28
• Thailand Natural Building Internship
• Thailand Crash Course
• Argentina Natural Building Practicum, May 13 - Jun 13

North Carolina: Permaculture Internship

Argentina: Natural Building Practicum
1-month Hands-On Immersion
May 13 - June 13, 2010
Casa Tierra , San Francisco del Monte de Oro, San Luis, Argentina

Our group of 4 participants, 2 skilled facilitators, and 2 collaborators will build, live, learn, cook, eat, and play together for 30 days in the village setting of San Francisco del Monte de Oro.  We are surrounded by beautiful rivers, hills and forests.

Hands-on techniques
    Foundations: stone and bag
    Materials: identification and mixing techniques
    Walls: adobe, wattle and daub, cob
    Adobe arches and vaults (Lak’a Uta)
    Finishes: plaster and paints
    Practical learning about running a workshop

Click here for details on this Natural Building Practicum.

"Get Grounded" A Crash Course on Sustainable Living
February 11-20. 2011

Pun Pun Sustainable Living Learning Center and Seed Center
Chiang Mai , Northern Thailand

Come join us for this short internship program on sustainable living techniques.  We will together through hands-on instruction learn how to use the techniques we use at our farm and how to put these into practice in your everyday life. 

In this 10-day workshop we will cover the stages in natural building, earthen plasters, and homemade clay paints, organic gardening including making your own compost and liquid micro-organism fertilizers, traditional and new natural health techniques, making products, and a 2-day study trip to other sustainable living projects in the area.

Thai organic farmer/earthen builder Jon Jandai and partner Peggy Reents, along with other members of their community, will lead you through experiencing living in a more self-reliant manner, connected with nature around us.  Experience living in community with Thai and international members, eating homemade healthy delicious meals, and getting your hands dirty!

Click here for more information on the workshop and how to register or visit our website at www.punpunthailand.org

PUN PUN INTERNSHIP
An in-depth experience in hands-on earthen building, organic gardening, seed saving, and community living.
November 1-December 27, 2010

Pun Pun Sustainable Living Learning Center and Seed Center
Chiang Mai , Northern Thailand This is our sixth year offering the program which improves every year.  The 8-week internship will be a combination of organic gardening techniques, earthen building, appropriate technology, and self-reliant living techniques. We will learn all of these together through hands-on projects with each. Interns will learn the organic gardening techniques we use at Pun Pun through use on their own experiential garden beds and making compost and cultivating micro-organisms themselves. Interns will learn earthen building techniques by building together a structure and learning all of the stages involved in building your own earthen home. Interns will also get the opportunity to be involved in aspects of living in a community in Thailand and other cultural and sustainable living related practices.

It is an opportunity to learn through doing where interns will learn the techniques we use while actively applying them to projects at the farm. It is also a chance to live with other like-minded Thai and international folks as well as meet various interesting visitors to the farm.

Click here for more information on the internship and how to register or look on our website at www.punpunthailand.org

6 Weekends: Permaculture Design Certification Course Practical solutions for creating a sustainable world!   Early bird and group discounts available. Dates: 3rd weekend of every month; June thru November, 2009;  June 19, 20, 21; July 17, 18, 19; August 15, 16; September 19, 20; October 17, 18; November 21, 22 Location: Ashevillage Institute (AVI), Asheville, NC Instructors: Patricia Allison, Shawn Jadrnicek, Chuck Marsh, Rudy Ballentine & other guests Fee: $100 per day (14 days total = $1,400) includes tuition & materials Contact & Registration: info@ashevillage.org, 828.279.1955   In this time of Peak Oil, climate crisis, and the need for individual and community empowerment, Permaculture offers real solutions we can put into practice NOW. This course is for community leaders, teachers, builders, architects, developers, city planners, activists, students, and anyone looking to live more sustainably... In this course you will learn the principles and practices of Permaculture, an ecological design system for creating abundant regenerative human habitats. Permaculture combines ancient wisdoms with scientific knowledge to help you disengage from consumer culture and begin creating a sustainable future for yourself and the planet. This Permaculture Certification Course is an extensive learning experience presented by a team of instructors, using lecture, discussion, hands-on projects, demonstrations, videos, site visits and student presentations. Students receive a Permaculture Design certificate upon completion. Click here for more information  about the course .

2 Days: Wild Food & Fermentation Workshop Dates: August 5 & 6, 2009 Instructors: Sandor Katz (author of 'Wild Fermentation' & 'The Revolution Will Not be Microwaved') & Frank Cook Location: Ashevillage Institute (AVI), Asheville, NC Fee: $200 includes tuition, materials & lunch Contact & Registration: info@ashevillage.org, 828.279.1955 Come participate in a cultural revolution! Wild fermentation is a way of incorporating the wild into your body, becoming one with the natural world. Wild foods possess a great, unmediated life force which can help us adapt to shifting conditions and lower our susceptibility to disease. Microorganisms are everywhere, and the techniques for fermenting with them are simple and flexible. In this workshop, we will spend time walking outdoors, getting to know local plants, harvesting edibles and medicinals, and together we will make sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, kombucha, herbal elixir meads, miso and much more. You will leave with your own bubbling ferments. Come and join us! Click here for complete registration information and workshop specifics. 3 Days: Timber Framing Workshop Dates: August 21-23, 2009 Instructors: Steveo Brodmerkel & Ira Friedrichs Location: Ashevillage Institute (AVI), Asheville, NC Fee: $300 includes tuition & materials Contact & Registration: info@ashevillage.org, 828.279.1955  In this introductory workshop, you will gain practical timber framing skills.  Learn  theory, technique, construction, timber selection & conversion, design, lay-out, cutting, joinery, assembly, frame erection, tool use and safe work practices.  Your learning experience will include hands-on, demonstration, slideshow & lecture.  Click here for complete registration information and workshop specifics.   2 Days: Bee-Keeping Workshop Dates : August 29 & 30, 2009 Instructors : Shawn Jadrnicek  & Cailen Campbell Location : Ashevillage Institute (AVI) , Asheville, NC Fee : $200 includes tuition & materials Contact & Registration: info@ashevillage.org, 828.279.1955  Look inside the hive and learn the magic and mystery of the honey-bee, with whom our lives are so intertwined. Gain the confidence to start your own bee colony.  Learn: what's needed to start and maintain a hive; honey, pollen & propolis harvesting; basic honey bee biology; over-wintering hives; hive health; diseases & enemies...PLUS --> Making meads, cordials & other honey elixirs. Click here for complete registration information and workshop specifics. 5 Days: Natural Building Workshop Dates: September 9-13, 2009 Instructors: Steveo Brodmerkel & Janell Kapoor (of Kleiwerks), Mollie Curry & Steve Kemble (of MudStrawLove) Location: Ashevillage Institute (AVI), Asheville, NC Fee: $500 includes tuition & materials Contact & Registration: info@ashevillage.org, 828.279.1955 In this workshop you will gain practical natural building skills in adobe, cob, wattle & daub, slipstraw, earthen wall finishes, arch building, wood interface, passive solar design and more.  You will be guided by some of the country's leading instructors, who together have an accumulation of over 45 years experience.  Demonstrations, lectures, slideshows, a field trip and plenty of hands-on building will be part of your learning experience.   Click here for complete registration information and workshop specifics.   3 Days: Natural Building Workshop Dates: September 24-26, 2009 Instructors: Steveo Brodmerkel & Janell Kapoor  Location: Ashevillage Institute (AVI), Asheville, NC Fee: $300 includes tuition & materials Contact & Registration: info@ashevillage.org, 828.279.1955 Gain practical natural building skills in adobe, cob, wattle & daub, earthen wall finishes, passive solar design and more.  You will be guided by some of the country's leading instructors through demonstrations, lectures, slideshows and plenty of hands-on experience while working on real projects.   Click here for complete registration information and workshop specifics.   2 Days: Backyard Sustainability Workshop Dates: October 3 & 4, 2009 Instructors: Shawn Jadrnicek & guests Location: Ashevillage Institute (AVI), Asheville, NC Fee: $200 includes tuition & materials Contact & Registration: info@ashevillage.org, 828.279.1955 This is an intro workshop to the tricks of the trade of urban homesteading. Learn what it takes to get yourself set up with: chickens, shitake mushroom production, honey bees, growing red worms, bats and bat poop, fish ponds, greywater, rain catchment and more.  Our instructor, Shawn Jadrnicek, is a genius when it comes to integrated home and yard design.  He'll guide you, step-by-step, on how he set up the new systems at AVI over the past several months so that you can see it all in action.  This workshop will empower you to do it in your own backyard!   Click here for complete registration information and workshop specifics. 2 Days: Urban Aquaculture Workshop Dates: October 12 & 13, 2009 Instructors: Shawn Jadrnicek Location: Ashevillage Institute (AVI), Asheville, NC Fee: $200 includes tuition & materials Contact & Registration: info@ashevillage.org, 828.279.1955 Aquaculture is an incredible way to cultivate local, high protein foods, such as talapia, bass, red clawfish and aquatic plants, while recycling and purifying rain water.  In this workshop, we will focus on maximizing urban food production using water-based systems.  You will learn the basics of water catchment & quality, life cycles, integration of animals and fungi into systems, aquaponics, biofiltration, stocking, pond construction, harvesting, aquatic plants, pumps and more.  Small pond, canal, tub and hydroponic design, construction and management will be highlighted so you can replicate these practices into your own landscape.  A small hands-on project will help you work out the kinks in the company of an expert.  Click here for complete registration information and workshop specifics.   2 Days: Natural Building Workshop Dates: October 14 & 15, 2009 Instructors: Steveo Brodmerkel & Janell Kapoor (Kleiwerks) Location: Ashevillage Institute (AVI), Asheville, NC Fee: $200 includes tuition & materials Contact & Registration: info@ashevillage.org, 828.279.1955 Gain practical natural building skills in adobe, cob, wattle & daub, earthen wall finishes, passive solar design and more.  You will be guided by some of the country's leading instructors through demonstrations, lectures, slideshows and plenty of hands-on experience while working on real projects.   Click here for complete registration information and workshop specifics. 2 Days: Rainwater & Greywater Catchment Workshop Dates: November 6 & 7, 2009 Instructors:  Shawn Jadrnicek & Steveo Brodmerkel Location: Ashevillage Institute (AVI), Asheville, NC Fee: $200 includes tuition & materials Contact & Registration: info@ashevillage.org, 828.279.1955 Learn the art of catching, storing and using rainwater, greywater and stormwater resources.  From passive rain gardens to tanks, ponds, canals and tubs, this workshop will teach you how to maximize rainwater use in your landscape, food production and household systems.  Greywater will also be explored with a look at the current legal status and branched drain systems used in other states.  We will explore AVI's newly set-up systems, do a hands-on project and learn from lectures and slidshows.  You will leave the workshop with enough knowledge to be able to set up your own system.  Click here for complete registration information and workshop specifics.

2 Days: Natural Finishes, Earthen Plasters & Clay Paints Dates: November 13 & 14, 2009 Instructors: Mollie Curry & Steve Kemble of MudStrawLove Location: Ashevillage Institute (AVI), Asheville, NC Fee: $200 includes tuition & materials Contact & Registration: info@ashevillage.org, 828.279.1955 Greener than green...Learn how to make and apply your own beautiful, customized, totally eco-friendly plasters and paints with clay, sand and other organic materials. Create textured finishes; trouble shoot for various surfaces; play with color options -- while actually practicing on real walls. By the end of the workshop, you will have enough information and techniques to make your own clay-based plasters and paints and you will leave with your own sample board. Click here for complete registration information and workshop specifics. 2 Days: Transition Town Training Dates: December, TBA Instructors: Transition Town Trainers, TBA Location: Ashevillage Institute (AVI), Asheville, NC Fee: $250  Contact & Registration: info@ashevillage.org or 828.279.1955 Click here for complete registration information and workshop specifics.

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