The Green Apprenticeship program on Kibbutz Lotan is a practical training program in hands-on sustainable engineering, systems design and cooperative living. Students spend an intensive 4 weeks on Kibbutz Lotan, an intentional community in southern Israel, and are exposed to the challenges involved with the design, building and running of sustainable projects, linking together ecological, social, economical and cultural aspects into a unified whole. Practical skills are developed through hands-on work in our environmental education center, organic gardens and alternative/natural building projects, complemented by theoretical study of ecological construction, organic agriculture and sustainable engineering. At the end of the course participants receive an internationally recognized Permaculture Design Course certificate.
Students in the course live in the Eco-Campus – a prototype model for sustainable living that is a learning experience in itself. Living quarters are super-insulated straw-bale and earth plastered geodesic domes, built on-site by previous course participants. They are passive solar heated and use significantly less energy to cool in comparison to conventional buildings. Composting toilets and gray-water systems conserve water in this hyper-arid region. The low-impact communal environment encourages organic food preparation, sharing of talents and creative celebrations as part of the community building processes and are an integral part of the educational experience of the course.
Applications open for upcoming course 1-29 February 2016
The Kibbutz Lotan Center for Creative Ecology is a MAHB Node! Learn more about the Center here.
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