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Since 1998, Kleiwerks International and affiliates have provided more than 200 hands-on trainings, start-to-finish Natural Building workshops; permaculture certification courses; sustainability leadership programs; internships; public presentations and sponsorship of related events to people of diverse social, economic and cultural backgrounds from over 30 countries. Our events vary from 1-day to 6-months.

Sustainability Workshops Series
At The Ashevillage Institute (AVI)
Participate in the whole series, or just one!
Discounts are available if you register for all.
Residential Rainwater & Greywater Harvesting Workshop -- April 24 & 25
Bee-Keeping Workshop -- May 29 & 30
Natural Building Workshop -- June 26 & 27
Wild Food & Fermentation Workshop -- July 24 & 25
TBA -- August 28 & 29
TBA -- September 25 & 26
Natural Finishes Workshop - Earthen Plasters & Paints -- October 23 & 24

7-Weekend Permaculture Certification Course
At The Ashevillage Institute (AVI)
Running the last weekend of every month from April thru October.
April 25th eve - 27th
May 30th eve - June 1st
June 27th eve - 29th
July 25th eve - 27th
August 29th eve - 31st
September 26th eve - 28th
October 24th eve - 26th
Click here for detailed information about this event.

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. Permaculture Certification Course - 7 Weekends Practical solutions for creating a sustainable world! Dates: The last Sat & Sun of every month (with optional Fri evening), April thru October Hosted by: The Ashevillage Institute (AVI) Location: Downtown Asheville in a residential neighborhood Fee: $1,400 Info/register: Contacat Kimchi Rylander at AVI@kleiwerks.org, or call 828.225.8820 Instructors: Patricia Allison + an outstanding team of national and local guest presenters, including Brad Lancaster, Mark Lakeman, Lydia Doleman, Janell Kapoor, Chuck Marsh, Kelly Brown, and more. This course will introduce you to the essential principles and practices of Permaculture, an ecological design system for creating abundant regenerative human habitats. Permaculture principles combine ancient wisdoms with scientific knowledge as a tool kit 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 as teaching tools. Students receive a Permaculture Design certificate upon completion. Click here for detailed information about this event.

2-Day Residential Rainwater & Greywater Harvesting Workshop Dates: April 24 & 25, 2008 Instructors: Brad Lancaster (author of 'Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond') Location: The Ashevillage Institute (AVI) in Asheville, North Carolina Contact: AVI@kleiwerks.org; 828.225.8820 Cost: $150, includes materials "Don't miss this chance to learn from author and visiting superstar of permaculture, rainwater and greywater harvesting. Brad Lancaster is one of the most exceptional presenters I've ever seen, worthy of everyone's attention!" - Janell Kapoor, Founder of Kleiwerks Turn water scarcity into water abundance! As development grows, formerly vegetated and porous earthen watersheds are paved over and made impervious. This urban phenomenon creates scarcity by dehydrating landscapes, increasing downstream flooding, increasing the heat island effect, and creating sterile living environments. However, many of these negative effects can be reversed. This workshop will empower you to turn water scarcity into water abundance at home, in your neighborhood, and beyond. Learn guiding principles and practical tools to welcome rainwater and greywater into your life and landscape. Through lecture, demonstration, and hands-on, we will overview rainwater and greywater harvesting collection systems, concepts, and practices, as well as design and install a residential rainwater and greywater system. You WILL leave this workshop with the ability and resources to install your own system. Brad will have his books available to sign. Click here for complete registration information and workshop specifics.

2-Day Bee-Keeping Workshop Dates: May 29 & 30, 2008 Instructors: Chris Mathis (of the WNC Bee School & The Spicewood Farm) Location: The Ashevillage Institute (AVI) in Asheville, North Carolina Contact: AVI@kleiwerks.org; 828.225.8820 Cost: $150 Go inside the hive with Chris Mathis, our local bee-keeping expert, and learn about the magic and mystery of the honey-bee, with whom our lives are so intertwined. Did you know that approximately one out of every three bites we take, we can thank a honey bee for? Stewardship of the honey bees is one of the most important things we can do to secure our food supply, especially in a time when they are being threatened by pests, disease, climate change, and other forces. The good news is that WNC is blessed with the flora, agriculture, and bee-keepers who are doing their part to keep the honey bees alive, but more bee-keepers are needed! In this workshop, you will learn the essentials of starting and maintaining your own hives, including the time, money, materials, siting, and timing of bee-keeping; hive health; honey harvesting; wooden ware construction; and basic honey bee biology. Lecture, hands-on demonstration, and educational materials will be provided to maximize your success as a steward of the bees. Click here for complete registration information and workshop specifics.

2-Day Natural Building Workshop Dates: June 26 & 27, 2008 Instructors: Steve Brodmerkel (Kleiwerks), Janell Kapoor (Kleiwerks), Mark 'mocean' Lakeman (City Repair & Communitecture), and Lydia Doleman (City Repair & Flying Hammer Production) Location: The Ashevillage Institute (AVI) in Asheville, North Carolina Contact: AVI@kleiwerks.org; 828.225.8820 Cost: $150, includes materials The instructor team alone, is worth being at this workshop, not to mention the fun of gettin' down and dirty! The conventional building industry, and all of us who are part of it, are responsible for 40% of: the world's energy usage, material goods on the market, and landfill dumping...that's nearly half of the planet's destruction!!! Meanwhile, there are accessible, local, long-lasting, abundant, renewable, affordable, healthy solutions. In this workshop, you can expect hands-on projects, demonstrations, lectures, and very inspiring slideshows...all about building with earth, straw, and community. Topics include: adobe, cob, wattle & daub, natural finishes, passive solar hybrid building, code issues...and real hands-on building projects. Click here for complete registration information and workshop specifics.

2-Day Wild Food & Fermentation Workshop Dates: July 24 & 25, 2008 Instructors: Sandor Katz (author of 'Wild Fermentation' & 'The Revolution Will Not be Microwaved') & Frank Cook Location: The Ashevillage Institute (AVI) in Asheville, North Carolina Contact: AVI@kleiwerks.org; 828.225.8820 Cost: $150, includes lunch 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.

2-Day Workshop: TBA Dates: August 28 & 29, 2008 Instructors: TBA Location: The Ashevillage Institute (AVI) in Asheville, North Carolina Contact: AVI@kleiwerks.org; 828.225.8820 Cost: $150, includes lunch Information coming soon.

2-Day Workshop: TBA Dates: September 25 & 26, 2008 Instructors: TBA Location: The Ashevillage Institute (AVI) in Asheville, North Carolina Contact: AVI@kleiwerks.org; 828.225.8820 Cost: $150, includes lunch Information coming soon.

Natural Finishes: Earthen Plasters & Clay Paints Dates: October 23 & 24, 2008 Instructors: Meka Bunch Location: The Ashevillage Institute (AVI) in Asheville, North Carolina Contact: AVI@kleiwerks.org; 828.225.8820 Cost: $150; includes materials Greener than green...Learn how to make and apply your own beautiful, customized, totally eco-friendly, organic plasters and paints for interior and exterior walls. Create textured finishes; make and apply casein washes; trouble shoot for various surfaces; play with sculpting. 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.

An Affiliate event THAILAND Pun Pun Internship Pun Pun farm, Chiang Mai, Thailand An in-depth experience in hands-on earthen building, organic gardening, seed saving, and community living. November 8, 2008 - January 16, 2009 Pun Pun organic farm, sustainable living learning center and seed center, Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand This year Pun Pun will be offering a 10-week internship program to individuals interested in getting an in-depth, hands-on experience in particular organic gardening including seed saving, earthen building, and community living. 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

An Affiliate event COLORADO, USA "Build with Us" Natural Building Workshop Jefferson, Colorado, USA Come learn to build your own truly natural, sustainable, affordable, beautiful home at this 4-day workshop. August 1-4, 2008 Acclaimed Thai organic farmer/earthen builder Jon Jandai and Coloradoan Peggy Reents will teach various natural building techniques using local, readily available materials. They have been leaders in the natural building movement in Thailand for years and are now starting a sustainable living learning center and home in Jefferson, Colorado. Learn through building yourself from basic sustainable design principles, selecting clay, making adobe bricks, building walls from various earthen techniques, earthen plasters for earthen and strawbale walls, to natural homemade paints and finishes. Click here for more information on the workshop and how to register

An Affiliate event THAILAND Sustainability Study Trip Northeastern to Northern Thailand A personal study trip exchanging and staying with leaders in the sustainability movement in Thailand including a grassroots look at organic farming, earthen building, fair trade, traditional medicine, community empowerment, and self-reliance. January 29 - February 9, 2009 Through our work in earthen building, organic farming, and community living we have established strong relationships with various groups at the forefront of this movement in Thailand. Each group is diverse in its target and implementation, yet all hold a common vision of empowering people to become self-reliant and sustainable. We invite you to come to learn from each of them by joining us on this study tour. In this unique event you will get a chance to exchange personally with leaders in the sustainability movement at a grassroots level that would be otherwise hard to access. Peggy Reents and Jo Jandai have both worked with these groups in supporting their development and can open access to interested folks by providing relationships and full translation. Come and learn together with us from their wisdom, experience and help support their work while also just having a really great time and experiencing Thailand! Click here for more information on the trip and how to register

Explore the Natural Building Movement.
For more information about events put on by others in the Natural Building movement visit www.naturalbuildingnetwork.org.

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