2 months to go till the annual 6 day ‘Dynamic Groups, Dynamic Learning’ Creative Facilitation, Teacher Training and Group Leadership Training. Fully residential with luscious catering ensures participants get the most out of this globally acclaimed professional development course for educators and group workers from a diversity of industries and professions.
Recent Posts
Dynamics Groups Testimonial Video
Testimonial Video from Robin Clayfield’s Dynamic Groups Course November 2015 at Crystal Waters Eco Village.
Further information on the Dynamic Groups Courses
Dynamic Group Activity – Explore Inputs and Outputs of a Group
Almost all of us work, create, meet, play, volunteer or live in groups of some kind. They might be environmental groups, political branches, and local interest or lobby groups. They may be sporting teams, work places, families or housing buddies. Learning, teaching or facilitation teams, exercise classes and school grades are all groups with their own special features. Think about a group that you spend most time with or that you’re very passionate about or intimately connected to in some way.

Then do this simple activity of brainstorming all the things you put into the group on one side of a page and all that you receive from being part of the group on the other side, a little like the photographic example.
You could also do this activity for the group as a whole. What are all the energies, resources, skills, needs, money, time, legalities, support etc that go into the group and what outputs does the group have – products, services, social values, learnings, waste, empowerments, employments etc.
This may bring some additional perspective to your involvement with the group and even provide valuable insight to enable change, growth or more positivity or problem solving.
This is an example of some of the kinds of activities in Robin’s upcoming ‘Dynamic Teaching and Facilitation’ book. Enjoy! Each e-news will endeavour to provide an activity that is aimed at supporting more successful and dynamic group work.
Advanced Permaculture Teacher Training course
An exciting one off opportunity to deepen teaching skills related to Permaculture while in WA for the APC (Australasian Permaculture Convergence). 10th to 14th October
Presenters will be Rowe Morrow and Robin Clayfield. A few guests, including Ross Mars and David Holmgren, will give you their teaching tips.
This five-day course covers the whole range of learning and teaching styles and strategies to enable you to have confidence about teaching and facilitating many of the permaculture-related courses that are on offer. The course will include outlines for Intro, PDC’s, Advanced courses and Accredited Permaculture Training. Sessions will be run on lesson plans, facilitation techniques, teaching resources (tool kit), course organisation and public speaking, and much more.
‘Dynamic Groups, Dynamic Learning’ courses

Following successful ‘Dynamic Groups, Dynamic Learning’ courses in UK last August and Melbourne in February, Robin will offer her only other Dynamic Groups course for the year at Crystal Waters in SE Qld from 21st to 26th August. With taking time out to write and a big trip to WA in October for the APC13 (Australasian Permaculture Convergence), Robin’s decided to wait till her UK and Europe adventure in mid 2017 to run any more of these creative teachers facilitation courses. The Europe tour is taking shape with courses already confirmed in Mallorca (Spain), Italy and Slovenia and quite possibly Switzerland, Germany, UK, Portugal and maybe France and Israel. Wow! It’s looking like a big year next year for Dynamic Groups work.
Click here to see the poster for ‘Dynamic Groups, Dynamic Learning’ Course 21st to 26th August
Social Permaculture Expanding Across the Globe

Being part of the five person facilitation team for the Social Permaculture course in the UK was a major highlight of Robin’s whole year. Months of planning and Skype meetings across five countries saw the group find their flow and direction together and create the bones of the program. The Sustainability Centre in Hampshire was the perfect Permaculture venue and many people camped and enjoyed the surrounding woods. Here’s a few definitions of Social Permaculture by some of the facilitators.
Starhawk
- “Preparing people to step into positions of power and leadership
- “Social Permaculture is creating new sets of principles and guidelines for groups”
- The art of social permaculture and facilitating groups is to be aware on as many levels as possible of what is happening under the surface
- The goal of social permaculture is to bring tools and skills to communities impacted by the most destruction or do not have access”
Robin Clayfield

- “Social Permaculture supports people care and healthy group culture and uses our Permaculture principles and applies them to social design and social situations”
Looby Macnamara
- “Social permaculture is about design, principles and ethics
- Relating things specifically to this
- How we can use a design framework that is specifically catered to people based designs”
Robina McCurdy
- “Social Permaculture is the application of Permaculture Principles to the design of
sustainable social systems, for the creation a healthy, well-functioning society where all can thrive”
Click here to see the booklet produced from course materials and photos. Acknowledgements follow.
It’s Title is – Exploring Social Permaculture
Delvin’s Words – “Social Permaculture is a new wave of activism and inspiration pouring forth from permeable edges of the Permaculture Movement. Those surfing the wave of this evolution can cast an eye towards a hopeful future where all beings and things are cared for. It’s up to each of us to make a personal commitment and dedication to play our own part in co-creating the harmonic and healthy future, helping take Social Permaculture beyond the edge and into ‘the everything’.”
Collaborative Design – Dana S Wilson, Delvin Solkinson, Kym Chi, Annaliese Hordern
http://www.gaiacraft.com
Source Code –
Looby Macnamara http://loobymacnamara.com

Robin Clayfield https://dynamicgroups.com.au
Starhawk http://www.starhawk.org
Robina McCurdy http://www.earthcare-education.org
Peter Cow http://www.livingincircles.com
Photos – Dana Wilson http://www.gaiacraft.com
Text – Delvin Solkinson http://www.gaiacraft.com
Thanks to All Course Participants
Created on Location – The Sustainability Centre http://www.Sustainability-Centre.org
Since returning to Australia Robin facilitated a one day workshop on Social Permaculture in Melbourne and will offer a weekend Social Permaculture workshop with Robina McCurdy on 10th and 11th September when she’s over from NZ. Stay tuned to Robin’s website and FaceBook wall for details or express interest by emailing Robin. Click here.
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‘Dynamic Groups, Dynamic Learning’ annual Crystal Waters course in May this year
Robin’s annual and much appreciated creative teachers, facilitators and group leaders six day residential intensive course will be held from 19th to 24th May and will be a little warmer than the mid-winter course last year. The fire will still be going when needed and …
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Vision Tree Article to be Published in UK Magazine
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‘Living In Community’ Interview Series
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The Great Remembering
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Ruth’s ‘Dynamic Groups, Dynamic Learning’ Course Testimonial