Lusi Alderslowe is a permaculture educator of adults and children: an author of the Children in Permaculture Manual, a Permaculture Design Course teacher, an outdoor maths specialist, co-founder of Children in Permaculture, Children in Permaculture qualified trainer of teachers, a senior tutor for the Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design, a Forest School Leader, a Branching Out Leader, a LAND/ScotLAND tutor, a Trainer of Teachers, and LGBTQ+. My business is a freelance social enterprise based on the permaculture ethics of earth care, people care and fair share..
Publications
Children in Permaculture Manual: https://eco-logicbooks.com/products/children-in-permaculture
Taking Maths Outdoors with your Child: https://owlscotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/DGOWL-Maths-online-version.pdf
Taking Literacy Outdoors with your Child: https://owlscotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/DGOWL-Lit-online-version.pdf
What I do:
- Teach permaculture-related training and courses including Introduction to Permaculture, Introduction to Engaging Children in Permaculture, Permaculture Design Certificates, Children in Permaculture Practitioners Courses, Permaculture Teacher Training and bespoke courses (e.g. family permaculture.
- Facilitate Practical Workshops e.g. build a herb spiral, design your own garden,
- Tutor for the Diploma in Applied Permaculture design, as a senior tutor.
- Coordinate and facilitate events and projects which promote permaculture with adults and/or children, including nature connection.
- Create resources for sharing permaculture and encouraging nature connection.
- Engage children and adults in opportunities to learn from nature including through Forest Schools, Branching Out (nature connection for mental health of adults), outdoor learning (e.g. maths, literacy and/or health and wellbeing).
Our vision is that humans are living in harmony with each other and nature, and all children can access an education based upon the ethics of earth care, people care and fair share.
Qualifications include:
- BSc in Psychology (1997)
- MSc in Human Ecology with Distinction (2004)
- Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design (2010)
- Training of Permaculture Teachers (2011)
- Forest School Leader/ Level 3 training with Lily Horseman (2013)
- Work that Reconnects Facilitator training
- Branching Out Leader training (2021)
- Senior Tutor Training – Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design (2023)
- and lots of short courses, such as LGBTQI+ inclusion training (2024), outdoor first aid, Campfire cooking (2024), ecofootprint Masterclass, PDC, food hygiene, ponds and wetlands etc..
Lusi is involved in various organisations locally and nationally, including Dumfries & Galloway Outdoor and Woodland Learning Group (DGOWL), a senior tutor of the Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design of the Permaculture Association, and a member of Propagate.
Lusi forages, gardens, keeps chickens, cooks, cycles, walks, organises events, makes things from wood, and loves our abundant and beautiful Earth. She has a fun, informative, participatory teaching style with lots of diversity.
Teaching experience has included:
- Permaculture Teacher Training with a focus on Children in Spain. Co-taught with Alfred Decker, Starhawk and Rosemary Morrow.
- Children in Permaculture Practitioners’ training co-taught with Gaye Amus. (2 times online, one time in Turkey).
- Introduction to Engaging Children in Permaculture Course (in 8 different locations from Aberdeenshire to Devon, and online 23 times)
- Permaculture Design Course (PDC) in Ecovillage Findhorn (7 times), Glasgow (14 times), Dumfries & Galloway (4 times), Ireland (2 times), Argyll (5), Fife
- PDC for Educators of Children (online x5)
- Family Permaculture Adventure at Anam Cara (2 times)
- Fun Outdoors – an after school forest school every week for 6 years
- Forest School – various programme of 6 weeks+ in schools, and weekend programmes at events (e.g. Green Party Conference)
- Gardening in Gatehouse School for 8 years with children of all ages
- Nurture in Nature – a playgroup for families in city parks weekly for 6 years
- Cassiltoun Housing Association Community Garden – working with children in an area of multiple deprivation for 2 years
- Green Classroom trainer in Gorgie City Farm, Edinburgh
- Branching Out Leader for 4 years in community woodlands, forests, and in a prison.
- Numerous introductory permaculture workshops from 1 hour to 2 days including in schools, community centres, online, community gardens, from inner city Glasgow to the Isle of Arran, from a natural building course in Mexico to a PDC in Tanzania.
- Keynote speeches at various events including the Permaculture Germany Annual Gathering in 2025.
Projects have included:
Dumfries & Galloway Outdoor and Woodland Learning (DGOWL) Group– Co-chair. In 2024-25 Coordinated a team and facilitating outdoor maths for children, and parents across Dumfries & Galloway – estimated to reach 5600 children. In 2023 the Maths Scotland Week project included teaching in schools whole classes of children (and their teacher(s); in nurseries children together with parents and staff; and teacher training in an after school ‘Twilight’ session for school and nursery staff to learn to teach maths outdoors. Outdoor learning project – training teachers in outdoor learning over 3 sessions focussed on outdoor maths, outdoor literacy and health and wellbeing.
Propagate Scotland – Dumfries & Galloway Community Food Network Coordinator – (West) visiting community food projects writing good food stories, and giving ongoing support.
Children in Permaculture (2014-2022) Lusi coordinated the international ‘Children in Permaculture’ project for the Permaculture Association (Britain) which was an Erasmus+ funded, sociocratically organised European project. We organised many events including a school exchange trip to visit permaculture projects in Romania; teacher training in UK and Slovenia with Carolyn Nuttal and Janet Millington; and many children in permaculture workshops. She wrote case studies, curriculum, session plans, hundreds of activities and a book about engaging children in permaculture. You can read it for free online, or purchase a book here.
Peace Garden in Twynholm Primary School – Working with all the school’s children we desgined a food forest with a circle of Hugel beds into which we planted fruit trees and underplanted with various herbs and other plants. At the centre is a peace pole from Allanton Peace Sanctuary declaring ‘May Peace Prevail on Earth’ in four languages. This is surrounded by 3 red tractor tyres to symbolise the International banner of Peace.
Alexandra Park Food Forest in Glasgow– Clem Sandison invited me to help her community to design an orchard in the park, which we did over a few sessions. The planting day was amazing, so many people from the East End of Glasgow came along from Muslim women with their children to older folk with their dogs, from a lady in high heels to a biker in sunglasses.
Gatehouse School – working with small groups of children in numerous projects from 2013-20, at the front of the school we planted fruit trees and underplanted them with other plants including soft fruit and herbs. We created a biodiverse, sensory, edible Peace Garden. We built an outdoor classroom, polytunnel, den-building area, planted many trees, created signage, grew lots of food, composted in a fantastic wormery, foraged food, cooked on a campfire, did lots of outdoor learning and more.
Auchencairn Link Park Food Forest – in 2014 the local community invited me to help them to design a forest garden within their community garden. The process of planting it all was recorded by Beechgrove Gardens TV during which permaculture got a mention on Scottish TV. 🙂
Forest Fun – an after school group running every week, whatever the weather, from February 2013 to June 2019. With funding from Awards for All, Scotmid and the Forestry Commission. This has been an amazing opportunity to take children to the forest to connect with nature from drinking birch sap straight from a tree to learning how to make fires, parents frequently comment on how wonderful it is for the children – and how the children then teach their parents!
Anam Cara’s Family Fun Permaculture Adventure a week of action-packed learning and playing two consecutive years.
Nurture in Nature – Co-founder and co-ordinator for 6 years. Wonderful outdoor playgroup – we met up twice a week whatever the weather in Glasgow Parks. It continued for over 10 years, connecting Glasgow’s children with nature for free.
Urban Roots (2010-12) – Garden Coordinator for Cassiltoun Housing Association Children’s Garden which is in an area of multiple deprivation. Gardening and bringing children from the local schools and nurseries into the garden to do permaculture and gardening activities.
Childminding – Developing understanding and caring for other people’s children in Glasgow. We spent a lot of time outdoors in local parks and our allotment in Glasgow.
The heavily discounted places available on our permaculture courses enables people on a very low income to learn about permaculture for the benefit of the people and the planet.
Lusi was interviewed about her work as a permaculture practitioner, this is written up as a case study on the KEEP website.
Examples of Permaculture Courses taught:
Permaculture Design Course (PDC) in Findhorn Ecovillage. A 2 week residential course embedded in the ecovillage. First was in 2021, once or twice each year. 2025 is the 7th PDC here. Lusi is the lead tutor, working with residents including Craig Gibson, Maria Cooper, Dell Horley, Katie Sharrock, Alan Watson-Featherstone,
Permaculture Design Course (PDC) in Glasgow – one weekend per month for 6 months. Coordinator and tutor from 2010 most years from 2010 to present. From 2023 this was half online and half in person.
Permaculture Design Course (PDC) in Dumfries & Galloway – 2015, 2023, 2024, 2025 – visiting different sites and learning the core content in theory (the first two years in village hall and from 2024 learning the theory online)
Permaculture Design Course (PDC) in Wicklow, Ireland (2 years, a 2 week residential)
Children in Permaculture Practitioners Course – Turkey (2019) – a 6 day course
Introduction to Engaging Children in Permaculture Course – 21 courses taught online from 2020-2024.
Permaculture Design Course for Educators of Children – taught on zoom one evening per week for 6 months.
Lusi Alderslowe 