Where we are heading . . .

Our future plans can be grouped around four main themes.

1 To expand our course programme, and our ability to accommodate more courses.

Create Educational Trust independent of farm asset
Course programme built around core permaculture theme
Teach about food, health, energy, design, broadscale land design.
Work in partnership with more teachers to deliver courses
Consult about appropriate skills needed that we can teach
Fit District Heating system for whole farm.

2 To develop a good apprentice scheme, in conjunction with other organisations, providing an integrated ‘modular’ package.

Liaise with Soil Association, PC Assoc, CAT, Biodynamic Assoc etc
Develop volunteer programme building on previous work at Ragmans
Develop the range of skills we can pass on
Explore funding and accreditation opportunities

3 To remain ‘relevant’ to the local community, ie not a purely National training centre, but also providing facilities that may be essential as we face a world of depleting resources.

Develop CSA type organic veg scheme at Ragmans with educational element
Develop local training element of course programme
Encourage horizontal exchange of ideas locally (gardener to gardener etc)
Explore options for using Ragmans as ‘hub’ for local change
Work with Transition Forest to provide needed services

4 To continue our tradition of running micro enterprises alongside the training programme.

Develop mushroom enterprise beyond inoculated logs
Look at use of mushroom blocks for composting/carbon capture
Develop juice blends and try to reduce energy use of juicing plant
Add CSA to enterprises

We are approaching this process of change through an Integrated Land Use Design Plan. This is a participative method of planning pioneered by John Wilson, one of our advisors, who is guiding us through the process. As we learn this process of change, so essential for organisations facing resource depletion, we hope to train others as well. We will run an ILUD course in 2009 led by John Wilson.

The Context

Along with other pioneers, we helped develop many ideas such as Food Directories, Farmers Markets, Box Schemes, local food and Permaculture design throughout the early nineties up to the present day. Ragmans has earned its stripes as a dedicated long-standing player. Whilst relatively well known in alternative agriculture circles, we are now striving to spread ideas to a wider mainstream audience.

We find ourselves well placed to take our experiences to a wider audience. Climate Change has started to impact. Peak Oil has also been recognised in the Soil Association’s new stance to prepare the organic movement for the age of declining oil production. These twin threats bring a new relevance and urgency to the potential for Ragmans to demonstrate positive alternatives. Broadscale permaculture design is about resilient landscapes that can deal with flooding as well as drought.

There is a great need to re-skill people to help them practically and emotionally with a less secure future. Well designed land based systems that provide good quality local food give us hope and understanding rather than fear and ignorance.

We are keen at this point to reach out to key individuals to help reinterpret our work – we are not claiming expertise, but we do have experience, and the will to experiment on a broadscale. We are now engaged with the Soil Association exploring how resilient landscapes might look at a farm level and engaged in their apprenticeship scheme. We are also a key resource for the new social phenomenon that is Transition Towns. Ragmans is one of a handful of training establishments that can claim to have consistently developed the underlying principles of Transition.

This forms the backdrop to our commitment to expand and develop our work at Ragmans