Chaordic Institute Diploma System

there is a NingGroup for people interested in participating,

here: http://permainst.ning.com/group/dipint

another group for enrolled people will be added soon

Version 4 incorporates all the good points of Version 2 & 3 of the diploma but without some of their disadvantages - see History for brief update

Advantages

of combining all other versions:

1. it's not an 'either-or' system: you can be in ANY of the other systems and it can fit with this one - Integration rather than Separation - we're evolving!!  So its a wider platform where we can all meet and cooperate
2. it gives some serious low-Carbon options: tutors and peers can see your portafolio on the web, if you can easily go see them of course you can but you don't have to: your tutor/s and peers can be anywhere on the planet, you can design yourself a planetary diploma award presentation by presenting your diploma at a local PC group (or in your home) and invite others to participate via internet, you can simply ADD internet tools to anything you're already doing where it makes sense (for your pocket, for climate change, for your busy life, etc.)
3. most of the advantages of the Conference models even if you can't make it to conferences (which can be very elitist or exclusive: this is mostly about inclusion)
4. less delays: organisational bottlenecks - much more self-organized, you don't need to wait around for anyone to make decisions about your pathway or portafolio: just do it.  Eventually: whilst we get this organized (it's still being designed) there will be some delays of course, but if you find them, plse just help design how to avoid them!
5. a self-organising pool of Colleagues, Mentors and Tutors, limited only by your imagination.   Check the profiles of  experienced permaculture designers on the Chaordic Institute site (there will be a diplomats page soon), decide which has the wealth, breath or specific practical experience and CV that would most benefit your work, and just ask them: come to any arrangement that suits both of you and off you go.   Or you can join any of the set-tutors prepared by any of the other diploma pathway systems around the world (see listing here)
6. decrease consumption: NO paper or bulky foulders (which then very few people get to see ...) needed, save trees and resources (but only if you use existing resources: use a friend's / library's internet connection if you don't have one at home / work)
7. chaordic: NO centralising or decentralising structures - designed to be chaordic, and also to chaordicise existing networks (making fertile connections between any parts we find, uniting without forcing anything > helping to move us all up the evolutionary scale by integrating and transcending the existing structures
8. less expense - it will be much cheaper to run, eventually (in time, resources, money...).  As we set up more self-organising systems and incorporate the alternative currencies we're designing (eg Permis)
9. transparent methods (you get to design it with us, it's all documented on the web)
10. choose your tutors and peers for support group from a much larger (international) pool
11. transparent diploma standards (tutor and peer-assessment also open to view, no 'decisions behind closed doors' about what is or is not up to diploma standard)
12. more accessible to people who don't live anywhere near teachers, peers, etc.
13. simultaneously building your e-CV
14. you automatically get one extra challenging design to develop: how to present your portafolio is up to you but it will be counted as a design to be assessed (look at Design Criteria..)
15. .. and with some additional big benefits for the whole network, also: see below ..

Vision

• Combining all the advantages of the other versions of the Diploma, with as few as possible of the disadvantages, hopefully thus
• uniting disparate sides of the network but without standarising or centralising power (infact distributing power throughout the network by opening up the system
• students with multimedia diploma portafolios on the web,
• internationally peer assessed by any amount of designers,
• with multiple tutors (easily chosen by you from their CPI profiles and stated availability),
• with any amount of the content of your portafolio that you wish, open for perusal (by permies and non-permies alike, whatever you wanto stay private can do) to peruse and learn about permaculture design in practice (the process as well as the results)
• incorporating a new community currency for the PC network (Permies)
• .. add your own criteria / visions? ..
• ..
• ..
• can we make it even more multifunctional? (keep adding to this list!)

Diploma Evaluation

will be by the Conference Method (as in Version 2) but without the obligation to travel to a particular Conference (if you can afford to go to one it's great, but not obligatory)

Criteria

The clear (and also brilliantly designed) evaluation criteria from Version 3 designed to develop

1. Theory to Practice
2. Design Ability
3. Walking the Talk
4. Symmetry

Joining up

will be greatly amplified by the slight shift sideways to e-portafolios joining up with the already happening (but much less purpose-full or directed: 99% decentralized) growth of individual perma-publications on the web

As if that weren't all enough ...  having not only all the new wealth of (catalogued) permacuture content but also visible diploma standards out there totally in the open (as opposed to stored and assessed behind closed doors) AND over a long time (not just during the award event) ... will slowly bring on many other benefits, eg.

Benefits for the PC Network

1. more collective learning
2. more fertile connections (eg. meet other diploma students doing similar work to yours and collaborate), and
3. a steadily increasing and equalising + international diploma standards (with minimal bureocracy: a self-managing and upward regulating system)
4. chaordicising the network
5. incorporates and transcends (real evolution) all the other versions and so can potentially unite us more
6. growing standards of design .. (accelerating natural successions all over..)

You can discuss this design in the Ning Group