Earthworks
for Resilience

Why is this Training so Important?

With increasing land degradation coupled with the onset of climate change and associated increases in temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and further climate variability, the importance of strengethening the resilience of our agroecosystem through hydrological stabilization and ecological revitalization is essential. To be more resilient, land degredation needs to be reversed and the sustaining ecologies restored requires environmental literacy, ecological engineering and in-depth community understanding of their land use practices. This training is two-fold, 1) it will share practical theory of change of how to evaluate landscapes, assess and design for hydrological stabilization and, 2) it will walk the participants through the process of implementing multiple types of rainwater harvesting earthworks and how to link and manage them for maximum hydrological benefit to turn floods into food.

Participants will learn to use a design framework to strengthen local relationships between the people, landform, ecological patterns, soil, nutrient flows, and water through enhanced land design and agroecosystem understanding. Through observing natural influences and applying agro-ecological principles, these design methodologies will assist field staff, engineers, and community leaders in designing together stable and productive landscapes.

This six-day training, based on the resilience design framework developed on on well-established restoration and landscape stabilization principles for those working in infrastructure and agriculture. Participants will learn key theoretical concepts, the supporting science, field engineering techniques of key rainwater harvesting structures and how to practically apply what they have learned into a model block farm design in a hands-on format. Participants will have a mix of classroom time, peer-to-peer sharing, curriculum reinforcing activities, practicum, community facilitation and reflection.

The target audience for this course are agricultural, DRR, and engineering agency staff, refugee/IDP camp management, and government officials. This course has been developed over the past fifteen years to address severe land degradation by sharing easily learnable techniques for agricultural stabilization through ecological stabilization. Warren Brush, the lead facilitator on this training, is a co-developer of the Resilience Design Framework.
Learning Objectives
  • Knowledge of Resilience Design (RD) and how this methodology can be applied to hydrological stabilization earthworks to reverse land degradation at different scales.
  • Identify rainwater flows that effect a specific site to create a whole system design to utilize those resources rather than them causing erosion. Essentially, turning floods into food.
  • Learn how to use key survey tools, like a laser level and an A-Frame, in the field for surveying contour and slope and better understanding the flows of water through a landscape
  • Knowledge on how to engineer low-cost earthen structures that slow, spread, sink, and save rainwater and nutrient flows associated with agriculture and pastoral applications; This includes designing and implementing earthen water storages (small dams) linked with catchment increasing bioswales
  • How to locate and construct small earthen dams on ridges and contours and out of high valley flows for safety, longevity and for hydrating dryer areas
  • Understanding of the Resilience Design approach in practice to integrate planting techniques to increase the effectiveness of the earthworks and promote perennial stability through creating a living root net
  • Gain hands-on knowledge on how to work with community labor to assist in regenerating an agroecosystem
  • Greater understanding of how to build community and ecological capacity to better help in adaptation to a changing climate, degrading landscapes and subsequent resource depletion.

Rainwater Harvesting Earthworks Training

Dates - 6-day course:
July 7 – July 12, 2025

Price: $2300 includes: Training instruction, training materials, certification, accommodation, full board, travel from accommodation to training site. Limited scholarships available for local participation.

Day 1: Opening & introductions, rainwater harvesting principles
Day 2: Earthworks planning process, design site introduction
Day 3: Travel to field site, community orientation and site assessment
Day 4: Field sessions: surveying, construction and quality control
Day 5: Field sessions: construction projects and structure evaluation
Day 6: Key points of learning, review, and evaluations
See Agenda

To Register: Email amber@africanwomenrising.org. Space is limited, we encourage early registration to guarantee space.

Warren Brush

Facilitator Team

Warren Brush, the lead facilitator on this training, is a co-developer of the Resilience Design Framework.  Co-facilitators include Andrew Ebic from the Danish Refugee Council and Patrick Olanya from African Women Rising.
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Warren Brush
Warren Brush is a global resilience design consultant, educator, lecturer, scientist and implementer. He has worked for over 30 years in agroecological and regenerative land based design for communities, private and public organizations, households, farms, governments and conservation properties worldwide. He is co-founder of Quail Springs Permaculture and Resilience Design Consulting, his private consulting firm. He is a co-developer of the Resilience Design toolkit developed within USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs (BHA) which has been implemented in over 25 countries around the world with over 54 different global and community-based organizations, including in projects with the United Nations (IOM, WFP, UNEP, FAO). He is currently working as a consultant and trainer on various food security projects around the globe with international and regional NGO’s, governments, and community organizations. He regularly teaches the Resilience Design Trainer of Trainers certification course, Earthworks for Resilience courses and other trainings at Lok Neno, a regenerative agriculture demonstration, training and research center in Palabek Refugee Camp he co-developed with African Women Rising.

Contact- www.permaculturedesign.us
or write: warrenbrush@mac.com

Websites:
www.permaculturedesign.us
www.quailsprings.org
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Warren Brush
Warren Brush is a global resilience design consultant, educator, lecturer, and implementer. He has worked for over 30 years in agroecological education and regenerative system design for communities, private and public organizations, households, farms, and conservation properties worldwide.  He is co-founder of Quail Springs Permaculture and True Nature Design, his private consulting firm. He is also a member of the USAID’s SCALE technical  program funded through the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) where he helped to develop the Resilience Design Framework and Permagarden Approach.  He is currently working as a consultant on various food security projects around the globe with international and regional NGOs, governments, and community organizations.
Olanya Patrick, AWR Agriculture Coordinator, is a pioneer of the permagarden approach and a co-designer of the Lok Neno site and a lead trainer with African Women Rising.
Andrew Ebic is a Water Engineering Professional with extensive experience in climate resilience, water resources management, and regenerative agriculture.
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Andrew Ebic
Andrew Ebic is a Water Engineering Professional with extensive experience in climate resilience, water resources management, and regenerative agriculture. Currently leading environmental resilience initiatives under the Uganda Refugee Resilience Initiative (URRI), Andrew has worked with Danish Refugee Council (DRC), the World Food Programme (WFP), and various humanitarian organizations, designing and implementing sustainable water, agriculture, and landscape restoration projects in refugee-hosting communities. Holding a Master’s in Irrigation and Drainage Engineering from Busitema University, he specializes in resilience design, climate-smart agriculture, and sustainable land management. Andrew has trained government officials, humanitarian actors, and community facilitators in regenerative food systems and resilience design while integrating nature-based solutions into humanitarian and development projects. His expertise in watershed management, and climate adaptation strategies ensures impactful, long-term environmental solutions.
Thomas Cole
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