Transition Oamaru and Waitaki District's annual Sustainable Skills Summer School starts on Saturday and will run until February 5.
Tutor and school founder Marie Grunke said the programme had grown a great deal since the school, now in its seventh year, first started.
``We started with a three-fold flyer and now we've got a booklet with over 60 courses.''
The school emerged from the Natural Heritage Society of Oamaru which began in 1999.
A group of people decided to take action when it was becoming clear there was a chance genetically modified food could enter the system and corporations could take power away from farmers over what could be produced and how, she said.
Raised on a farm in Northern Queensland, Mrs Grunke, now of Oamaru, wanted to do something that protected people's rights to knowledge about how to produce their own food.
``I'm a farm girl. I learned all things sustainable from my relatives on the farm. I just think we farmers should find a way to be sustainable again because we handed over our farming model to the corporate world. It's not sustainable any more.''
Where she grew up, there were small-scale farms and the community would work together sharing knowledge and
the workload.
``My passion is not to lose it for this generation. I have a 24-year-old granddaughter and I want her to inherit some of my basic life skills I learned on the farm.''
The courses on offer at the summer school are varied and cover everything from how to set up a business to health and wellbeing. There is also furniture building, how to make compost, garden design, biodynamics and beekeeping.
Co-ordinator Melissa Pronk said the annual event proved to be a favourite for many people across all age groups.
``The older generation enjoys sharing the skills that have been lost to technology like making bread and cheese.''
Miss Pronk believed the sustainability movement was growing locally which could only be a positive as it taught people self-reliance and ``resilience''.
``Resilience is similar to self-reliance. In the face of economic crisis we can be together to help each other.
``It's about being prepared. It's about teaching children to grow food and stay active.
``We show people how to make good compost. We deal with health and wellbeing courses which is a real integral part of this summer school. Community health is important. It's important to everybody.''
