Courses | Sustainable Living Guide

SHARIFF ABDULLAH

DR. SHARIFF ABDULLAH is a consultant, author and advocate for inclusivity and societal transformation.

DR. SHARIFF ABDULLAH is a consultant, author and advocate for inclusivity and societal transformation. Shariff’s meta-vision and mission are simple: we can create a world that works for all beings. Shariff promotes heart-centered inclusivity, compassionate dialog, and a society based on vision. His vision and work are informed by his inclusive spiritual practices, his growing up with racism and generational poverty, his legal background as a successful attorney, and his inclusivity experiences in over 100 distinct cultures, spanning 45 countries. As an author, Shariff has written several paradigm-shifting books, including: The Power of One: Authentic Leadership in Turbulent Times; Creating a World That Works for All; Seven Seeds for a New Society; Practicing Inclusivity; and The Chronicles of the Upheavals.

Caroline Aitken

Director of Whitefield Permaculture

Caroline Aitken is a permaculture author, teacher, design consultant, illustrator and gardener. She has a background in design and horticulture and took her PDC and a teaching apprenticeship with Patrick Whitefield. Having worked with Patrick for eight years, Caroline took on his courses and consultancy when he retired and is now director of Whitefield Permaculture and runs The Land Course Online. She also teaches at The Sustainability Centre, Schumacher College, Exeter University, Shift Bristol, High Heathercombe and Ragmans Farm, among others and has worked on many permaculture design projects from small scale domestic designs, to large scale farms and an eco-village. She co-authored the book Food From Your Forest Garden with Martin Crawford in 2013 and co-teachers with Martin in his forest gardens. Caroline lives on a 4 acre smallholding in Dartmoor National Park with her husband and son where they produce fruit, veg, eggs, honey, firewood, electricity and more. Caroline has a calm and clear teaching style which is accessible to all learning styles. She puts students at ease with her relaxed and considerate approach, sharing her knowledge and experience with a combination of verbal, visual, experiential and interactive methods.

Seetha Ananthasivan

Founder, Bhoomi College

Seetha Ananthasivan is a founder trustee at KNA Foundation for Education, Prakriya Green Wisdom School, Bhoomi Network and Bhoomi College. Her areas of interest include exploration in Inner and Outer Ecology, Ecological Education and working on management processes based on the principles of Nature. She is also the editor of the Bhoomi Magazine. An alumna of IIM Ahmedabad, Seetha has worked with the World Wildlife Fund-India and since then has been involved with culture building for ecological living in educational institutions and other organisations.

Rebecca Andrews

Herbalist, Ecotherapist, Professor, Writer, Speaker

"Rebecca has graduate degrees and studies in ecopsychology, psychology, and herbalism. She speaks, writes, and consults on health issues for individuals and corporations locally and nationally, including a regular herbal column in Paleo Magazine. Rebecca also works as an adjunct professor of wellness for Southern New Hampshire University. At the heart of Rebecca's multi-faceted work is a passion to reconnect folks with the earth - for health of mind, body, spirit, and earth. She is also passionate about health justice issues, particularly restoring herbalism to its rightful place as â€œthe people's healthcare.â€ To this end she has designed four seasonal, online, herbal classes which give students a basic foundation in herbal healthcare and competence to meet the majority of their personal and family healthcare needs. â€¨ Other highlights of Rebecca's work include mindful nature connection workshops, published research on mindfulness, and over 25 years of experience working with children and families. After 10 years of gardening at rentals, Rebecca is thrilled to now be caretaker of a beautiful mountain acre where she and her 12 year old daughter are building a permaculture homestead. You can follow their journey on IG @RebeccaGrace.WildWellness"

Carolyn Baker

Author and life and leadership coach

Carolyn Baker, Ph.D. is co-author with Andrew Harvey of Savage Grace (2017) having herself written Love In The Age Of Ecological Apocalypse: The Relationships We Need To Thrive (2015) as well as Collapsing Consciously: Transformative Truths For Turbulent Times (2013). Her previous books are and Navigating The Coming Chaos: A Handbook For Inner Transition (2011) and Sacred Demise: Walking The Spiritual Path Of Industrial Civilization's Collapse (2009). In 2016, she published Dark Gold: The Human Shadow And The Global Crisis, followed by Return To Joy, co-authored with Andrew Harvey. She lives and writes in Boulder, Colorado and manages Carolyn Baker Educational Services, LLC at www.carolynbaker.net. A former psychotherapist and professor of psychology and history, Carolyn is a life and leadership coach and spiritual mentor for people who want to live more resiliently in the present as they navigate the global crisis. Her podcast, the New Lifeboat Hour airs regularly online.

Graham Bell

Global Change Consultant

Graham Bell is an internationally known and respected teacher of Permaculture and several underlying disciplines including Forest Gardening and Food Preservation. He has dedicated his working life to helping others achieve the skills to live sustainably. His reputation is built on thirty years' experience and having worked on five continents and in many different climates and social conditions. Appointed as the first diploma holder in the UK and arbitrator for new diploma holders in the UK by Permaculture founder Bill Mollison in 1990, he has unrivalled experience in the discipline. Currently he is Chair of Permaculture Scotland and the UK Education Working Group. Business management (he has advised over a thousand businesses), forest gardening, food preservation, renewable energy and energy efficiency are particular strengths. Resource management sits behind all these topics. Trained as an Instructor by the (then) Agricultural Training Board in the UK he went on to become a trainer of trainers with that organisation (today called Lantra). He is a qualified electrician, has a Master's degree in English language and linguistics, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Royal Society for the Arts Commerce and Manufacturing and the author of two books on Permaculture (The Permaculture Way and the Permaculture Garden) and a very large number of articles. His knowledge of plants and trees is legendary. Having taught from the Arctic Circle down to Middle Eastern deserts and sub Saharan Africa as well as Australia his knowledge and experience is adaptable to most situations. He is primarily interested in helping others in confidence and self-reliance with their own work. Often asked to do consultancy work (which he does) he says: "At the end of the day I'd much rather teach others to be self-reliant." His own home garden is a mere 800 sq metres (0.08 hectares) which produces 1.25 tonnes of food a year (pro rata 16 tonnes a hectare) 500 trees and 5000 plants for sale, half the household's energy needs, a soft living room and an amazing teaching space which welcomes (and feeds) a thousand visitors every year from all over the planet (literally). These visitors include an amazing array of wildlife including thirty-five resident species of bird, another twenty who come on a daily basis, just for lunch, and twenty who come on their holidays. Graham says "You just have to create the right habitat and then the right things happen", a philosophy which applies to his teaching as much as his garden. "I'm sure there are many people out there who are much cleverer than me. What I offer is a certain gateway to an amazing future. Easy to digest, clear and in simple language that everyone can understand. I can't empower anyone. People can only empower themselves. But what I can do is offer you the space, the knowledge and the insights where this will all become apparent for you. You will leave our meeting with all the direction you need to take your life forward for personal gain and the good of all the planet.

Jessi Bloom

Author, Permaculture Designer & Teacher

Amanda Bramble

Director of Ampersand Sustainable Learning Center, Desert Permaculturist

Amanda Bramble is the director and designer at Ampersand Sustainable Learning Center in Madrid, NM. She is a teacher of ecological restoration, organic agriculture, natural building, passive solar design, water conserving systems, and permaculture. She designed and crafted the infrastructure of her living learning center to cultivate respectful and conscious relationships with the natural elements that support life. Amanda teaches at local colleges and educational organizations in New Mexico and has also offered consultations and presentations across the country.

Koreen Brennan

Speaker, community organizer, permaculture designer

Koreen stewards a permaculture farm in Florida, has designed numerous food forests and farms, and has been a community organizer focused on regenerative solutions for over 20 years. A permaculture designer and educator, she has worked and taught throughout the US and in other countries, organizing projects including regenerative solutions for disasters. Co-founder of North American Permaculture Convergence, Board member of Permaculture Institute of North America, partner in Permaculture Design International, member of Oglala-Lakota Cultural and Economic Revitalization Initiative, and was founding coordinator of Sustainable Urban Agriculture Coalition of St Petersburg, FL.

Philip Chandler

author of The Barefoot Beekeeper, champion of Balanced Beekeeping

"I became interested in bees during the last decade of the 20th century, having had increasing concerns that they were becoming endangered by chemical agriculture, pollution and habitat loss. I took up beekeeping in 2000 and have kept between 5 and 50 colonies every year since, in top bar hives and a range of other hives. I have been teaching in Britain and internationally since 2008. My main interest now is breeding and propagating the West European Black honeybee, Apis mellifera mellifera, which has many characteristics that make it ideal for our unpredictable climate."

Robin Clayfield

Author, Facilitator and Social Permaculture Pioneer

Robin Clayfield is an internationally respected facilitator, educator, author and social change practitioner who regularly facilitates courses in Australia and overseas. She is best known for training and coaching a diverse cross-section of educators, facilitators and group leaders to effectively engage their audiences through creative, interactive and empowering processes and using innovative and dynamic learning methods. She is a respected 'Elder' and pioneer within the Permaculture movement and these days specialises in Social Permaculture. She loves to design and present uniquely crafted workshops and experiences for community organisations, social enterprises, festivals and conferences based on the needs or theme of the group. Robin has authored 2 books including 'You Can Have your Permaculture and Eat It Too', created a CD of guided visualisations and produced the 'Creative Community Governance and Decision Making Resource Kit'. She co-authored the 'Manual for Teaching Permaculture Creatively' and several resource kits for educators with Skye 22 years ago. Robin has more recently framed up her own learning and group work methodology, 'Dynamic Groups, Dynamic Learning' and has run the social enterprise 'Earthcare Education' for over 28 years. The NEW Permaculture Principles Card Game' and the 'Creative Process Wild Cards' are her latest publications, both launched in 2015.

Ross Conrad

Beekeeper, Author, Teacher, Pollinator Advocate

Ross Conrad learned his craft from the late Charles Mraz, world renowned beekeeper and promoter of apitherapy, and Charles' son Bill. Conrad is a former president of the Vermont Beekeepers Association, a regular contributor to Bee Culture - The Magazine of American Beekeeping, and author of Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture revised and expanded edition. Ross has given bee related presentations and led organic beekeeping workshops and classes throughout North America for many years. His beekeeping business, Dancing Bee Gardens, supplies friends, neighbors with honey and candles among other bee related products, has 5-frame nucleus bee colonies for sale each June, and provides bees for Vermont apple pollination in the spring.

Sheryl Davis

Children's Environmental Author

I spent most of my childhood climbing trees & building forts in the Piney Woods region of East Texas. A rich family history of biology-inspired in me such interests as gardening, foraging, taxonomy & bird watching. I am also a licensed Ham Radio operator (KE5QFE). In the Spring of 2012, along with some friends, I helped throw the sustainability festival, Learning Man in which members of the Austin tribe could exchange skills. In 2015, I worked with the Eco-Community, Quilombo Paixao, to host a successful Educational Expo called Orenda & a Permablitz in Cedar Creek, TX. I was awarded a scholarship to complete my Permaculture Design Certificate in the Fall of 2014 & have worked on numerous eco-farmlets & non-profit organizations around the central Texas area such as Food is Free, Blue Star Ranch & Thigh High Gardens. I most recently worked with Resolution Gardens where I did garden installations, basic carpentry, light masonry, and landscaping. For years I have wondered how to make the biggest impact on the world with regard sustainability and environmental health. I have come to realize that communicating with the younger generations through books, activities and projects is the best way for me to make a difference that counts. I am delighted to say that my kids book, The Mystical Magical Abracadabracal Daniel McDougal McDouglas McFly has won two Purple Dragonfly Book awards; 2nd place in Green and Environmental Picture Books and Honorable Mention in Children's Picture Books for ages 6+. It has also been endorsed by the Jane Goodall Institute Nepal. I have been called to practice & teach Permaculture and sustainability to help catapult the environmental health movement into the forefront of modern society.

Lisa DePiano

Social Permaculture, Participatory Design

Lisa DePiano is grounded at the intersections of public art, economic development, participatory design and social justice. She came to permaculture from a background as a community organizer working against Mountain Top Removal and for global justice. She sees permaculture as a tool to both see connections between social, ecological and economic problems and to create solutions for the world we know is possible. She is a certified permaculture designer/teacher, and faculty member for the Yestermorrow Design/Build School, the University of Massachusetts and a research fellow at the MIT Media Lab. She has extensive experience in social enterprise and worker cooperative development including co-founding the Montview Neighborhood Farm, one of the first worker-run human powered urban-farm and edible forest gardens in the country and establishing the bicycle powered compost program while riding with the worker-owned collective Pedal People. She is board member for the Permaculture Association of the Northeast currently developing bottom up quality standards for permaculture education. For over a decade she has taught permaculture to hundreds of students in dozens of courses in the United States and abroad, including the Permaculture Women's Teacher Training. She runs the Mobile Design Lab which specializes in participatory permaculture design and installation and serves as a board member for the Permaculture Institute of the Northeast. Her public permaculture installations include the grey water system at Occupy Wall Street and the Lee Street Forest Garden in Cambridge."

Miguel Elliott

"Sir Cobalot" Cob Master Extraordinare

Miguel Elliott aka "Sir Cobalot" has been a leader in the natural building movement for the past 20 years. He had lead numerous workshops, has built many earthen houses, and had worked with schools all over California. His business/service Living Earth Structures specializes in crafting ovens, benches, small huts and saunas. He had built a mobile hut out of pallets, insulated with straw and covered in an Earthen plaster called the Gingerbread Hut which he takes to various venues to demonstrate the durability, affordability and beaury of natural building.

Aranya Gardens

Permaculture designer, teacher & author

"Aranya is an experienced permaculture designer, teacher and author. Completing his Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design in 2003, Aranya started teaching the following year. He discovered this made his heart sing, so he made it his main focus. Since 2004 he has taught over 80 two-week design courses, something he has no intention of stopping. He feels that it's a privilege to have the opportunity to teach ""something that can make a real difference in all our lives"". Aranya is also excited about new ways in which permaculture thinking can help us, developing new courses on using its principles to help us design for optimising our health and creating ethical livelihoods. In the spring of 2012 Permanent Publications published his first book 'Permaculture Design - a Step-by-Step Guide', which evolved from a set of design course worksheets. He also writes occasionally for magazines and from time to time shares interesting items on his blog. Aranya is currently writing a second book, about a subject heâ€™s especially fascinated by, the application of systems thinking and patterns in permaculture design."

Oliver Goshey

natural builder and regenerative designer

Oliver M. Goshey is an accomplished natural builder who has worked in eleven countries on six continents. After six years of working in the industrial building trades and as a maritime engineer, he apprenticed with the Cob Cottage Company, specializing in cob and earthen plasters and finishes. Abundant Edge is his culmination of years of passionate research, travel, and experimentation with earthen building materials and regenerative design techniques. Oliver is passionate about promoting healthy lifestyles that repair and advance ecosystems through symbiotic design and compassionate construction. Oliver is also the host of "The Abundant Edge" Podcast where he interviews leaders and change-makers in the worlds of permaculture, natural building, and regenerative living.

Benjamin Habib

International relations, environmental politics, permaculture

"Dr. Benjamin Habib is a Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. Ben is an internationally published scholar with a current research interest in intersections between grassroots sustainability and regeneration projects, environmental movements and international climate politics. Previously he as researched the political economy of North Koreaâ€™s nuclear program, East Asian security, and international politics of climate change. Ben is a board member of OASES Graduate School in Melbourne and is an Asia Literacy Ambassador for the Asia Education Foundation. He has worked previously for Flinders University, the University of South Australia, the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship, and has spent time teaching English in Dandong, China. In June 2014, Ben completed a Permaculture Design Course (PDC) at CERES Community Environment Park in Melbourne and is now a contributing facilitator within the CERES PDC program, focusing on the application of permaculture design principles to socio-economic systems. Ben completed his PhD candidature at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia in 2011, after graduating with a B. Arts (Hons) from Flinders University and a B. Arts from the University of South Australia. He has also studied at Keimyung University in Daegu, South Korea."

Jim Hallock

Compressed Earth Block Builder and Teacher

Jim is a builder, specializing for the past 23 years in stabilized compressed earth blocks. His passion is the expansion of knowledge regarding the benefits of earth as a viable building material. In that pursuit, he has conducted dozens of workshops on earthen construction in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Mexico, Africa, Central and South America, and Haiti. He has significant experience, in several cultures, transferring earth block building skills to others.

Belinda Hope

Permaculture Research Institute for Southern Africa

"I am an internationally accreditted teacher and we head up the Permaculture Research Institute for Southern Africa. We have a 300 hectare farm and keep on game as well as other indigenous animals such as Nguni and Boschvelder chickens. We teache over 4000 children a year in outdoor education and about 400 adults a year in Permaculture."

Scott Howard

Earth Artisan, Teacher, Innovator

"Continuing to teach year after year, Scott Howard adds new workshop topics to his schedule pretty frequently. Recently it was an introduction to fire science and masonry heating, plus another annual in-depth class covering most major earthen building techniques from around the world. Some of his classes in the past focused on earthbag domes, adobe vaults, cob ovens, completing a structure for the village hosting the workshop, and there's the ultra eco design called the 'Regenerative Home'. His training began with Ianto Evans of Cob Cottage Co., back in 1998. It was just a one week Cob House workshop, but Scott stayed on helping to landowner for a couple of summers until the entire 1,000 sf cob meeting house was completed. The plasters were done by Kiko Denzer, from whom Scott picked up a couple of pointers as well. Scott continued on his own to study in detail the practical applications of earthen building and various other natural materials. Scott started teaching his own workshops in 2002. He's also taught in cooperation with many local schools and organizations. His workshops have brought him to many different countries, where he's also learned about local traditions in natural and earthen building. He's counting on these techniques gaining popularity as people realize that being ecological is just plain better. He's prepared to go wherever the most interesting project is calling him, and he's taught in fluent Spanish on several occasions. Living on the beautiful Oregon coast, he and his wife Chrystalina are building an ecological homestead paradise slowly but surely."

Matthew Human

Professional Green Music, Homesteading, and Sustainable Community Living

Matthew Human is an international touring musician, actor, producer, recording artist, and a prolific songwriter based in Nashville, TN with 8 self-produced albums. Matthew grew up all over the Eastern side of the United States where his family moved around throughout his childhood. Born in Utica, NY the family also made homes near Akron, OH, and Nashville, TN. In 2002 after dropping out of Kent State University in NE Ohio, Matthew recorded his first album ‘Rainshadow,' co-produced by his friend and bandmate David Mayfield. Later that year, inspired by the world events following the September 11 bombing and a spiritual calling to pursue a full-time career in music, Human moved his base to the Mendocino Coast of Northern California where he formed the first incarnation of his band The Human Revolution. From 2003-2012, the band toured all over the US performing their original country-rock dance music becoming one of the best-loved acts on the West Coast festival circuit. In 2006 Human released his award-winning pro-hemp music video “Tree of Life” which went viral and led to a role in a 2010 movie on the subject. In 2009 Matthew Human and The Human Revolution opened for Willie Nelson’s labor day show in Piercy, CA. A longtime advocate for healthy food and consumer rights, Human has led three US-based tours in support of GMO labeling initiatives, including acting as the music production coordinator for the GMO Right 2 Know March, a 315 mile political march from Brooklyn, NY to Washington, DC in 2011 culminating in a high-profile concert outside the White House on International Food Day. Matthew Human is recognized as the Global Music Ambassador for Food For Life Global, the world’s largest vegetarian food relief program serving over 2 million free hot meals daily. In 2012 Human self-produced his 7’th album 'Small Town’, which was among the first ever completely crowdfunded albums on Kickstarter, raising 20K with his fans and network to produce and release the grassroots project. In 2013 Matthew Human was introduced to veteran entertainment industry powerhouse Eddie Wenrick who sent the troubadour back to his old high school running grounds in Nashville, TN to produce an album with a more commercial country sound. Human released an EP from the project in 2017 titled ’19 in 69.’ A video for the single “Shoes Under My Bed” was aired on over 27 networks including The Country Channel (Zuus Country), Heartland TV, and Country Fix, reaching over 100 Million households in the US alone. Internationally the video also aired in Ireland, UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Human call's his music "Hippie Country Music." Beyond the music, Matthew Human is also a self-described foodie, a yogi, and a permaculturist who enjoys spending time on his off-the-grid community farm in Costa Rica where he is developing a permaculture inspired retreat center. He regularly produces live videos on Facebook often to large enthusiastic audiences. In 2015 he launched his self-produced, filmed (on iPhone) and edited cooking show on Youtube called ’The Clean Food Cooking Show.’ Matthew also continues to record and produce music in of Nashville, TN.

Joshua Konkankoh

Energising African Ecovillages

In 1996 Joshua Konkankoh created the Better World Cameroon NGO, which soon led to the development of the Ndanifor Permaculture Ecovillage in Bafut which is to work with nature in a positive way, emphasising African solidarity while empowering women and youth to create meaningful change. Running this in parallel with his work as communication officer for National Social Security Department. In 2004 he resigned to concentrate all his efforts in youth development and women empowerment in Africa. His Better World initiative could be seen as a special and exceptional contribution to global sustainable development in Africa, centred in particular on poverty eradication amongst the most vulnerable youth and women of Africa. His Permaculture the African way is based on halting and reversing environmental degradation women empowerment and youth entrepreneurship. The focus on integrated, multi-sectoral community based approach to planning and implementation provides an excellent model for transitioning to sustainability at the local level; for pursuing green, low carbon economies; and for ensuring that basic services are provided and basic human needs can be met

Andrea Kraj

CEO | TEDx Speaker | Professional Engineer | Author

Dr. Andrea Kraj is a practicing professional engineer (Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba) specialized in Multi-Renewable Energy Systems and Smart Grid Technology for Smart Cities and Island Energy Networks, with 16 years of experience. Her work is focused on the application of intelligent energy systems for improved management of multiple renewable energy systems (wind, solar, biomass, storage etc.) in island nations for rural electrification and autonomy from fossil fuel dependence. She has completed a Ph.D. (2015), M.Sc. (2007) and B.Sc. (2003) in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering with Aerospace Specialization and is a pioneering leader in developing sophisticated computer modeling and simulation of advanced energy systems, supporting the design, operation and optimization of multi-renewable energy systems with storage for micro-grid networks. She is an accomplished author and speaker (TEDx), having published several articles on energy policy, community energy development, and remote power systems. Additionally, she has several years of experience in design for manufacture, CAD modeling and FEA in the aerospace, composite materials and international business sectors. Dr. Kraj is passionate about community renewable energy, smart cities, smart grid, remote power systems, energy policy and sustainability.

Danial Lawton

a second-generation permaculturalist, permaculture consultant, educator, entrepreneur and permaculture philanthropist.

Who is Danial Lawton How can we develop permaculture to have a professional image? Can permaculture practices be met with scientific rigour? What is the next step in the evolution of future permaculture practitioners? Are all questions that motivate Danial Lawton, a second-generation permaculturalist in his work as a permaculture consultant, educator, entrepreneur and permaculture philanthropist. Set in motion with a permaculture design course at the tender age of thirteen in Tena, Ecuador, Danial followed up with a Permaculture Diploma in site development, site design, and research. At university Danial crammed in a Bachelor of Environmental science with double majors in ecology & conservation biology and Land & water management, a Masters in Environmental management and most recently a Masters in Environmental engineering. With 20 years experience in the Permaculture field, Danial has worked for international permaculture projects in Central and South America, as water systems manager for Tagari farm (PRI Australia) and later as farm manager for Zaytuna farm (PRI Australia). Within this time Danial has taught and facilitated a variety of Permaculture design and hands on courses through Griffith University, PRI Australia, Northey Street City Farm, Noosa Forest Retreat and many others As a design consultant Danial draws on environmental science and permaculture principles to design sustainable systems worldwide and for local Australian clients and government organisations.

Marilyn Levin

Dedicated to the Liberation of the Human Spirit

Marilyn Levin, MSW is a social entrepreneur focused on catalyzing the global transformation that is underway. She is an activist, a professional speaker and trainer www.marilynlevin.com and the author of Experiential Activities for a Better World www.experientialactivitiesforabetterworld.com. She founded several organizations and served as Campaign Director for Four Years Go www.fouryearsgo.org. She currently serves as Managing Director of KINS Innovation Networks www.kinsinnovation.org with a focus on The We Go High Project www.wegohighproject.org.

Looby Macnamara

Permaculture author and pioneer

Looby Macnamara is a permaculture author, teacher and designer. She is a pioneer in the field of People Permaculture (personal and social permaculture) having written the first ever book to translate the principles and design of permaculture into people based systems. She created the Design Web, a holistic framework specifically useful for creating healthy people systems. She is also author of 7 Ways to Think Differently; a distillation of permaculture shifts in thinking. She is currently working on Cultural Emergence project.

Brigitte Mars

Herbalist, Author, Professor

"Brigitte Mars is an herbalist and nutritional consultant of Natural Health with almost fifty years of experience. She teaches Herbal Medicine at Naropa University, and The School of Health Mastery in Iceland. She has taught at Omega Institute, Esalen, Kripalu, Sivananda Yoga Ashram, Arise, Envision and Unify Festivals, and The Mayo Clinic. She blogs for the Huffington Post and Care2. She is a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild. Brigitte is the author of many books and DVDs, including The Natural First Aid Handbook, The Home Reference to Holistic Health and Healing, The Country Almanac of Home Remedies, The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine, Beauty by Nature, Addiction Free Naturally, The Sexual Herbal, Healing Herbal Teas, Rawsome! and co-author of The HempNut Cookbook. DVDs include Sacred Psychoactive, Herbal Wizardry for Kids of all Ages, Natural Remedies for Childhood Ailments, Overcoming Addictions, and Natural Remedies for Emotional Health. Her latest project is a phone app called IPlant. Brigitte and her daughter, Sunflower Sparkle Mars run Herb Camp for Kids in Boulder, Colorado. Brigitte's other daughter is world famous activist/yogini-actress/ international model, Rainbeau Mars."

Gabriela Masala

Embodied, Creative, Evolutionary Love

Gabriela Masala, M.A. has been steeping in universal wisdom teachings, contemplative expressive arts and energy medicine for over 20 years, Her facilitation is designed to support people to access their authentic voice and expression as they meet their evolutionary edges and tap their infinite potential. She is passionate about the creative process as a catalyst for transformation, and pioneering what it means to be fully alive. Gabriela holds a Masters degree in Culture and Creation Spirituality, with a focus in Art as Meditation. Her decades in the professional world of Mind/ Body/Spirit education have taken her around the globe. She is a long time practitioner of several schools of yoga, dance, healing and expressive arts. She is a an author, recording artist, entrepreneur, founding principal of Source Consulting Group, and a happily married, devoted mother and lover of life.

Solomon Masala

Let's DO This! Bringing your genius to life.

Tapping into an energizing magnetism, Solomon Masala and his team deliver the antidote to stale team building and youth development training. He uses a captivating blend of experiential, innovative processes designed to get people of all ages to do what they really want: access the tools and inspiration to embody personal and collective excellence. For over 20 years he’s developed and delivered powerful kinesthetics – meaning you get up out of your seat, you experience, you engage, and you ‘do’ what’s being learned. Learning not only sticks and keeps expanding after the training, it’s a blast to do it that way. Solomon brings this into everything: interactive keynotes, organizational development processes, educator training, outdoor adventure experiences, and large scale percussion programs. And, he designs and develops multimedia curricula and interactive presentations on a national level. Solomon believes in invigoration and vitality as learning tools – add that to the research and data on what works and you actually have something usable to humans. It’s instantly effective, ushering groups through the hard work of deepening and expanding excellence, and inspiring them to celebration. www.sourceconsultinggroup.com

Sonita Mbah

Youth and Environmental Actionist

"Sonita is undergoing an MSc in Integrative EcoSocial Design with Gaia University. She is the Executive Secretary for the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) â€“ Africa while representing the youth wing of GEN (NextGEN-Africa) on the GEN Board and is coordinating the Bafut Ecovillage project in Cameroon. Sonita was born in Cameroon, studied English Literature and volunteered for community sanitation projects. She holds a Permaculture Design Certificate and an Ecovillage Design Education Certificate. She is a facilitator at Better World Cameroon; and has dedicated the last 4 years reconnecting youth to the land, carrying out entrepreneurship, cross-cultural and climate change adaptation programs. She is a certified youth entrepreneurship pattern language trainer using the SIRCle Curriculum. Sonita is a member of the GEN UN working group and GEN UN ECOSOC representative. Her passion for social change led her into exploring food security, cultural heritage and green economy as possible solutions to the growing rate of unemployment in rural Africa."

Karryn Olson-Ramanujan

Entrepreneurial and leadership skills for co-creating our regenerative future

"Karryn Olson-Ramanujan has worked in the fields of permaculture and sustainability education for over 20 years, as an organizer, educator, and designer. She grew tired of seeing folks who are doing great work in the world struggle to earn a living, so she dove into learning all she could about entrepreneurship and how it can be used in service to regenerating ecosystems and communities. Through regenepreneurs.com, she offers trainings that combine permaculture, entrepreneurship, leadership, and social justice."

Tao Orion

Author of Beyond the War on Invasive Species

Tao Orion is the author of Beyond the War on Invasive Species: A Permaculture Approach to Ecosystem Restoration (Chelsea Green, 2015). She teaches Permaculture design at Oregon State University and at Aprovecho, a 40-acre nonprofit sustainable-living educational organization. Tao consults on holistic farm, forest, and restoration planning through Resilience Permaculture Design, LLC. She holds a degree in agroecology and sustainable agriculture from UC Santa Cruz, and grows organic fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and animals on her southern Willamette Valley homestead, Viriditas Farm.

Carolyn Parrs

Get to the Soul of your Sustainable Brand

Carolyn Parrs is the CEO and founder of Mind Over Markets, a brand marketing communications & design company in Seattle and Santa. Since 2003, MOM has helped startups and global companies get to the soul of their sustainable message to connect with more customers, more deeply than ever before. From paradigm-shifting campaigns to growing tribes by 10’s of thousands, her ultimate goal is proving that business can be a force for good. She is a featured author in Thomson Reuters book series for C-level executives: Inside the Minds. Greening your Business. She is also the creator of Women Of Green, a robust online community and news source that “turns up the volume” of the feminine voice in green. She is also the founder and creator of Women As Game Changers training, coaching and conference that is dedicated to helping transform the women who are transforming the world. As a serial entrepreneur, Carolyn founded an upscale pet fashion company called POOCHI and in under 4 years it was acquired by a 24 billion-dollar corporation. She and her products have appeared on television shows such as Good Morning America, ABC News, CBS News and on radio and cable shows such as HBO, CNN and Lifetime Channel. Print coverage includes The New York Times, L.A. Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, People Magazine and Cosmopolitan. Carolyn is a founding board member and past President of the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce, part of the largest statewide business organization in New Mexico with over 1100 members. She has worked at top New York City advertising agencies, such as Benton & Bowles and Wunderman Worldwide, serving clients such as General Foods, Proctor & Gamble, AT&T, IBM, Richardson-Vicks, Manufacturers Hanover Trust, Time/Life Books and more. Carolyn is the mother of two, and lives and works in Seattle and Santa Fe with her pups, Heart and Soul.

christina pirello

Christina Pirello, Chef, Author

Christina Pirello, is the Emmy Award winning host of the national public television series, ‘Christina Cooks.’ The first pivotal point in her life (and there have been many) came at age 26, after being diagnosed with terminal leukemia. She decided to forgo conventional medical therapies and turned to a nutritional approach - whole foods - and cured herself. For the last seventeen years, Christina has been teaching cook¬ing classes, conducting lifestyle seminars and lecturing on the power of whole, natural food in our lives. Even if people think she’s nuts (but nice…and really funny), they never think of food in the same way again...which is her goal. The author of four bestselling cookbooks, with an eighth in the works, Christina is considered somewhat irreverent and rebellious by many of her colleagues. Rocking the boat, creating revolution, making us think…and laugh, instead of blindly following theory and dogma is what inspires Christina’s work the most (backed up by experienced knowledge of Chinese medicine, Ayurveda and conventional nutrition). Her philosophy is simple….living a whole and healthy life should make us joyful, free, passionate and open…with gratitude for every blessing, every challenge, every moment, every breath. Christina is on the faculty of both Walnut Hill College, where she serves as a professor of culinary arts and nutrition. She also serves on the board of The Farm Market Trust and holds memberships in both IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) and Women Chef’s and Restaurateurs, is a rabid environmentalist and political activist. Christina holds both her Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Fine Arts from the University of Miami and was awarded a Masters Degree in Food Nutrition in 2003.

Karambu Ringera

Dr Karambu Ringera: Awakener, Inspires and Crafts Holistic Models for Regenerative Systems

Dr Karambu Ringera is the founder and president of International Peace Initiatives (IPI: www.ipeacei.org), an organisation that works to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS, poverty and violence in the lives of women and children. She uses holistic, systems thinking to model regeneration as a lifestyle. She is the founder of Tirji Eco Center, a space she uses to model food sovereignty (not food security) through the 'food forest' concept; teaches permaculture to a community 'boxed' in the mind set of monocropping and enslaved in chemical farming in spite sky rocketing incidence of cancer in the farming community; and hosts ethical and other transformative workshops that inspire people to take charge of their food, environment, culture and lives. She has used her extensive academic background and international experience working in many countries to design and implement models of ethical leadership, effective community engagement, women’s grassroots 'empoweredness' programs, sustainable peace and development, UBUNTU problem solving models, pre-emptive and post conflict reconciliation, proactive health campaigns, and a successful, working model of “Amani Homes” - community homes of peace for orphans and vulnerable children. Karambu is a visionary, an activist, a compassionate, committed, proactive formidable force for change, and an inspiration to all who meet her.

Lisa Schroder

Adobe Brick Author and Designer

Lisa Schroder is a professional engineer and architectural designer with over 16 years of experience in management, design, and construction, with a background in adobe brick construction. She is an author of a book on how to build with adobe bricks and hold a patent on an innovative building system that incorporates reinforcement and scaffolding into the wall system.

Stephen Smith

Author, Plant breeder, Seedbank Curator

Stephen Smith is the founder and president/owner for and of SOPI-Seeds of Preservation Independence and the Sacred Eagle Seedhouse and curator of the C.L. Smith Seedbank. An avid gardener, seed researcher, and crop/plant breeder he has a collection of 1600+ global heirloom and landrace corns plus 300 global bean varieties and researches the South American as well as Native American material. He is the author of Maize: Roots, Shoots, and Moccasin Boots and is currently writing its second edition as well as a book covering the cultivation and origins of the common and lima bean and squash.

David Spicer

Water Harvesting design specialist

Having taught and worked on various projects extensively within Australia and internationally, such as Morocco, Jordan, Palestine and New Caledonia, David Spicer has covered a broad array of different soil types, topography and climatic zones. David is a valued member of the Permaculture Sustainable Consulting team headed up by Geoff Lawton. He is a master of practical and logical mainframe permaculture design which allows him to give his extensive experience of life and the cost involved to change a site. He has majored in the design water harvesting and storage earthworks which frames all regenerative farming. David has the distinction of being Registered Teacher #5 with the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia.

Klaudia van Gool

supporting life for future generations

Klaudia draws on over 20 years experience and study to express her lifelong passion for the environment through facilitating people care and social design programs across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. She's an Environmental Scientist, Consultant, Parent, Mentor, Coach, Permaculture Teacher and Designer and student of healthy intact cultures and indigenous wisdom. Using her many practical and ceremonial skills, her work focuses across land-based, community and inner sustainability in order to fully activate the human potential in service of life, culture repair and rebuilding the village.

Karen Washington

farmer, activist and food advocate

Karen is Co-owner/Farmer at Rise & Root Farm. An activist and food advocate; in 2010, Co- Founded Black Urban Growers (BUGS) an organization supporting growers in both urban and rural settings. In 2012, Ebony magazine voted her one of their 100 most influential African Americans in the country and in 2014 was the recipient of the James Beard Leadership Award

michael wittman

Biochar and Living Soil

Michael Wittman has long been an environmental activist for an ever-growing number of national grass roots movements. He brings to bear a lifetime of experience in Alternative Energy. In 1970 he was a volunteer organizer of the very first Earth Day in New York City. His highest priority has long been the defense and conservation of all natural resources. With over 30 years as a well respected entrepreneur, marketing specialist and event producer in the professional beauty industry, Michael has been instrumental in the building of international firms such as Jhirmack, Paul Mitchell Systems, Tweezerman and Colorbrites. In 1985 he was the creator and CEO of Metropolis Technology, Inc., a professional beauty manufacturing company. His affinity for this planet's continued good health has never wavered as he has continued to advocate prudence and moderation in the environment. He is also a life-long animal rights activist. An accomplished, knowledgeable and engaging public speaker, Michael has approached American fuel reform from a refreshingly calm and reasoned perspective while broadening the public consciousness of reasonably affordable and underutilized natural resources. In 2006, Michael founded and became chief executive officer of Third Planet Energy Inc., a California biofuel company. While continuing to expand and facilitate biofuel and alternative energy interests, in 2010 he launched The Blue Sky Enterprise, an alternative energy consultation and supply company. Having now brought his personal and professional passion full circle, in 2011 Michael founded Blue Sky Biochar to promote both the notion of sustainable soil health and the means by which to make it happen. Blue Sky continues to advocate the individual reclamation of our biological birthright on earth.

Sarah Wu

Therapeutic Ecologist rooted in Permaculture and Herbal Medicine

The current Director and Educational Curator, leading trainings and workshops in herbal medicine, permaculture design, tropical Deep Ecology, and field-to-the-plate holistic nutrition. She is a clinical herbalist of 17 years, practicing planetary eclectic herbalism with a foundation in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Wise Woman Reclaiming philosophy, focusing on food-based healing and local ethnobotanical traditions. She is a passionate mentor and educator. Sarah is the co-founder of Medicines from the Edge: a Tropical Herbal Convergence and co-producer of Envision Festival.

Steven Wynbrandt

Wynbrandt Farms: Artisan Compost Maker, Farmer, Educator, Consultant

BIO Steven Wynbrandt is a compost maker, farmer, educator and consultant, and is the founder of Wynbrandt Farms, est. 2009, a mini-farm that has become a 1-of-a-kind gem of urban agriculture in Los Angeles. Wynbrandt Farms is known for its distinguished compost, signature growing techniques, and both the quality and the quantity of its vegetable production. Steven is the protégé of an elder Biodynamic compost master and the torchbearer of a treasured recipe and tradition, handed down through a lineage of some of the world’s most dedicated compost masters that dates back directly to Rudolph Steiner – the father of Biodynamic agriculture. After making over 100 cubic yards (100,000 lbs) of compost by hand in his backyard from 2012 to 2014 and selling it solely by word of mouth, Wynbrandt Farms Biodynamic® Compost operations have taken Steven to the Santa Monica coast mountains and to farmlands in Sonoma County, CA. Steven has recently developed a system that produces the most biologically abundant and diverse, fertile compost he has ever made (or seen or has heard of). It is extremely powerful in homeopathic amounts. Wynbrandt Farms is preparing to supply an ever-growing local and national clientele that includes home gardeners, professional horticulturists, farms, orchards, vineyards, golf courses and nurseries. It is Steven's core conviction that when compost-making is practiced as a high art-form (which is understood and undertaken by few people in these times), the result is a profound product of alchemy that holds answers to some of the most critical issues humanity faces, including combating climate change, restoring and elevating the health to the living skin of the earth - the source that sustains us - and transforming human health and vitality. Steven's Biodynamic, regenerative agricultural career includes growing specialty produce for chefs, creating a hyper-local CSA, consulting locally and nationally and teaching for academic institutions and organizations including UCLA, UCCE Dept. of Ag. and Natural Resources, Santa Monica College, L.A. Unified School District, Demeter USA (the world’s only Biodynamic certification organization), The National Heirloom Expo, The L.A. Green Festival, Hazon, L.A. Community Garden Council, and a plethora of public and private community organizations.

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