Coming Home to Place
Coming Home to Place
Weaving the 4 Dimensions of Regenerative Cultures
Celebrating 20 years of Gaia Education's Regenerative Education training, resources, projects and partnerships
Join us for an online festival bringing together some of the world’s leading voices in localisation, bioregional regeneration, and cultural transformation. This global gathering is both a celebration of our journey and a fundraiser for the next 20 years of impact.
The festival will take place during the first week of December 2025, culminating in a live event on Dec 6th and 7th.
Join Gaia Education for an online festival December 1-7 to celebrate our 20-year journey and fundraise for many more years of Transformative Impact.
We've connected with and interviewed lead practitioners from around the globe to speak on topics ranging from localisation, bioregioning, indigenous wisdom, local economy, permaculture, regenerating ecosystems, community empowerment, reconnection to self, other, and the natural world, and much more.
20 Years of Regenerative Education
Since 2005, Gaia Education has been a pioneer in delivering transformative learning experiences that empower communities to design a regenerative future.
At the heart of our work is the 4D Whole Systems Design Mandala, an integrated approach to regeneration across the social, ecological, economic, and worldview dimensions.
Through our courses, we have had the privilege to collaborate with groundbreaking educators, practitioners, and movements around the globe. Now, for our 20th anniversary, we are reconnecting with these visionary voices to share their journeys, insights, and visions for the future of regeneration.
Imagine sitting down for an intimate, one-on-one conversation with a leading voice in regenerative practice. That's the experience we've collaboratively created for you. Our recorded interview series brings you directly into the room with pioneering authors, speakers, and practitioners, capturing stories and profound insights from their journeys.
Interviews will be released and available from December 1st – 5th.
Then, join our Live Events on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th December and receive the whole video package for free as part of the payment!
Be part of this unique celebration of hope, resilience, and action.
Online Festival Experience
Exclusive video interviews with visionary practitioners from around the world
Inspiring content released in the first week of December with a Live Event to connect and learn with Gaia Education Community
Free access to all interviews until Dec 5th and unlimited access if you register.
Live Global Event
6 & 7 December 2025
Celebrate 20 years of Gaia Education in a live global event
Interactive live online panels with leading regenerative voices
Spaces for connection and deepening of the interview topics
Keynote from Daniel Christian Wahl on what's next for Gaia Education and the Regeneration movement
When signing up for the live event, you will also get unlimited access to all recorded interviews and festival materials
December 6th at 3 PM UTC / 7 AM PDT
December 7th at 7 AM UTC / 6 PM AEDT
Contribution Options
To celebrate the amazing work in our networks, we are making the video interviews available for free for the first week of December (click on the link to register for free).
To join the live event and unlimited access to interviews, we ask for a donation of a minimum of £30 (low income) / £50 (regular) / £100 (pay it forward)
There will be a limited number of free places - please contact us to apply for one
In the spirit of celebrating 20 years of Gaia Education and Fundraising to continue our work in the world, you can make donations and/or connect us with people who would like to support us.
Interviews
Through a series of specially recorded interviews, you'll gain exclusive insights from inspiring practitioners, book authors, and visionary speakers within the regenerative cultures community. We sat down with them for deep-dive conversations, and now you can absorb their wisdom in your own time.
Helena Norberg Hodge
Linguist, author, filmmaker and pioneer of the new economy movement, is the founder and director of Local Futures, and the convenor of World Localization Day and the Planet Local Summit.
She is author of the inspirational classic Ancient Futures, and Local is Our Future and producer of the award-winning documentary The Economics of Happiness, of Planet Local and Closer to Home. She is the founder of the International Alliance for Localisation, and a cofounder of the International Forum on Globalization and the Global Ecovillage Network.
Based on decades of experience in indigenous cultures, Helena has been promoting a big picture understanding of the foundations of human, as well as ecological wellbeing. This work has gained her the support of well-known figures such as Noam Chomsky, Gabor Mate, Jane Goodall and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, along with the Alternative Nobel prize, the Arthur Morgan Award and the Goi Peace Prize for contributing to “the revitalization of cultural and biological diversity, and the strengthening of local communities and economies worldwide.”
Anna Kovasna
Systems thinker, creative convenor, and passionate weaver of local resilience and kinship with all life. She works with communities worldwide to nurture regenerative practice and systems change grounded in animist and relational worldviews.
She works with communities worldwide to nurture regenerative practice and systems change grounded in animist and relational worldviews. Anna is cofounder of Kincentric Leadership, nurturing ways of leading and living rooted in kinship with a living, intelligent Earth. With deep roots in the ecovillage movement, she also serves as Strategic Lead for Community Resilience at the Global Ecovillage Network, exploring community-led ways of navigating the polycrisis. She is co-chair of Transition Network International, a trustee of Gaia Education, and cofounder of the Living Systems Alliance — a cross-movement initiative advancing place-based more-than-human governance and living systems design. After decades of ecovillage living, Anna now lives with her more-than-human kin on a small permaculture homestead in the Pyrenees.
Daniel Wahl
one of the catalysts of the rising reGeneration, one of the original GEESE (founders of Gaia Education), the first author of the GEDS 4 Dimensions and the author of the book Designing Regenerative Cultures and many expressive articles.
He works as a consultant, educator and activist with NGOs, businesses, governments and global change agents. With degrees in biology and holistic science, and a PhD in Design for Human and Planetary Health, his work has influenced the emerging fields of regenerative design and salutogenic design. Winner of the 2021 RSA Bicentenary Medal for applying design in service to society. Awarded a two year Volans-Fellowship in 2022.
Dr. Lyla Johnston
Dr. Lyla June Johnston (aka Lyla June) is an Indigenous musician, author, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages. Her multi-genre presentation style has engaged audiences across the globe towards personal, collective, and ecological healing.
Lyla blends her study of Human Ecology at Stanford, graduate work in Indigenous Pedagogy, and the traditional worldview she grew up with to inform her music, perspectives and solutions. Her doctoral research focused on the ways in which pre-colonial Indigenous Nations shaped large regions of Turtle Island (aka the Americas) to produce abundant food systems for humans and non-humans.
Ross Jackson
Co-founded in 1987 Gaia Trust, Denmark, to promote a more sustainable and spiritual world. Gaia Trust has since financed hundreds of sustainability projects in over 40 countries as well as several “green” start-ups, and has supported its two major international NGO initiatives—the Global Ecovillage Network and Gaia Education for over thirty years.
Ross has for many years been an innovative leader in both the business and NGO worlds and has functioned as a management consulted in several industries and financial institutions. His business career has been as an independent consultant and software designer, later specializing in international finance. His Occupy World Street, A global roadmap for radical economic and political reform (2012), deals with geopolitics and global governance. Ross’ PhD is in Operations Research, the science of problem solving, from Case Western Reserve University in the USA. Born a Canadian, he has since 1964 lived in Denmark, and became a Danish citizen in 1972. He lives with his wife Heather on an organic farm near Copenhagen that is being converted into an example of regenerative agriculture. His new book, THE BAD NEWS & THE GOOD NEWS, is a follow up to Occupy World Street, with a focus on how a post-collapse civilization that lives within nature’s limits might look like.
Ross has for many years been an innovative leader in both the business and NGO worlds and has functioned as a management consulted in several industries and financial institutions. His business career has been as an independent consultant and software designer, later specializing in international finance. His Occupy World Street, A global roadmap for radical economic and political reform (2012), deals with geopolitics and global governance.
Ross’ PhD is in Operations Research, the science of problem solving, from Case Western Reserve University in the USA. Born a Canadian, he has since 1964 lived in Denmark, and became a Danish citizen in 1972. He lives with his wife Heather on an organic farm near Copenhagen that is being converted into an example of regenerative agriculture.
His new book, THE BAD NEWS & THE GOOD NEWS, is a follow up to Occupy World Street, with a focus on how a post-collapse civilization that lives within nature’s limits might look like.
Dr. Karambu Ringera
Dr. Karambu Ringera is a regenerative leader, social innovator, and cultural bridge-builder dedicated to transforming communities and ecosystems. Karambu is a pioneering force in holistic poverty alleviation and regenerative development, addressing mental, spiritual, and material dimensions through systems-based approaches that foster deep personal and community transformation.
She has created empowerment frameworks specifically designed for vulnerable groups, including women, youth, and children. Her innovative, systems-thinking methodology encompasses converting barren lands into thriving food forests and establishing a comprehensive regenerative model for African development initiatives. Drawing on her academic background and extensive local and international experience, Karambu has built robust frameworks spanning collective regeneration, community mobilization, grassroots organization, peace circle facilitation for collaborative problem- solving, environmental justice advocacy, and transformative leadership initiatives. Her work con- verts degraded landscapes—both ecological and human—into flourishing regenerative ecosystems where communities thrive and individuals reach their full potential
Jeremy Lent
Author and speaker whose work investigates the underlying causes of our civilization’s existential crisis, and explores pathways toward a life-affirming future.
His award-winning book, The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning, examines the way humans have made meaning from the cosmos from hunter-gatherer times to the present day. His more recent award-winning The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe offers a solid foundation for an integrative worldview that could lead humanity to a sustainable, flourishing future.
He has written extensively about the vision and specifics of an ecological civilization, and is the founder of the Deep Transformation Network, a global community exploring pathways toward a life-affirming future on a regenerated Earth. His upcoming book, Ecocivilization: Making a World that Works for All, will be published by Melville House in May 2026.
Author website: jeremylent.com
Rob Hopkins
Co-founder of Transition Network and of Transition Town Totnes, and author of several books including ‘The Transition Handbook‘ and most recently, ‘From What Is to What If: unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want’.
He is an Ashoka Fellow, has spoken at TED Global and at several TEDx events, and appears in the French film phenomenon ‘Demain’. He holds a PhD from the University of Plymouth as well as 2 Honoris Causas, and hosted 100 episodes of his podcast ‘From What If to What Next’. In November 2022 he was made an Honorary Citizen of Liège in Belgium. His collaborative music project with artist Mr Kit, ‘Field Recordings from the Future‘ will be released in May 2025, the same time as his new book ‘How to Fall in Love with the Future’. In his spare time, he draws and makes drypoint etchings.
His website is robhopkins.net.
Erika Zarate
Quechua-Canadian activist, educator, and consultant committed to regenerating the living systems that sustain us. With nearly thirty years of experience in crisis reconciliation, bioregional governance, and ecosystem articulation, she bridges Indigenous cosmologies with regenerative, systemic, and biomimicry frameworks to accompany organisations and territories through transformative change.
Rooted in her Quechua heritage and informed by decades working in war zones and with vulnerable communities, Erika’s practice is a weaving of decolonial, feminist, and intersectional threads.
She co-founded Resilience.Earth, a cooperative dedicated to cultivating community resilience, ecological regeneration, and ecosocial justice through participatory and relational governance. A seasoned strategist and facilitator, she has supported more than 150 organisations and public institutions across continents to design self-organising systems capable of responding to complexity with integrity and care.
Her work invites the remembrance that governance, at its core, is a living ecology of relationships, one that can re-root us in reciprocity, belonging, and collective agency. Recognised by the Government of Catalonia for her contribution to the human rights movement, Erika continues to teach, accompany, and disrupt - activating the intelligence of place and people in service of a just, regenerative, and life-honouring future.
Ross has for many years been an innovative leader in both the business and NGO worlds and has functioned as a management consulted in several industries and financial institutions. His business career has been as an independent consultant and software designer, later specializing in international finance. His Occupy World Street, A global roadmap for radical economic and political reform (2012), deals with geopolitics and global governance.
Ross’ PhD is in Operations Research, the science of problem solving, from Case Western Reserve University in the USA. Born a Canadian, he has since 1964 lived in Denmark, and became a Danish citizen in 1972. He lives with his wife Heather on an organic farm near Copenhagen that is being converted into an example of regenerative agriculture.
His new book, THE BAD NEWS & THE GOOD NEWS, is a follow up to Occupy World Street, with a focus on how a post-collapse civilization that lives within nature’s limits might look like.
Manda Scott
Award-winning novelist, host of the international chart-topping Accidental Gods podcast and co-founder of the Thrutopia Masterclass. Her novels span genres from crime through historical to Thrutopian and her eras stretch from before the Roman invasion through WWII to the future five minutes from now.
A Masters in Regenerative Economics from Schumacher College introduced her to systems thinking, the concepts of emergence and the radical possibilities inherent in this moment of absolute transition as the old system crumbles and the new unfurls in all its unknowable potential.
As we crash through the Great Transformation, she is spearheading a movement towards Thrutopian writing, which crafts the many route maps from a recognisable present through to a future we’d be proud to leave behind: a future where humanity flourishes as part of a thriving ecosphere. Her latest novel, Any Human Power does just this, and she is currently working on both a non-fiction that lays out the routes in more detail, and a sequel that carries the narratives forward.
She absolutely believes there remains a pathway to a future we’d be proud to leave behind - but that it will require all of us to find our common values and lever the best of human creativity in service to life. She lives with her wife on a smallholding in the borderlands between England and Wales.
Curtis Ogden
Network weaver-facilitator-trainer, leadership coach, organizational development and systems change consultant, and co-creator of the field of “energy systems science and practice” in support of resilient and regenerative communities.
For the past 20 years, he was been a Senior Associate with the Interaction Institute for Social Change, through which he provides collaborative network building support to initiatives focused on socio-economic equity and sustainability in food systems, public health, education and economic vitality. He also offers capacity building services focused on leadership and organizational development, multi-interestholder and public engagement; network building; process design and complex facilitation.
Mohamed el Mongy
Egyptian-born Mohamed El Mongy has 26 years of experience as an environmental consultant and professional dialogue facilitator, trainer, and mediator, working across all sectors in more than 20 countries, mostly within the African continent.
He has an MSc. in Environment and Development from Edinburgh University, and a PhD in integral theory in water conflicts and security at Davinci Institute in South Africa.
As well as many other projects and prizes, including the Ashoka Fellowship in 2022, and a long affiliation with the Global Ecovillage Network, Mongy co-founded Nile Journeys in 2016, which is an inspirational community platform for Nile Basin communities to come together, transcending trans-national politics and conflicts, to instead 'trans-locally' regenerate the Nile Basin region together. The word NILE serves as an acronym for “Nurturing Impulses for Living Ecosystems” in the bio-region through activities rooted in cultural exchange and celebration, indigenous knowledge, and regenerative practices.
Kai Sawyer
Educator, speaker, and sustainability practitioner based in Chiba, Japan, and the founder of Tokyo Urban Permaculture, a movement to regenerate urban ecosystems through food, culture, and community.
Active since 2001, his work integrates Nonviolent Communication, permaculture, mindfulness, and holistic education to cultivate regenerative living and social transformation. He teaches globally at universities, conferences, and communities, and advises institutions and governments on sustainability and regeneration. Kai lives with his family at the Peace and Permaculture Dojo in Isumi City, where he continues his educational work. He is the author of two books Urban Permaculture Guide and Our Earth Our Home and co-producer of the documentary Terra (2023) that features inspiring permaculture practitioners from Japan and the USA.7
Joe Brewer
Founder of Earth Regenerators, co-founder of the Design School for Regenerating Earth, co-founder of Fundación Barichara Regenerativa, and a steward for Bioregional Earth.
He is a regenerative designer who works on large-scale system change by bringing deep knowledge and experience from complexity, cultural evolution, the cognitive sciences, and Earth Systems. Throughout the last five years, Joe has helped catalyze a bioregional regeneration effort in the Northern Andes of Colombia. This includes a focus on ecosystem restoration, regenerative education, alternative approaches to flow funding and regenerative finance, and collaboration at landscape scales.
You can learn more about his work by reading his book “The Design Pathway for Regenerating Earth” or by checking out the Design School for Regenerating Earth.
Jon Young
A leader in the field of nature-based education for over 40 years, Jon is a mentor, wildlife tracker, peacemaker, author, public speaker, and storyteller.
His seminal works on deep nature connection include What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World (2013), and Coyote's Guide to Connecting to Nature (2007). A presenter at the Sustainable Wisdom Conference in 2016, Jon contributed a chapter on connection modeling to the anthology Indigenous Sustainable Wisdom: First-Nation Know-How for Global Flourishing (2019). As the creator of the 512 Map, Jon has established a best-practices process for nature connection mentoring and cultural revitalization (formerly called 8 Shields and the Art of Mentoring). A leader within an international network of practitioners cultivating effective connection mentoring programs in communities and organizations, he is dedicated to promoting nature-based cultural regeneration for the benefit of current and future generations. Jon's most recent project is located at the Living Connection 1st Village.
Della Duncan
Della guides journeys upstream to the root causes of the challenges of our time to empower us to realize and re-member who we are, why we are here and how we can contribute to the Great Turning.
As a Renegade Economist and moral philosopher, plants in her regenerative livelihood garden include hosting the Upstream Podcast which challenges mainstream economic thinking through documentaries and conversations including most recently The Green Transition: The Problem with Green Capitalism and The Myth of Freedom Under Capitalism, supporting individuals as a Right Livelihood Coach, helping transition businesses and organizations as a post capitalist consultant, co-leading the California Doughnut Economics Coalition, and teaching and facilitating courses and retreats on Right Livelihood, the Work that Reconnects and Regenerative Economics around the world.
David Bollier
For the past twenty-five years David Bollier has been an American activist, scholar, and blogger focused on the commonsas a new/old paradigm for re-imagining economics, law, social practice, and culture.
As Director of the Reinventing the Commons Program at the Schumacher Center for a New Economics [www.centerforneweconomics.org] since 2016, Bollier blogs at Bollier.org, hosts the monthly podcast Frontiers of Commoning, and collaborates with commons scholars, activists, policy experts, and brilliant irregulars worldwide. He has written or edited more than ten books on various aspects of the commons, including Think Like a Commoner, Second Edition (2025) and The Commoner's Catalog for Changemaking (2021). With his late colleague Silke Helfrich, Bollier co-authored Free, Fair and Alive (2019) and co-edited Patterns of Commoning (2015) and The Wealth of the Commons (2012). He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.
Galen Fulford
founding director of Biomatrix Water, part of the RSE group of companies. He is passionate about applying natural solutions to modern urban placemaking and infrastructure challenges.
Galen and his team bring over a decade of experience in modular floating ecosystems, with hundreds of projects delivered, and with Biomatrix Ecosystems dispatched to 20 countries. Galen values collaboration and teamwork—both with nature and with people, working together to create a more vibrant future, bringing water to life.
Galen is an Environmental Entrepreneur, Inventor, and founding Director of Biomatrix Water, with an extensive career dedicated to pioneering ecological water treatment and sustainable development. With a core expertise in environmental systems design and ecological technology,
Galen has played a transformative role in the integration of natural and technological processes to address critical water quality challenges worldwide.
From 2012 to the present Galen has served as the founder and Managing Director of Biomatrix Water Solutions Ltd a company renowned for its innovative modular ecological water treatment and water management systems, the foundational ecosystem technology on which landmark projects such as the Wild Mile in Chicago and Eden Dock in London have been built.
Biomatrix has delivered natural water management projects, with a focus on Modular Ecosystems in 20 countries. Galen's passion is collaboration with people and with nature, to restore and enhance water systems for the mutual benefit of humanity and nature.
Donnie Maclurcan
Passionate about approaches that equitably circulate money and power. His social enterprise engagement began as a teenager, fundraising for The Fred Hollows Foundation while attaining a Guinness World Record.
His diverse work includes roles as an exercise physiologist, athlete, coach, and advocate for the homeless and indigenous justice. He has taught abroad, been a journalist, and completed the world’s first PhD on nanotechnology and global inequality, presenting his research at the UN and authoring two books.
He founded Project Australia, helping over 200 not-for-profit projects. He later co-founded the Post Growth Institute (PGI), where as Director of Strategy he created initiatives like the Offers and Needs Market and Free Money Day, and gave the first TEDx talk on 'post-growth.' An author and professor, his work has been featured in The Guardian and Fast Company, and he is now writing books on post-capitalism and community wealth building.
This 20th Anniversary Online Festival is more than a celebration, it’s a fundraiser to fuel Gaia Education’s next 20 years of regenerative education!
Funds raised during the festival will go towards our bursary fund, ensuring that our courses are accessible to as many as possible.
Your participation directly supports our mission of empowering communities and individuals worldwide to co-create a just, thriving, and sustainable future.
What Our Learners Say.
I realize I am more capable than I had assumed. I am grateful for the learning format to facilitate speedy learning. Our project planning now includes more depth and detailing thanks to this course."
– K. U. S.
The course content was very comprehensive, detailed and practical. I appreciated how the facilitators brought a focus on real-world applications from the very beginning. They both modelled the principles of harmonious and supportive group-working that we were learning."
– N. B.
Freedom and flexibility. Meaningful content. Great facilitation. Inspirational and diverse group of other students.
Loved the mix of self study and live sessions."
– E. C.
Have questions? We’ve got answers.
No previous experience is required. All you need is a passion for community building and collaboration.
The course is designed to fit busy schedules with around 10 hours per week of flexible study. Though highly encouraged, Live Sessions are not mandatory and are recorded to be watched later.
Yes! The course provides hands-on tools you can apply immediately in your community.
When signing up, you will receive access to our online platform where recorded video interviews will be available to watch for the first week of December. If you choose to sign up to the live event, you will get an invitation to join the event on zoom, as well as unlimited access to the videos on our online platform.
By signing up for free, you will have access for 5 days to all the amazing recorded interviews of the Festival as well as participating in the Festival Forum, sharing insights and connecting with our international Community. By signing up and paying the fees, you will be supporting Gaia Education work in the world and you will get unlimited access to all the recorded interviews as well as the opportunity to join our Online Live Events happening on the 6th and 7th of December.
Yes! We have been careful to design the global event to match as many time zones as possible, but we know that it won’t suit everyone who wants to take part. By signing up for the live event, you will get unlimited access to a full recording of the event, as well as all the recordings of the video interviews, so that you can watch all the content at a time and pace that suits you.
Through this online festival, we are not only celebrating our 20th anniversary, we are also fundraising for our bursary fund. The bursary fund enables us to give out partial or full scholarships to our courses, ensuring that the regenerative education we offer reaches as many people as possible. Every donation to the fundraiser will support us in this mission.
When signing up, you will receive access to our online platform where recorded video interviews will be available to watch for the first week of December. If you choose to sign up to the live event, you will get an invitation to join the event on zoom, as well as unlimited access to the videos on our online platform.
By signing up for free, you will have access for 5 days to all the amazing recorded interviews of the Festival as well as participating in the Festival Forum, sharing insights and connecting with our international Community. By signing up and paying the fees, you will be supporting Gaia Education work in the world and you will get unlimited access to all the recorded interviews as well as the opportunity to join our Online Live Events happening on the 6th and 7th of December.
Yes! We have been careful to design the global event to match as many time zones as possible, but we know that it won’t suit everyone who wants to take part. By signing up for the live event, you will get unlimited access to a full recording of the event, as well as all the recordings of the video interviews, so that you can watch all the content at a time and pace that suits you.
Through this online festival, we are not only celebrating our 20th anniversary, we are also fundraising for our bursary fund. The bursary fund enables us to give out partial or full scholarships to our courses, ensuring that the regenerative education we offer reaches as many people as possible. Every donation to the fundraiser will support us in this mission.
A comprehensive programme covering four dimensions of sustainability: social, ecological, economic, and worldview.
No prior experience is required. This course is designed for both beginners and advanced learners. Whether you’re new to sustainability or looking to deepen your expertise, the course provides accessible and actionable content for everyone.
Entirely online with live sessions, group discussions, and self-paced assignments. You’ll have access to experienced facilitators, a supportive learning community, and rich resource materials.
Yes, each dimension can be taken as a standalone course, so if you are interested in specific dimensions, you can take them separately. Enrolling in the full course provides a holistic understanding of sustainability and is more cost-effective.
The Design Studio is the integration piece of the GEDS Full programme that you can join after complete the 4 Dimensions.
Participants have life-long access to the course material. Though the course has a defined length, participants can go back to the material any time after the course completion.
Celebrate 20 years of Gaia Education inspiring regeneration, sustainability, and transformative learning worldwide.
Be part of this unique celebration of hope, resilience, and action.
Speak with us on Whatsapp!