Finn is an educator, facilitator and design consultant with who has been teaching permaculture since 2008. Completing his permaculture diploma in 20212 on permaculture education, he is a PiNZ affiliated permaculture educator. His particular interests and skills are in design process, ecological literacy, curriculum design, social ecology and social innovation. He is co-founder of Aotearoa Permaculture Workshop, Resilio Studio, CommonGround Community Gardens, Transition Pt. Chevalier, Grey Lynn 2030, and Our Amazing Place (formerly Pt. Chevalier Treasure Hunt). Finn brings a thorough understanding of teaching pedagogy and practice, design education, accelerated learning practices, a love of human cultures and a breadth of experience and exposure to indigenous knowledge and sustainable practices from around the globe.

Liz Stanway is a trained ecologist with over 30 years’ experience working on endangered species, forest, wetland and marine restoration and preservation projects across New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, Wales, Mauritius and the Middle East. She has been practising permaculture alongside her partner Rick for more than 25 years and holds both a Permaculture Design Certificate and Diploma.

Liz lives on a six-hectare permaculture and organic property in Raglan, where she and Rick grow fruits, nuts, vegetables and herbs, and sustainably produce firewood and timber, contributing significantly to their livelihood.

She and Rick are founding members of Xtreme Zero Waste - Raglan Community’s award-winning zero waste programme, as well as the Whaingaroa Environment Centre and several other local environmental initiatives.

Rick lives with his partner Liz and their extended family on their permaculture farm in Whaingaroa/Raglan. They have lived there for the last 33 years.

Prior to life in Raglan Rick worked as an ecologist for various organisations and in numerous countries. Specialising in endangered species management and marine conservation Rick brings skills and experience in ecological interpretation to the Raglan PDC.

Rick is passionate about community enterprise and brings 3 decades of experience to the course around design, establishment and governance. He will draw on examples he has been involved in including Xtreme Zero Waste, Zero Waste Aotearoa, Te Mauri Tau, Pacific Vision Aotearoa. He will also share lessons learnt in the establishment of a network of community enterprises established in partnership with Auckland Council to deliver zero waste outcomes to Auckland City.

Tiaki Coates is of Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe and Kāi Tahu descent and lives in Whāingaroa with his hoa wahine and two tamariki. In 2025, they moved onto a 38-acre farm where they are restoring wāhi tapu, reforesting native kāhere, and cultivating the land using regenerative practices. In 2009 Tiaki lived for over a year with Rick Thorpe and Liz Stanway on their permaculture farm, learning to observe natural patterns and living systems that mirror traditional Māori and indigenous land practices - knowledge that continues to guide his mahi today.

His passion is supporting whānau Māori to thrive. He believes the solutions to many of today's problems lie within the wisdom of Te Ao Māori. With over 20 years experience in youth development and outdoor education, Tiaki has instructed Aoraki Bound for 10 years, advised Outward Bound on embracing Mātauranga Māori, and sailed close to 20,000 nautical miles around the Pacific onboard the voyaging canoe Te Matau-a-Māui. In 2015, he co-founded Poutama Rites of Passage, a kaupapa revitalising the ancient practice of Tohi to support tamariki and their whānau through the passage from childhood to adulthood.

He uri tēnei nō te Tai Rawhiti, tu mai ra a Hikurangi me tōna mana rangatira, ko Ngati Pōrou te iwi. Tiro atu ki te kakī o Nuhaka, Ko Ngati Kahungungu te Iwi. Nō Kōtirana, nō Aerana hoki. Ko Whāingaroa te kainga rua, ko Karioi te maunga ko Whāingaroa te moana.

Tyla is a teina amongst the whāingaroa permaculture community, their first exposure to permaculture was 7 years ago in the last Raglan PDC with Rick and Liz. It was a pivotal experience.

The PDC reinforced their emerging passion for regenerative food, land, community and lifestyle practices. Tyla managed the Te Mauri Tau kitchen and maara kai for 8 years, learning how to grow seasonal, nutrient dense kai and utilising it in the kitchen for wananga.


Tyla is now working with kaupapa māori organisation Poutama Rites of Passage hanging with māori youth, exploring māori identity and how it relates to the world around us. Weaving regenerative practice into the landscape of our youth alongside whakapapa māori, informed by our tīpuna. 



Tylas māori and european ancestry places them between worlds and they feel it is their role to ask the questions and weave the strands. Where do the worlds of permaculture and māori identity meet? And where do they need to be woven?

Ian was a designer and builder for 23 years, mostly in the UK and California. After coming back to NZ in 1999 and completing a Permaculture Design course, he designed and built his own "Eco" home in Raglan where he has lived with his family for more than 20 years. After working with Xtreme Zero Waste on a timber and building product recycling programme Ian was the Eco Design Advisor for 12 years at Hamilton City Council. As the EDA, he reckons he must have visited up to 10 houses a week and he's seen every type of problem a house can have. Ian is a member of the original "dream team" that developed the first HPA course that started back in 2013. Ian's an encyclopedia of home performance knowledge and has an almost uncontrollable passion for educating kiwis about home performance.

Simon Thomson is a drystock farmer from Ruapuke, Waikato, deeply committed to practical regenerative agriculture that supports climate and ecological resilience. On his farm, Simon has adopted innovative biological approaches to nutrient and waste management - most notably the regular release of dung beetles into his pastures.

By working with dung beetles, Simon aims to reduce effluent runoff and methane emissions at the source, making his farming system more productive and environmentally responsible. His approach reflects a broader commitment to sustainable land stewardship and climate-aware practice, and he speaks openly about the need for urgent action on climate change, including planning for sea-level rise and adaptation in vulnerable coastal landscapes.

Clare Wimmer is a permaculturalist, potter, and sustainability educator based in Waitetuna Valley, Raglan, New Zealand. She lives on a self-sufficient one-hectare property where she applies Permaculture Design and Hua Parakore principles, integrating regenerative practices such as closed-loop water systems, food forests, and sustainable housing. A certified Permaculture Design and Teacher Training graduate, she previously served as Chair and Treasurer of Permaculture in New Zealand, coordinated the Permaculture Design Certificate program at the Waikato Environment Centre, and hosts WWOOFers to share hands-on knowledge. Her tagline, "I am changing the world, one WWOOfer at a time," reflects her commitment to community-based education and sustainable living.

In addition to her permaculture work, Clare is the part-time Business Manager at CLIMsystems, a global climate change consultancy supporting UN agencies and developing nations with climate risk data. She also co-runs Wimmer Design, a family business focused on tiny homes, and teaches pottery and olla-making workshops that blend creative expression with ecological resilience. With a background in psychology, facilitation, and systems thinking, Clare emphasizes holistic well-being, climate adaptation, and reconnecting people with the land through mindful, regenerative practices.

Tania is a community organiser and environmental advocate working across the Waikato, with a focus on food resilience, waste reduction, and strengthening community connections. In her role as Food Resilience Coordinator at the Whāingaroa Environment Centre, she supports projects that bring people together to grow, share, and value food. This includes facilitating food‑growing education, leading food‑sharing initiatives, and coordinating TimeBank Raglan. These projects help reconnect people with each other and the land.

She has co‑created and delivered a modular Permaculture Design Course with the Waikato Permaculture Collective and Go Eco. Her particular interest is urban permaculture and how it can inform more sustainable social systems, that reduce waste and consumption while building connection and care. She doesn’t claim to have all the answers, but believes that when communities draw on permaculture design principles, they have the tools to create a positive and vibrant future together.

Merve is a permaculture facilitator and educator who has been working with permaculture principles for many years through hands-on projects, courses, and community workshops. She co-runs a permaculture farm and intentional community, where permaculture is lived and practiced daily through food forests, gardens, nature smart systems, and collective decision-making.

Her work is grounded in real-life experience: designing, planting, and tending regenerative landscapes while navigating the social and practical realities of living on the land with others. For Merve, permaculture is not only a way to design landscapes, but a powerful framework for designing life, supporting resilience, connection, and long-term wellbeing.

Merve brings a grounded, inclusive, and experiential approach to teaching, supporting learners to bridge theory with real life application and develop confidence in their own design process.

Bernadette has a life-long passion in supporting others in discovering
deeper alignment with Self, a greater sense of connection with nature, and
as a result, more understanding with each other.

From 2002 - 2019 Bernadette and her partner co created Solscape Eco
Retreat in Raglan, an inspirational hub for travellers world wide, which
evolved along the basis of the permaculture principles.

During her 17 years at Solscape, Bernadette hosted numerous
permaculture design courses, and dedicated her time to supporting
hundreds of guests in harnessing their personal resilience and building self
empowerment through workshops, yoga, mindfulness practices; somatic,
energy and intuitive healing.

With clients based world wide, through her work as author, artist, animal
communicator, and spiritual mentor, Bernadette combines a gentle yet
profound way of guiding people in ways to develop ‘deep listening’ and
authentic expression, so as to be conscious and active participants in life,
where clarity and courage can flourish.