FEATURING ON STAGE
TOOLS FOR BUILDING
SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY LIVING
Friday : ECO VILLAGES
Speakers - MAIN STAGE
BOX OFFICE OPENS
DOORS OPEN
WELCOME + INVOCATION
INVOCATION
Meera Allen is an Australian based artist, singer-songwriter, dancer and yogini. A lifelong vegetarian committed to daily meditation practice, Meera is passionate about music, yoga and inner harmony. She loves sharing her peaceful, energetic presence inspiring her audience to feel the vibration of sound, discover new music and create shifts toward a more holistic life. She also teaches a range of yoga styles from restorative to Power Yoga to people with autism.
Meera shall be setting the tone for the event with her strong, beautiful and powerful presence with voice.
DR BRIAN STOCKWELL (Noosa) • Councillor for Noosa Shire
Designing with Nature – Eco Villages Noosa Style
As a Noosa Councillor Brian Stockwell chairs the Shire’s Planning and Environment Committee. He is a passionate advocate for ecologically sustainable development.
In his 30 years' as a planner, environmental manager and ecologist he has helped Councils and community groups win a number of state and national awards. He believes the Noosa planning philosophy goes hand in hand with innovative eco village developments that blend nature, knowledge and nurture.
As a counter culturalist involved in the Down to Earth Movement in the 70’s, the concept of eco villages is not new to Brian, having stayed at several alternate communities in the latter part of that decade. His first abode in Noosa was a ‘tiny house’ on a block donated to the local Permaculture group. Brian’s passion for sustainable futures drove his academic interest which culminated in PhD research investigating sustainable agriculture and local food systems in catchments along the Queensland coast.
BEN O'CALLAGAN - Smart Urban Villages
The Ecovillage at Currumbin
Sustainable Communities Consultant
Ben is one of Australia’s leading sustainability professionals with more than 20 years of experience in the property sector. Ben practices what he preaches, living in one of Australia’s most awarded communities The Ecovillage at Currumbin.
He will present a 12-year Case Study of the Ecovillage’s challenges and triumphs, whilst delivering tips on how to design, build and operate a (more) environmentally sustainable community. Ben’s award-winning sustainable house “Yagoi100” is energy positive and 100% self-sufficient for water and an integral part of the Ecovillage-wide tours he provides.
Ben, aka ‘Mr Sustainability’ is a Director of Ecomplish Sustainability, Smart Urban Villages and a former Bond University lecturer in Sustainable Development. He is an Assessor for the Green Building Council of Australia, for the Green Star Communities rating tool.
Morag Gamble lives a permaculture life with her family at the UN World
Habitat Award-Winning Crystal Waters Ecovillage near Maleny, Australia.
How A Truly Sustainable Way Of Life Looks Today
Morag is an urban permaculture and community garden pioneer and ambassador in Australia.
She has has reached millions through her online permaculture platform Our Permaculture Life.
She co-founded the incredibly successful Northey Street City Farm permaculture community
farm on the immediate northern outskirts of the Brisbane city CBD, and also founded the
Australian City Farms and Community Gardens Network. She led the first women’s
permaculture course in Indonesia, the first permaculture design courses in the Bahamas,
South Korea and Hong Kong, and the first ecovillage design course in Italy.
She is happiest teaching barefoot, hands in the earth, feasting her way around permaculture gardens, sharing meals and exchanging deep knowledge about regenerative ways of living and about real food and plants that is held in oral traditions
from all cultures. She has been invited to share her experiences on five continents - along with her recent trip to Africa.
Q&A PANEL : "What Does It Take To Build An Eco Village?"
RICHARD HENRY WHITEHURST (USA) •
The Overview Institute of Australia
THE OVERVIEW EFFECT
Psychotherapist, clinical hypnotist, published author, father, husband, ‘possibillian’ and ‘planetary contextualist’ – Richard Whitehurst has been involved in meditation, change work, and helping others to expand awareness since 1970.
His incredible presentation, 'The Overview Effect' is a powerful message that has changed people's lives - Forever. An overview of the planet that astronauts report feeling changed once they return to earth from deep outer space.
JIMMYZ HIRST • director of polkadot • community
Event Organiser
TINY HOUSE ECO VILLAGES
Former media & music industry identity, social engineer, entrepreneur and even National Celebrity DJ, Jimmy has travelled the world for over seven years researching Eco Villages.
Find out about Tiny Houses and how they may be the key to creating connected and Sustainable Villages for the future. Learn how this type of eco smart, affordable, mobile housing can overcome community isolation and disconnection, and start to regenerate the small village living model for a more meaningful and effective way to live.
His vision extends to engaging the use of Technology to collaborate an open source operating system for Eco Villages which will allow people a new level of living with greater freedom to move around until they “Find Their Tribe”.
JASON 'DJALMBU' HILDER • University of Queensland
Community Advisor
RETROFITIA
Jason is a planner, philosopher, guide and permaculture gardener who has immersed in exploring the diversity of communal living arrangements from grass roots settlements to well financed master planned estates. He has lived in share houses and ecovillages throughout Southeast Queensland and visited intentional communities throughout Australia and Europe over a 17 year period. The culmination of this research is coming together in a PhD on ‘Intentional Community Living Arrangements’ at University of Queensland.
He will showcase a conceptual model of converting existing suburban homes to affordable eco-housing living arrangements in a way that enables people to have the best of private space and community connection.
Jason consults to councils, developers, planners and community groups to build greater community connection within their neighbourhoods. His intention is to bring greater awareness of ecovillages and cohousing to the housing industry and be part of bringing them to life.
Q&A PANEL : "Building A New Generation of Eco Villages"
IAN UGARTE • Small Is The New Big
CIRCLE OF LIFE
A long time advocate and Small Space specialist, celebrity and spokesperson, Ian Ugarte brings his own experience from his family upbringing into the context of a future living model for a Community – being that of the Extended Family – and how we may better adapt and shape living estates and housing models to reflect the changing needs of all people at different stages of their lives; from childbirth, to young adulthood, then to family life and old age – hence, The Circle of Life.
Ian brings his story into the modern context of how going small more readily accommodates affordable, adaptable living quarters and presents a huge economic opportunity for both investors and inhabitants. His passion is on bringing back the genuine connection of community through Elegant Housing Diversification
CHRIS WENBAN (VIC) • Tiny Footprint
Chris Wenban has been travelling the country collaborating and connecting Tiny House community groups and advocates in all states and regions.
The goal of the ATHA (Australian Tiny House Association) is to create an inclusive voice for representing all stakeholders in the tiny house community. ATHA will support advocacy with government and councils to form appropriate policy, planning and codes for Tiny Houses and provide information about safety and building requirements, tailoring these to suit the Australian conditions and culture.
Chris shall provide her latest update on the latest progress and initiatives for the Australian Tiny Housing Association.
New Zealand born Bryce Langston is emerging as an International YouTube Celebrity with his channel Living Big in a Tiny House now attracting well OVER 1 MILLION subscribers - he may as well be described as the Jamie Oliver of Tiny Housing. Bryce is also a film producer and television star, and a musician.
“I love the concept of marrying tiny architecture and permaculture to create a wonderfully sustainable living concept that is simple for others to follow.”
The YouTube series is dedicated to downsized, eco-friendly living. Tiny Houses, Small Space Design, DIY, Permaculture, Minimalism, Off-Grid Living. It is an important project for Bryce, as it symbolises another step towards a way of life that is more congruent with his values and passion for protecting the earth.
Bryce has worked as a permaculture consultant for the British Council, and also established an urban food forest on Auckland’s North Shore.
Speakers - MEZZANINE (First Level)
TERRI WALLER • Deadly Espresso Cafe, Eumundi
SEVGEN
Terri Waller’s Deadly Espresso Cafe in Eumundi has become an exciting place for conscious conversations, as well as sustainable coffee and deliciously made meals from bush tucker, genuine heart + love.
One of Terri’s lifelong wishes is to help inspire the broader community how to engage in a tribal communication, which she calls SEVGEN: how grandparents can pass on the wisdom and knowledge in just three conversations, through “seven generations” of the family.
She is one of many of our proud Indigenous thought leaders who, one day, wish to inspire connection with all Australians to each other, themselves, the land and nature, and through the elders of Uluru, and with the Dreamtime.
PHIL BENJAMIN • The Dialogical Approach
THE DIALOGICAL APPROACH
Phil Benjamin has been a mental health nurse for more than 40 years and works mainly in emergency mental health services. He has been exploring alternative approaches for more than twenty years, since it became clear that there have been no significant breakthroughs in usual care - based the medical model of mental distress - despite billions being spent on research.
He has completed training in methods that focus on the inner experience of people and whole families who seek support through times of stress and crisis.
The Dialogical approach to treatment planning for psychiatric crises - which emphasises the need for exploring context and development of a common language to find a path through these crises – produces a more organic experience than medication alone. It encompasses the rights and dignity of the person of main concern and allows for the common sense expertise of those who know the situation in most detail, to hold a significant place in the conversation about restoring stability and safety. These ways of thinking about community-based responses to repairing and restoring the human ecological systems fit well into ideas of self-sufficiency and organic lifestyles.
GLENN PHELAN • Manaian Way
MANAIAN WAY
Glenn Phelan has been travelling and talking about the use of Guardianship as the tool of difference which leads humanity to the free use of the many things we have to pay for daily survival. Greg offers o simple yet sustainable new reality that reduces the cost of living and increases the standard of living.
Particularly receiving great acceptance within the Maori community of New Zealand with favourable speaking positions at traditional events sharing his philosophies and model.
Glenn has been a terrific self-starter, successful innovator and entrepreneur and business minded person, realising after all the fundamental key to life is not great riches but how you can be rich in receiving value from the service to others.
His achievements taking his children around the world for a year when they were only 10 and 12 discovering many different ways of doing things.
SIMON BULL • Evolutionary Living Project
144,000 Eco Villages by 2050 / Integrated Organic Farming
Simon Bull has been a long-time advocate of Eco Villages and their holistic living principles. The Evolutionary Living Project is based on an original inspiration of Simon Richard Bull to address biodiversity loss.
This inspiration came from the Evolutionary Living Fractal Model, which was developed and researched both privately and within Academe at the University of Technology Sydney, UTS.
Simon shall also be exploring the anthroposophical angle on agriculture (biodynamics) given out by Rudolf Steiner, which poses that humankind is faced with the imperative of re-establishing and honouring the relationship with the Devic Kingdom. Devic relates to the spirits of trees, the Earth, plants etc.
The Evolutionary Living Project aims to go viral and deliver 144,000 Enterprise Eco-Villages world-wide, by 2050.
ALEXANDER KOHL • SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR
The 5 Essential Ingredients for Successful Communities
Many forms of distributed communities can fulfill our desire for connection and meaningful contribution. From dance communities, to car sharing; not for profit organisations to successful businesses, Alexander Kohl has helped shape many communities.
Alexander produced the Sustainable Living Festival in Melbourne in 2004, which attracted 120,000 visitors. He built a solar company ten years ago from bedroom to 22 employees in 15 months. Since then, he build another 2 successful businesses and has just started the next, focused on a solar backed community currency for Noosa.
ROD HYATT • Hope ReBuilders
Hope ReBuilders
Recognising that being poor doesn't mean being ordinary.
Because when systems are broken, like the ones that we're seeing around the world, it's an opportunity for invention and for innovation. It's an opportunity to truly build a world where we can extend services and products to all human beings, so that they can make decisions and choices for themselves.
I am one, but I want to be one of a thousand - a thousand ReBuilders who will bring hope to those who have been dealt a hard blow by life. 1,000 people x $1,000 = $1 million. What can we do with that million?
We will soon be announcing ReBuild Center which will serve several purposes. It will provide a space where we can welcome refugees, intellectually and physically challenged individuals, homeless, work for the dole people, parolees, and community service people as well as volunteers and social services interns.
Simple Natural Living & Emotional Wellbeing
Ian Trew is a health professional offering consultation services in community design, emotional health & well-being. Ian is Keynote Speaker and Permaculture Design Certificate Course (PDC) teacher at Noosa Forest Retreat, a holistic permaculture education center, and co-founder & manager of Beach Health Retreat, a 4 star beach-side health & well being retreat - both on the Sunshine Coast, Australia.
Talking about the vital integration of emotional wellbeing, life satisfaction and functional connection with natural environment and each other; and the hidden determinates of true health.