Designers Of Paradise With Erik Van Lennep

Albert Bates was working as an attorney on a water pollution case in Tennessee – agriculture chemicals polluting an aquifer. What he saw left him deeply shaken and changed the direction of his life. He tells this story and more to Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep as he unpacks the fifty year trajectory […]

Why do we talk about two degrees Celsius when we think in Fahrenheit? How do we get past fear and move to learning? How do we think bigger, act now, work together? These are the kind of questions Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep discussed with Sarah Harrison and Marc O’Brien of creative studio, […]

“They showed up with a truck full of what looked like the remains of a campfire. It even smelled like a campfire.” During a series of field trials Peltz realized that carbonized wood can help revitalize dramatically degraded land. “Stuff would grow on mine sites where nothing had grown for 100 years.” Christopher Peltz tells […]

H.O.P.E. – “Helping Other People Eat”. The vision came while Julie’s husband Rich was a homeless teenager, wondering why it was so hard to find food. He kept thinking if people knew how to grow their own food, there would be so much less hunger. Many years later a work related concussion required a home […]

People know something is going on. “Global Weirding” : all the snow, the tornadoes in strange places, bigger hurricanes, disappearing salmon … With so much evidence, so much urgency, why do we stay in ‘avoidance’ mode? What can we do about it? That was the topic when Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep spoke […]

How does “learning from nature” differ from “designing as nature” ? Can we overcome the “nature culture divide” ? What will it take for people to fall in love with the planet again? These are some of the topics Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep discusses with author, speaker and educator Daniel Christian Wahl. […]

What if we know what needs to be done … but need help making it happen? Should we focus on urgency and fear or joy and connecting? What about the suffering that is happening right now? How does self-forgiveness and observation fit in? And what about those kitchen gardens? In this episode Designers of Paradise […]

Are we in the midst of a creativity crisis? How can we reclaim our Imaginative capacities? Could better care and feeding of our hippocampus help us move forward?   In this episode Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep talks with his long-time colleague, social entrepreneur and author, Rob Hopkins.  Rob is founder of both Transition Town […]

How can we restore soil health, while locking away ever greater quantities of atmospheric CO2? An ancient method rediscovered in Amazonian soils has led to a proliferation of research over the last few decades. ‘Biochar’ is complex enough to satisfy the nerdiest soil scientists, yet basic enough that it can scale from back yard production […]

In this episode Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep talks with Anna Luberoff, Garden Programs Manager at Community Grows. Community Grows‘ mission is to “cultivate healthy youth through growing gardens in low-income, diverse communities.” Over the past decade they have helped renovate and maintain parks and gardens in the Western Addition neighborhood of San […]

In this episode Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep talks with Russell Wallack, Ecological Designer and Regenerative Business Consultant at Terra Genesis International. Russell describes his path from The Conway School (where he originally met Erik), how his focus evolved from social justice broadly to food justice specifically, and how a fortunate meeting with […]

In this episode Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep talks with Joshua Tosteson who is an impact investor and system change catalyst. Josh describes how he took a detour from college that led to a walkabout in Australia where he discovered Tagari Farm and Bill Mollison, the “father of permaculture”, and a fascination for […]

In this episode Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep talks with Eric Becker, Partner and Portfolio Manager at Clean Yield Asset Management. Eric was also a founding member of the Slow Money movement and is a founding board member of Soil4Climate. Eric describes the business of Clean Yield, managing investments for high net worth […]

In this episode Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep talks with Jesse McDougall who, with his wife Cally, run Studio Hill, a regenerative farm in Vermont. Jesse tells a love story that leads to him becoming a farmer. It is a gravely field he walks with tragedy, angst, learning, and eventual conquest. After acquiring […]

In this episode Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep talks with Stephen and Gloria Decater of Live Power Community Farm in Covelo, CA. They have been managing the farm for 45 years and during that time helped to pioneer CSA’s, implemented an innovative agricultural agricultural easement, and been committed to being fossil fuel free, […]

In this episode Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep talks with Kevin Doyle Jones who is, among other roles, one of the organizers of next month’s Regenerative Economics conference in San Francisco – Regen18. (Disclosure: RASA is a partner on this event – use this link to get 30% off your tickets.) The conversation […]

In this episode Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep talks with Mimi Hillenbrand of 777 Bison Ranch in South Dakota. In the Hillenbrand family for over 40 years, the ranch has been home for American Bison for over 30 years. Erik & Mimi discuss a recent wildfire, the critical role using a holistic management […]

In this episode Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep talks with co-founder and Chairman of Iroquois Valley Farms, Stephen Rivard. Not the “usual suspect” for working in either funding or real estate, nor farming itself, Steve is a doctor who used to run an emergency room. He describes the epiphany he had around food […]

“Relationship is the Key”   Food is so much more than “just food”. This week Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep explores the concept of food sovereignty with Simone Senogles of the Ojibwe nation and the Indigenous Environmental Network. Erik and Simone discuss the meaning of “food sovereignty”, its relationship to power, control and trauma; the […]

In this inspiring episode Designers of Paradise host Erik van Lennep talks with Life Educator, Wanda Stewart of Oakland California. Wanda is a social innovator, community builder and garden activist. She runs garden-based education programs for schools in Oakland California. Erik and Wanda talk about Wanda’s path from starting to garden as a hobby, inspired […]