By Hannah Simons, August 2026
Gondwana Alive aims to inspire people worldwide to improve relations with our planet by creatively regenerating and protecting biodiversity through the way we live. This is a path we all need to take to protect the parts of our natural planet we have left.
Welcome to the story of our journey into regenerative best practice so far! Put on your walking shoes and get ready to be led down a scenic path we hope will inspire you to grow in stewardship and sustainable practices.
!Khwa ttu Indigenous San heritage Centre and their Food from Our Ancestors project:
Let’s start at the very beginning. Quite literally.
We begin our journey at !Khwa ttu, where we can learn from southern Africa’s First People, the San. While we were here, we discovered Food from Our Ancestors, a project to look back on how the San lived in a reciprocal relationship with the land and the ways we can go back to that connected way of being, without needing to live in caves again.
How can we do this exactly? Here is some advice from !Khwa ttu’s point of view to inspire you!
- Respect and Reciprocity: Treat the land as a partner and not just a resource. When you take a resource, put something back to replace it.
- Humility and Listening: We can gain valuable knowledge by just simply listening, observing and learning from elders and the land rather than controlling it.
- Care and Responsibility: Our food, work and relationships should be dealt with in a way that is attentive and ethical. Using every part of what we take, wasting nothing.
- Continuity and Renewal: It is so important that we remember the past while actively regenerating the present. This means healing land and passing on knowledge and skills to younger generations.
The San lived a life connected to the land. Laughter, singing, hunting and gathering. Not dominating the land but giving back for every bit of what they took.
We can learn a lot from how simply San lived. A warm smile at a stranger, time shared, looking after nature outdoors and welcoming others into your home can be great ways to begin our journey to a better and brighter world.
Link: https://khwattu.org/home
Abalobi and other examples of regenerative fishing practices:
Now it is time to breathe in the fresh, salty air as we stroll along the coast with Abalobi.
Abalobi supports fishermen and small fisheries that have learned how to fish responsibly without damaging the ecosystems that rely on fish. Let us pause for a moment and dive into the main ideas around Abalobi:
- Sustainable fishing
- Advancing culture with technology.
- Promoting small scale fishers
- Implementing local/national change
- Providing for infrastructure needs
Stewardship sums up the aims and values of Abalobi. Small-scale fishers are encouraged to be mindful of what they are taking from the ocean by having them record the fish’ species, catch and size on their Abalobi app. This also means that people are responsible when working with marine ecosystems like beaches and reefs.
Abalobi also ensures honesty and participation, with local knowledge being used in national governance.
We also dropped into stories of fisherwomen and saw that living with nature is an everyday lived experience. This way of doing things takes care of nature as it takes care of us. It is embedded in culture with a strong basis in natural wild foods. We urgently need to cultivate this idea to achieve the global goal of living in harmony with nature by 2050.
There is much more to be seen on our journey, so let’s continue inland…
Link: https://abalobi.org/
Herding for Health:
The grass isn’t always greener on someone else’s pasture, but in this case, it is.
Herding for Health welcomes you to the practice of regenerative agriculture!
The solution reflects what we looked at with !Khwa ttu. It focuses on having a relationship with the land rather than controlling it. People do not consider themselves owners of the land, rather they see themselves as caretakers of it.
The Herding for Health stewardship community coexists with livestock in a respectful manner, not seeing them as mere economic assets but as part of a living system and looking after them through herding and veterinary care. This model is driven by a community which emphasizes governance, making decisions as a community and holding each other accountable rather than individuals acting in isolation.
The emphasis is on regeneration, mainly of soils, livelihoods and biodiversity. This reveals that future generations are kept in mind when a decision is made. Through an approach called One Health, a mindset is created that intertwines social, ecological, and economic systems rather than setting them apart from each other.
Before we take our next few steps, take a break and acknowledge how we can live with the land, animals and each other going forward:
- Take responsibility for caring.
- Cultivate stewardship and interconnectedness.
- Collaborate with others and act as a collective.
- Practice respect and embrace long-term thinking.
- Accept accountability, learn good governance.
- Find ways to adapt.
These support a change towards a way of living that is regenerative, centered around community and aware of the different systems. In this sense, success is not only measured economically, but also by the health and resilience of the whole social-ecological system.
Link: https://www.herding4health.net/about/h4h-model
Ten Trees and Zingela Ulwazi:
Be like a flower and bloom where you are planted through the teachings of Ten Trees and Zingela Ulwazi!
We can take a leaf off the 10 Trees’ branch when it comes to relating to trees and permaculture. The move must be from exploitation to growing relationships.
Each household is involved in planting 10 different productive trees to grow and share, which reflects a local level responsibility for food, health and the environment. This shows that small but consistent actions do matter. It is clear that change begins where you are and not anywhere else. We must learn to be active participants, not just passive consumers.
Here is a sight for the poets journeying with us:
To fully harvest this way of being,
People must stop seeing
Trees as something for extraction
And rather cultivate a caring reaction.
Let’s understand that our well-being is connected
To the health of an ecosystem protected.
Learning to work with soil, water and plant processes
Is where the earth and all on it progresses.
If we take a few steps forward, we will see regenerative agriculture. The focus of regeneration rather than just sustaining is to restore soil, biodiversity and wellbeing in the community. The approach sees participants as ecosystem regenerators. It teaches less on ways of surviving, and more on restoring and thriving!
So, instead of relying solely on external systems for food, let’s begin to grow what we need at home to reconnect ourselves with the natural cycles and seasons around us. These behaviours create a relationship that is directly connected with the sources of life.
Zingela Ulwazi is an organization that aims to empower and encourage women that live in rural communities. Women are taught to be independent, healthy, educated and full of joy. They focus on regenerating their communities, economies and futures, with full access to information and technology.
Their vision is to create a world where women’s rights are honoured, where their bodily integrity and safety are valued, and where their unique talents, gifts and skills in contributing to healthy communities are recognized.
Link: https://zingelaulwazi.org.za/
Lynedoch Eco-village:
Before we carry on our journey, we arrive at the type of area that we are most familiar with for some refreshments. Rest up and wander around Lynedoch eco-village.
Not only has it been running for 20 years, but Lynedoch is also South Africa’s first mixed race, mixed income eco-village!
Soul, Soil, and Society. This is the vision of the Sustainability Institute that established the Lynedoch Eco-Village. This village is made up of a variety of eco-friendly buildings of either mud and straw bricks, steel framing and wood.
It is a place where visitors and students can reflect, connect and imagine a more just future. The village is orientated around nature and child-centered schools. This demonstrates a self-reliant, ecologically designed urban system that prioritizes affordable housing and enables ownership.
Responsible resource management in Lynedoch is seen as a part of creating a regenerative future. To manage waste, the whole community participates by separating waste into recyclable, food waste or landfill waste streams. The village also aims at using renewable energy. Having solar geysers and gas stoves has helped to reduce fossil fuel generated energy use by 70%.
Through our exploration of Lynedoch eco-village, we learnt that a self-reliant community focused on using renewable energy to minimize the burning of fossil fuels is possible.
We hope everyone is well hydrated for the next leg of our journey!
Link: https://www.sustainabilityinstitute.net/eco-village/
Finca Bellavista:
Let’s fix our gaze upwards as we go to the treetops of Finca Bellavista.
You will certainly be welcomed in the Finca Bellavista community! Each person carries the responsibility of making everyone feel at home from the second they arrive.
This treetop community within a rainforest in Costa Rica – the first of its kind in the world – is a place where guests and residents reconnect with nature and fully experience the rainforest.
The Finca Bellavista is a sanctuary for anyone who loves being in nature. It may not be fancy, but it has what is needed to live a simple, quality lifestyle while also being near to hospitals, shops and restaurants.
Although it’s a space for humans to dwell, there is strong stewardship of the land that is implemented in every decision that is made. Their focus is to have as little impact on the environment as possible and doing everything full of consciousness, caution and care.
The community operates entirely off grid. The power from the sun generates all energy used by means of a photovoltaic solar system. Future needs are planned to be met through combining solar and hydro assets.
There is a requirement for houses at Finca Bellavista to be built on stilts so that animal migration beneath the forest canopy can occur naturally. Most of the food consumed is grown on site or sourced locally. This is to minimize the community’s footprint on the ecosystem as much as they can.
Interestingly, their “biodigester” system processes human waste and grey water in a way that prohibits ecosystem contamination. To do this, they use anaerobic bacteria to break down sewerage and wastewater. The liquid byproducts are then filtered and are often absorbed by the soil without causing harm to the environment. These biodigesters are amazing alternatives to septic tanks.
Link: https://www.fincabellavistacommunity.com/about-finca-bellavista/
Urban Next:
For those of you who like sci-fi, our next stop will catch your attention.
Introducing ReGen Villages!
ReGen Villages branches off the Urban Next company. ReGen Villages suggests that self-reliant ways of living are becoming the state-of-the-art way of being. This real estate company is tech integrated. Their purpose is to answer the most pressing global financial, social, and especially environmental challenges.
ReGen stands for regeneration. The company puts regeneration like this, “The outputs of one system are the inputs of another”.
Their holistic approach combines innovative technologies such as positive energy homes, renewable energy, energy storage as well as water management and waste-to-resource systems. With the help of integrated technologies, ReGen Villages has the potential to address some of the challenges faced by a growing population such as increasing urbanization, scarce resources, global food crisis and reducing CO2 emissions.
Being an alternative to big urbanization, the company is on a journey to join venture partners in projects to develop communities world-wide to redefine real estate for the next 3 billion people coming to the planet.
The company aims to create a better model for a sustainable future where living standards can be sustained by thinking smarter and not smaller, adding value on a social level and not just on a financial or environmental level.
ReGen Villages cultivates a framework to empower families and develops a sense of community by reconnecting people to nature and consumption with production.
This creates a space for the restoration of biodiversity.
Link: https://urbannext.net/regen-villages/
Self-reliant household techniques and technologies:
Onwards with our exploration folks! If you look around, you will notice the idea we identified earlier on our journey, self-reliant households.
Look at these “best practices” for self-reliant households, there is a sustainable solution for each of the following practices:
Food and health: From Ten Trees and !Khwa ttu we have learnt that a household can grow plants for both food and medicine. The technique is permaculture designs with a focus on cultivating indigenous food and medicine plants.
Energy: Most of us use electricity these days. More people are using renewable resources like sunlight and hydropower to produce electricity. An example we have looked at is Lynedoch Eco Village where they use gas stoves and solar panels to reduce the burning of fossil fuels. Finca Bellavista also relies entirely on the radiation from the sun to power everything, and their goal is to use hydropower as well to produce electricity.
Water Management: Whether it’s a Jojo tank or a more sophisticated system, Mexico City is an example of how water collection helps in water scarce areas. There are many sophisticated water pumps and filtration systems that can be used to purify water, but Lynedoch Eco Village shows how natural wetlands can be used to filter and reuse grey water.
Waste management: Whether we realize it or not, both food waste and human waste are ongoing issues. We saw through Finca Bellavista’s “biodigester” system that there is a way to manage human waste without harming the environment. For managing food waste, there is Bokashi Bran which allows households to break down food scraps into nutrient filled compost. There are also waste incinerators, which break down medical waste, oil waste and animal byproducts. This is an alternative to just throwing waste into landfills or burning it.
Links:
Harvesting water: https://www.iuemag.com/inspi-news/inspi-writes/benefits-of-rainwater-harvesting-systems-for-smart-homeowners/
Filtering water: https://youtu.be/AJMmIQU0KwQ?si=G6EnmIK_UyULjB9V
Reusing water: https://www.sustainabilityinstitute.net/eco-village/
Incinerator: https://sswm.info/es/sswm-solutions-bop-markets/affordable-wash-services-and-products/affordable-technologies-sanitation/incineration-%28small-scale%29
Barefoot College:
Our final steps of our journey will be taken at Barefoot College. And no, you don’t have to take your shoes off.
Barefoot College is a groundbreaking “college” that can help people learn how to install, maintain and use technologies like Solar energy and Wi-Fi. Even folk who didn’t have the privilege of learning to read and write can now learn how to gain and provide access to information and connectivity! Barefoot College makes this all possible through their innovative training programs for barefoot solar engineers, using a successful approach that has already been adopted and adapted to train wireless engineers. Put these two things together and the world becomes the oyster of even the most isolated communities.
Barefoot College empowers marginalized, rural communities around the world by giving them access to sustainable solutions related to water, solar, education, health, livelihoods and the environment. Barefoot College International positively impacts 15 of the 17 sustainable development goals! This organisation runs three different programs to benefit women and their communities:
- Solar training equips women to become solar engineers and to bring electricity to their villages.
- ENRICH gives women training on transformative life skills to empower them.
- Livelihood training gives women specific skills to start their own business, empowering them with a skill development that leads to better health and resilience all the while contributing to economic growth.
Ultimately, the vision of Barefoot College is a world where every individual can lead a dignified life, regardless of their circumstances or background. Barefoot College places the wisdom, skills and knowledge found within the village at the centre of their development, giving people back their dignity and self-respect.
Women are trained to become solar engineers who can bring clean electricity to off-grid villages. The curriculum uses color-coding, mimed instructions and hands-on fabrication to cross both language and literacy barriers. This way of learning exposes the difference between literacy and education.
Finally, Barefoot College has the values all of us should hold:
- Equality
- Effective decision-making.
- Decentralisation
- Self-reliance
- Austerity.
Link: https://barefootcollege.org/what-we-do/
We have reached the end of our road, thank you for walking with us and being open to the lessons and practices we all need to carry throughout our daily lives. It seems that not only do the knowledge, technologies and practices exist to help us lead regenerative (and hence sustainable) lives, but the training techniques too! We wish you well on your stewardship voyage and hope to see you on our blog again soon!