About Us
Holistic Restoration
Holistic Restoration exists to reframe the relationship between people and nature.
We use the latest scientific insights to illuminate our ecological roles in landscapes and support people and communities to step outside and into dynamic partnership with the wild, to enhance their health and restore our world.
We take an interdisciplinary, evidence based, systems approach to everything that we do offering a range of Courses and Talks as well as Consultancy to equip people to explore their interdependence with the wild and to become a conscious participant in natures complex web.
We carry out cutting edge research into the ecological roles that people play and how self willed natural processes underpin human health and wellbeing. Our courses and consultancy are both informed by, and contribute to, ongoing research within the organisation on the benefits of human-wild landscape mosaics.
Holistic Restoration exists to reframe the relationship between people and nature.
We use the latest scientific insights to illuminate our ecological roles in landscapes and support people and communities to step outside and into dynamic partnership with the wild, to enhance their health and restore our world.
We take an interdisciplinary, evidence based, systems approach to everything that we do offering a range of Courses and Talks as well as Consultancy to equip people to explore their interdependence with the wild and to become a conscious participant in natures complex web.
We carry out cutting edge research into the ecological roles that people play and how self willed natural processes underpin human health and wellbeing. Our courses and consultancy are both informed by, and contribute to, ongoing research within the organisation on the benefits of human-wild landscape mosaics.
Miriam McDonald
Miriam McDonald
Director
I have a background in ecology and conservation and have spent over 10 years working in alternative agriculture.
I am interested in the relationships between people and landscapes and how our past gives context to, and shapes, our future.
I believe that a radical departure from our historical ways of seeing and working with the land is needed to address the challenges of the future and this led me to co-found Holistic Restoration.
Director
I have a background in ecology and conservation and have spent over 10 years working in alternative agriculture.
I am interested in the relationships between people and landscapes and how our past gives context to, and shapes, our future.
I believe that a radical departure from our historical ways of seeing and working with the land is needed to address the challenges of the future and this led me to co-found Holistic Restoration.
Rob Owen
Rob Owen
Director
I am fascinated by life and living systems. I explore this through working in agriculture and forestry and also by viewing what I see through a scientific lens. At The University of Exeter I have explored how natural systems regulate themselves and I am also part of a project producing participatory research with a network of Kenyan farmers who are implementing agroforestry. Before my split life as a landworker and academic I worked in the third sector. I ran a social enterprise and also worked as a consultant, helping individuals and communities to create positive change in whatever form that may be.
Director
I am fascinated by life and living systems. I explore this through working in agriculture and forestry and also by viewing what I see through a scientific lens. At The University of Exeter I have explored how natural systems regulate themselves and I am also part of a project producing participatory research with a network of Kenyan farmers who are implementing agroforestry. Before my split life as a landworker and academic I worked in the third sector. I ran a social enterprise and also worked as a consultant, helping individuals and communities to create positive change in whatever form that may be.
Caroline Aitken
Caroline is the director of Whitefield Permaculture where she is the leading teacher and design consultant. Caroline originally trained with Patrick Whitefield before working alongside him, and has a background in design, organic farming, horticulture and eco-catering.
Her experience includes managing 2 acres of intensive organic vegetable production within a small mixed farm, managing 5 acres of ornamental and food gardens at a meditation retreat centre, and catering for groups, courses and retreats. Since she began teaching in 2008 she has worked at a wide range of educational centres from farms to universities, working alongside many inspiring people in her drive to spread positive solutions for food production and land use. More recently, Caroline has branched into educational consultancy to further these aims, including the design and development of a ground-breaking undergraduate course: BSc Sustainable Food and Farming for Schumacher College, Dartington- the first degree of its kind in the UK.
Caroline lives with her partner and son on a 4 acre smallholding in Dartmoor where they produce veg, fruit, eggs and honey. She writes for Permaculture Magazie and is co-author with Martin Crawford of Food from your Forest Garden, a comprehensive guide to making the best use of your forest garden produce.
Caroline is the director of Whitefield Permaculture where she is the leading teacher and design consultant. Caroline originally trained with Patrick Whitefield before working alongside him, and has a background in design, organic farming, horticulture and eco-catering.
Her experience includes managing 2 acres of intensive organic vegetable production within a small mixed farm, managing 5 acres of ornamental and food gardens at a meditation retreat centre, and catering for groups, courses and retreats. Since she began teaching in 2008 she has worked at a wide range of educational centres from farms to universities, working alongside many inspiring people in her drive to spread positive solutions for food production and land use. More recently, Caroline has branched into educational consultancy to further these aims, including the design and development of a ground-breaking undergraduate course: BSc Sustainable Food and Farming for Schumacher College, Dartington- the first degree of its kind in the UK.
Caroline lives with her partner and son on a 4 acre smallholding in Dartmoor where they produce veg, fruit, eggs and honey. She writes for Permaculture Magazie and is co-author with Martin Crawford of Food from your Forest Garden, a comprehensive guide to making the best use of your forest garden produce.
Associates
Mallory Schillinger
Flete Estate Project Lead
Mallory has always been influenced by the interconnectivity of 'individual' parts that create a system. It is those mutually beneficial connections and the shared responsibility between the parts along with a deep love for the natural world that has inspired her pursuit in an Agroecology masters degree and research. Focusing on the interaction between producers and land systems, Mallory has done extensive work in agricultural development and is an organic vegetable farmer by trade. Her top priority is trying to voice the voiceless for the land and the land's stewards. Currently, she is working on her thesis understanding women producers' role in the coffee trade and how they protect their natural resources. She tries to always bring intention, caring, reverence, curiosity and respect whenever working.
At the moment, she is becoming obsessed with mycelium network's and their pivotal role in their partnership of our shared earth.
Flete Estate Project Lead
Mallory has always been influenced by the interconnectivity of 'individual' parts that create a system. It is those mutually beneficial connections and the shared responsibility between the parts along with a deep love for the natural world that has inspired her pursuit in an Agroecology masters degree and research. Focusing on the interaction between producers and land systems, Mallory has done extensive work in agricultural development and is an organic vegetable farmer by trade. Her top priority is trying to voice the voiceless for the land and the land's stewards. Currently, she is working on her thesis understanding women producers' role in the coffee trade and how they protect their natural resources. She tries to always bring intention, caring, reverence, curiosity and respect whenever working.
At the moment, she is becoming obsessed with mycelium network's and their pivotal role in their partnership of our shared earth.
Copyright © 2020 Miriam K McDonald. All rights reserved.
