Teaching Team PDC 2023

Our team is mega-diverse, with mega-experiences on many topics. Take a look. This list includes some who will be presenting, our 2023 team is still forming.

ZIA PARKER is the primary teacher and coordinator. Zia and her husband Roshni are the core of the teaching team. Both have 40 years of practice with regenerative practices and homesteading. Zia aligns with Permaculture , Roshni is more aligned with the Biodynamic practices of Rudolf Steiner.

Zia’s experience includes homesteading in British Columbia, Canada in the 1970s, running an agroforestry project in Equatorial Guinea (West Africa) in the 1980s, teaching on the Navajo and Arapaho Indian Reservations in the 1990s. From 2007 to 2012, she was director of Willow Way Permaculture & Herb Farm, Boulder County, Colorado, Boulder’s first official Permaculture Demonstration Farm. She has taught Permaculture in 7 countries, each with distinct climate zones.  Permaculture Global Profile,
(search under People for Zia Parker’s profile)>

ROBERT MCELDOWNEY (Roshni) Roshniś in-depth studies of the works of Rudolf Steiner led him to 18 months of study of biodynamic agriculture at Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento, CA, followed by 35 years of practice, 5 years of study of Space Dynamics, and studies to become a Waldorf Kindergarten Teacher. He has led a full life of taking care of landscapes, gardens and children to help them develop in a healthy way. Roshni is a dancer, spiritual seeker, story-teller with mastery in exploration and development of human movement, especially for young children. Resume.

Both Zia and Roshni have twin careers in regenerative agriculture and movement therapy. They will guide us to connect with our senses to the world around us by amplifying our observation skills exponentially. Check out our Projects website to see what we’ve been doing since we “transplanted” to Vilcabama, Ecuador in 2013.

LUIS CUENCA LUDEÑA is a veterinarian and animal care technician. Since receiving his degree from the University of Loja, Luis has immersed himself in expanding his knowledge in alternative ethical medicine to provide the most non-invasive means to help animals coexist with humans in good health and in balance with the natural world. He has been very active in the Ecuadorian Food Movement, the Food Sovereignty Movement and Permaculture.

DARWIN QUIZHPE  is a primo master of bioconstruction. He comes from a family of carpenters and always champions the pathway of conservation of natural resources, simplicity and beauty. His works are a marvel. He is a talented and sensitive presentor.

PHIL LARSTONE has a long track record in organic gardening, greenhouse construction and operation, green defense, and energy and water system contracting, specializing in passive design and off-grid renewable energy systems. In 2011, Phil moved to Ecuador, and co-created the Song of the Heart Eternaculture Center, where immersion retreats are offered for the practice of permaculture, devotional art and awareness practices.

TALBOTT WALKER is a masterful mushroom grower, providing shitakes, pink/ blue / white oysters, lion’s mane and other incredible mushrooms to the Vilcabamba Organic market. He shares with us his passion about the incredible capacities of fungi to provide food, myco-remediation (biological de-toxification), and medicine.

ANDREA ESPINOSA is a graduate of UIDE university in Loja with studies in ecology and tourism. She is a nature guide and provides us with an overview of the bioregion of the Vilcabamba region.

This is the basis of our teaching team. Others will also offer workshops on high altitude eco village lifestyle, animal husbandry and social permaculture.