"If the zoos would be unpaid, we could use them as actually wellness centers, as regenerative centers, as psychological centers. We could do sports, we could do picnics, we could do community stuff and still enjoy the animals and connect to the animals as to an animal and not a commodity which I paid for."

There is a field of design science called neuroarchitecture, and it has been quietly documenting something most of us half-know but have never been able to name: that the spaces we live and work in are not neutral. Our brains — operating on wiring that predates cities, screens, and open-plan offices by tens of thousands of years — are constantly reading every built environment we enter for signals of safety, threat, and belonging. The design choices we make, often for reasons of trend or cost or aesthetic fashion, are landing in an ancient nervous system that was not consulted when those choices were made. The results are measurable, and often uncomfortable.

Nadia Riley came to this field from an unexpected angle. She is an animal architect — perhaps the only practicing architect in the world whose entire professional focus is the design of environments for non-human animals. She trained in architecture, redirected her degree towards the design of veterinary facilities and quarantine centers for wildlife, built a practice that took her from rhino sanctuaries in South Africa to animal facilities across the Emirates and beyond, and then, after a genuine professional and personal crisis that she describes with candour and precision, rebuilt that practice on a deeper foundation. The field of neuroarchitecture, which had been developed in the context of human spaces, gave her new tools to ask more rigorous questions about what animal habitats actually require — not just in terms of welfare regulations and square metres, but in terms of the sensory and biological needs of the animals themselves.

What emerges in this conversation is a way of thinking about designed space that cuts across the animal-human boundary. The same principles that explain why high-gloss bathroom tiles increase stress and why open-plan offices undermine productivity also explain why so many zoo habitats fail the animals inside them. And the same corrective — designing from the inside out, from the lived experience of the being who will inhabit the space, rather than from aesthetic trend or institutional convenience — applies equally to a gorilla enclosure and a human home.

Learn more and connect:

1. Animal Space Design (Nadia Riley's practice, portfolio, and free downloadable articles) — https://www.animalspacedesign.com

2. Free resources and PDFs on animal architecture tools and methods — available at the free downloadables section of https://www.animalspacedesign.com

3. Connect with Nadia Riley on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/hazkoba-nadia-riley-architecture-animals/

Take your understanding of regenerative design further with these resources:

Discover more about regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects: https://www.paulownia-la.com

Dive into the 12 Universal Laws of Nature and unlock the secrets of harmonizing with our planet at https://www.12lawsofnature.com

Fulfill your garden aspirations with expert guidance from the Garden of Your Dreams masterclass at https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com

Ready to take actionable steps towards your dream garden? Book a complimentary 30-minute session with Matthieu for immediate results: https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams

EP48: Nadia Riley - The Animal Architect Redesigning Human Space

Pablo Luna is a Bali-based architect building in six countries simultaneously — and he refuses to draw a single line until he has spent between three and nine months studying the land.

Founder of Pablo Luna Studio, Pablo works with bamboo and natural materials across Bali, Bhutan, Portugal, Mexico, and Uganda, designing wellness retreats, learning centres, and private residences that emerge from the ecology and culture of each place rather than being imposed on it.

What separates his practice from conventional architecture is a rigorous pre-design phase he calls territorial studies — a systematic mapping of sun paths, wind corridors, tree canopies, animal habitats, ancestral land meanings, local material traditions, and community knowledge. Only once that investigation is complete does translation into design begin.

In this conversation, Pablo walks through his full process — from land reading to material sourcing, from managing six projects across six cultures simultaneously to the discipline of stopping work at 5pm every day.



Learn more and connect:

1. Pablo Luna Studio website: https://www.pablolunastudio.com

2. Pablo Luna Studio on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pablolunastudio

3. Email Pablo's team: connect@pablolunastudio.com



Resources mentioned:

1. Pablo Luna Studio — https://www.pablolunastudio.com

2. Green School Bali (John and Cynthia Hardy) — https://www.greenschool.org

3. Bambu Indah Hotel, Bali — https://www.bambuindah.com

4. 12 Universal Laws of Nature by Matthieu Mehuys — https://www.12lawsofnature.com



Take the next step in regenerative design with these resources:

Discover more about regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects: https://www.paulownia-la.com

Dive into the 12 Universal Laws of Nature and unlock the secrets of harmonizing with our planet at https://www.12lawsofnature.com

Fulfill your garden aspirations with expert guidance from the Garden of Your Dreams masterclass at https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com

Ready to take actionable steps towards your dream garden? Book a complimentary 30-minute session with Matthieu for immediate results: https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams

RDP 47: Pablo Luna - He Spends 9 Months on a Site Before Drawing a Single Line

"The same piece of land that used to support three generations, three generations ago, can now only support one generation."

Most people entering regenerative agriculture do so not from farming families, but from boardrooms — bankers, lawyers, construction company owners, people whose families got sick and started asking harder questions about what they were eating. Judith Horvath is one of them. A biologist by training, she spent 25 years in corporate scientific research publishing before the pandemic made a decision for her: looking out over her sheep from a makeshift dining room office, she knew she wasn't going back. That clarity is now the foundation of her consultancy, Regenerative Ag Design, and the lens through which she reads a farming system in genuine crisis — one where multi-generational families are financially trapped by shrinking margins and depleting soil, and where the younger generation leaving the land is often the rational choice rather than a failure of values.

Judith Horvath is the founder of Regenerative Ag Design, an agroecology consultancy based in Ohio, and the owner-operator of Fairhill Farm. A trained biologist with permaculture design certification and over a decade of hands-on farming experience, she works across three client segments: new farmers who need a Sherpa, affluent landowners developing regenerative passion projects or homesteads, and large-scale agrihood developments. She is a part-owner and agricultural designer of the Hickory Run agrihood project in Northeast Ohio, host of the Fairhill Farmstead Life podcast, and has a forthcoming book on natural and low-cost parasite control for livestock.

Learn more and connect:

1. Regenerative Ag Design, Judith's consultancy — https://regenerativeagdesign.com
2. Fairhill Farm — https://fairhillfarm.com
3. Fairhill Farmstead Life, Judith's own podcast — search for it on your podcast app of choice
4. Hickory Run Agrihood, the eight-enterprise regenerative community Judith is designing in Northeast Ohio — currently in development
5. Judith Horvath on LinkedIn — search "Judith Horvath"

Explore these valuable resources to further your journey in regenerative design:

Discover more about regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects: https://www.paulownia-la.com
Dive into the 12 Universal Laws of Nature and unlock the secrets of harmonizing with our planet at https://www.12lawsofnature.com
Fulfill your garden aspirations with expert guidance from the Garden of Your Dreams masterclass at https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com
Ready to take actionable steps towards your dream garden? Book a complimentary 30-minute session with Matthieu for immediate results: https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams

EP46 - Judith Horvath

"We can't live longer and better without the planet being healthy."

The longevity industry has spent a decade and a fortune chasing biohacks, diagnostics and supplements. Amy McDonald has watched all of it from inside the wellness world — and her argument is not that longevity is wrong, but that it has been looking in the wrong direction. The real answer, she suggests, was always in the soil.

McDonald is the founder of Under a Tree, a regenerative wellness consultancy now in its twenty-first year, and her story is the throughline. A permaculture garden on the Baja coast in the early 1990s that moved guests to tears. A formative stretch at Miraval, where mindfulness — not architecture — built the brand. And a cautionary chapter at El Monte Sagrado in Taos: one of the most visionary sustainable properties ever built, lost not for lack of money or vision but for lack of market research and a working airport. From that heartbreak came the principle she now lives by — build the business model before you build the building.

It's a conversation about doing good and doing well at the same time. McDonald is refreshingly clear that regenerative places have to be profitable, that sustainability alone is no longer enough, and that the market is finally arcing back toward land connection and agritourism. She and Matthieu also find the place where their work overlaps: both begin not with a drawing but by observing the land itself and asking what it most wants to become.

Learn more & connect:
Amy McDonald — Under a Tree (regenerative wellness consulting): https://www.underatree.com
Email: amy@underatree.com

Resources mentioned:
Under a Tree — Amy McDonald's regenerative wellness consultancy — https://www.underatree.com
Miraval (Life in Balance) — the mindfulness-led wellness resort that shaped her methodology
El Monte Sagrado, Taos — the visionary sustainable property whose collapse taught the business-model-first lesson
Regenesis — the regenerative development group (Pamela and Robert Mang) behind El Monte Sagrado
Rancho La Puerta, Tecate — the long-running wellness ranch she came to see as a kindred model

Discover more about regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects: https://www.paulownia-la.com
Dive into the 12 Universal Laws of Nature: https://www.12lawsofnature.com
Build the garden of your dreams: https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com
Book a free 30-minute session with Matthieu: https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams

EP45: Longevity Won't Save You. The Soil Might | Amy McDonald

“Most people are good. I really believe that. Most people are doing their best. Then you have to ask yourself, not just in agriculture, but in every field, well, if so many people mean well, why is so much going wrong?”

Many of the world’s biggest environmental, social, and economic problems may not be caused by bad people or a lack of scientific knowledge. They may stem from the way large institutions make decisions. This episode explores the difference between treating symptoms and addressing root causes, challenging conventional thinking around science, governance, biodiversity loss, agriculture, and civilization itself. Rather than focusing on isolated solutions, the discussion centers on understanding the systems that shape human behavior and ecological outcomes.

Allan Savory argues that many environmental and social crises stem from the way institutions develop policy rather than from a lack of knowledge or good intentions. Drawing on experiences as an ecologist, farmer, parliamentarian, and founder of holistic management, he discusses scientific dogma, biodiversity loss, the limitations of modern political systems, and the ideas behind his new memoir, UnSavory. Allan challenges listeners to think beyond regenerative agriculture alone and consider how decision-making structures influence the future of civilization itself.

Allan is a Zimbabwean ecologist, farmer, former parliamentarian, and founder of holistic management. Trained in zoology and botany, he spent decades studying wildlife, grassland ecosystems, and desertification, leading to groundbreaking work in regenerative land management. After serving as a Member of Parliament and opposition leader during Zimbabwe’s civil war, he was exiled in 1979 and continued developing his ideas internationally. Allan later co-founded both the Africa Centre for Holistic Management and the Savory Institute. His TED Talk on holistic grazing has been viewed more than 9 million times, and his 2026 memoir, UnSavory: African Stories of Wildlife, War, and the Birth of Holistic Management, explores the experiences that shaped his life’s work.

Learn more & connect:

Allan Savory TED Talk: How to Fight Desertification and Reverse Climate Change [https://www.ted.com/talks/allan_savory_how_to_fight_desertification_and_reverse_climate_change]

Savory Institute [https://savory.global/]

UnSavory: African Stories of Wildlife, War, and the Birth of Holistic Management [https://savory.shop/en-gb/products/unsavory-memoir]

Africa Centre for Holistic Management [https://www.achmonline.org/]

Allan Savory Uncensored Blog [https://savory.global/welcome-to-my-new-blog/]

Discover more about Regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects. [https://www.paulownia-la.com/]

Dive into the Twelve Laws of Nature and unlock the secrets of harmonizing with our planet [https://www.12lawsofnature.com/].

Fulfill your garden aspirations with expert guidance from the Garden of Your Dreams masterclass [https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com/].

Ready to take actionable steps towards your dream garden? Book a complimentary 30-minute training session with Matthieu for immediate results [https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams].

EP44: Allan Savory – Why We’re Solving The Wrong Problems

“Let’s stop doing the research and let’s actually execute on it and build something.”

Food systems fail when they deliver calories without dignity, convenience, or nutrition. Real access means healthy food that fits people’s daily lives, budgets, culture, and time constraints. When communities lack nearby fresh options, preventable disease rises while local farmers struggle. Regenerative solutions work best when health care, agriculture, retail, and community trust are designed to support one another instead of operating in silos.

Eli Moraru explains how those failures became the foundation for a new model in Philadelphia. After seeing families offered raw food boxes that were hard to use, he began building a neighborhood grocer where SNAP users can access healthy ingredients and legally exchange them for hot ready meals. Eli shares how financing barriers, policy gaps, and outdated assumptions were overcome by combining workforce training, health partnerships, and direct purchasing from regenerative farms.

Eli is the Co-Founder and President of The Community Grocer, a nonprofit building neighborhood-based food systems that connect regenerative farmers, healthcare, and local access. An award-winning social entrepreneur focused on food justice and community-led change, Eli was named a Forbes 30 Under 30 Honoree and received the Penn President’s Sustainability Prize for his work redesigning how healthy food reaches underserved communities.

https://www.thecommunitygrocer.org/

Explore these valuable resources to further your journey in regenerative design:

Discover more about Regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects. [https://www.paulownia-la.com/] https://www.paulownia-la.com/. [https://www.paulownia-la.com/]

Dive into the Twelve Laws of Nature and unlock the secrets of harmonizing with our planet at https://www.12lawsofnature.com/.

Fulfill your garden aspirations with expert guidance from the Garden of Your Dreams masterclass at https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com/.

Ready to take actionable steps towards your dream garden? Book a complimentary 30-minute training session with Matthieu for immediate results: https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams.

EP43: Eli Moraru - Rebuilding Food Access From The Ground Up

“The industrial food system is really good at producing calories… it’s not great at producing nutritious food”

Regenerative agriculture challenges the dominant narrative around food, climate, and land use by reframing farming as an ecological system rather than an industrial process. Instead of removing animals, this approach integrates them intentionally to rebuild soil, enhance biodiversity, and restore degraded landscapes. The conversation emphasizes that many environmental problems attributed to livestock are actually the result of poor management practices. Real solutions are context-specific, requiring local adaptation, ecological literacy, and a systems-thinking mindset that prioritizes long-term resilience over short-term efficiency.

Robb Wolf shares how his journey from biochemistry into health and nutrition led him to question mainstream dietary and environmental assumptions. He explains that well-managed grazing systems can rehabilitate land and produce nutrient-dense food while highlighting the industrial food system’s strength in calories—but weakness in nutrition and ecological health. He also underscores the importance of adaptability in both individuals and systems.

Robb is a former research biochemist, two-time New York Times bestselling author, and co-author of Sacred Cow. He is widely known for his work in evolutionary nutrition and for advocating regenerative agriculture as a solution to both human and planetary health challenges.

Learn more & connect:

Sacred Cow by Robb Wolf & Diana Rodgers [https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Cow-Better-Well-Raised-Planet/dp/1953295797]

Revolutionary solutions to modern life: https://robbwolf.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robb-wolf-008b996a/

Also in this episode:

Alan Savory TED Talk [https://youtu.be/vpTHi7O66pI?si=Efy046kLjnk206Fc]

Explore these valuable resources to further your journey in regenerative design:

Discover more about Regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects. [https://www.paulownia-la.com/] https://www.paulownia-la.com/. [https://www.paulownia-la.com/]

Dive into the Twelve Laws of Nature and unlock the secrets of harmonizing with our planet at https://www.12lawsofnature.com/.

Fulfill your garden aspirations with expert guidance from the Garden of Your Dreams masterclass at https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com/.

Ready to take actionable steps towards your dream garden? Book a complimentary 30-minute training session with Matthieu for immediate results: https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams.

EP42: Robb Wolf – Cows Can Heal The Planet

“And so the whole global food system is just set up to not see the good guys and not allow consumers to see the good guys.”

Regenerative design thrives at the intersection of ecology and economics. It’s not just about restoring soil or ecosystems—it’s about creating systems that are financially viable, scalable, and rooted in long-term thinking. True regeneration requires aligning values with business models, ensuring that environmental restoration is supported by strong branding, communication, and market positioning.

Melissa Baer shares how her journey from farming to entrepreneurship led her to focus on closing the gap between regenerative projects and the modern tools needed to grow them. She highlights the importance of storytelling, marketing, and technology in helping regenerative initiatives reach wider audiences and secure sustainable funding, emphasizing that many projects struggle not from lack of vision, but from lack of infrastructure.

Melissa is the CEO of Backstory with 20 years of experience across food and tech. She was one of the first to sell organic meat online in Canada and now provides software development services to leading agriculture brands in New Zealand, advising top food and fiber companies on growth and innovation.

https://www.backstorytech.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissabaer

Explore these valuable resources to further your journey in regenerative design:

Discover more about Regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects. [https://www.paulownia-la.com/] https://www.paulownia-la.com/. [https://www.paulownia-la.com/]

Dive into the Twelve Laws of Nature and unlock the secrets of harmonizing with our planet at https://www.12lawsofnature.com/.

Fulfill your garden aspirations with expert guidance from the Garden of Your Dreams masterclass at https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com/.

Ready to take actionable steps towards your dream garden? Book a complimentary 30-minute training session with Matthieu for immediate results: https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams.

EP41: Melissa Baer - ⁠The Future of Regenerative Food Brands

“We do not try to solve problems. Nature always works with potential.”

Regeneration begins when we stop trying to fix isolated problems and instead learn to work with whole systems. Rather than focusing on outputs, metrics, or checklists, this approach asks a deeper question: what is the role of this project within the larger system of life? True regenerative work moves beyond sustainability by shifting attention from reducing harm to activating potential—aligning human activity with the inherent intelligence of nature. It requires embracing complexity, working with paradox, and recognizing that transformation happens through relationships, not control.

Bill Reed explains how regenerative design integrates ecological, social, and economic systems into a unified whole. He shares how frameworks like the “law of three” help resolve conflict by moving beyond compromise into harmonization. Reed emphasizes that meaningful change comes not from convincing others, but from cultivating curiosity, aligning purpose, and building a shared field of care.

Bill is a regenerative practitioner, architect, and systems thinker who helps define how modern design engages with living systems. As a principal at Regenesis, he's spent decades advancing Regenerative Development, an approach that integrates ecological, social, and human systems into a unified, living process. His work focuses on elevating the role of design beyond efficiency and sustainability, toward creating conditions that enhance the vitality and potential of entire communities and ecosystems.

A co-founder of the LEED Green Building Rating System and founding board member of the U.S. Green Building Council, Bill has been at the forefront of the green building movement since its inception. He is also co-author of The Integrative Design Guide to Green Building, a foundational text that reshaped how practitioners approach sustainability through whole-systems thinking.

Bill has consulted on hundreds of projects worldwide, from individual buildings to large-scale urban master plans, and is a sought-after keynote speaker and lecturer, with engagements at institutions including Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Learn more & connect:

Regenesis Institute: https://www.regenerat.es/ [https://www.regenerat.es/https://www.regenerat.es/]

https://regenesisgroup.com/ [https://regenesisgroup.com/https://regenesisgroup.com/]

Explore these valuable resources to further your journey in regenerative design:

Discover more about Regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects. [https://www.paulownia-la.com/] https://www.paulownia-la.com/. [https://www.paulownia-la.com/]

Dive into the Twelve Laws of Nature and unlock the secrets of harmonizing with our planet at https://www.12lawsofnature.com/.

Fulfill your garden aspirations with expert guidance from the Garden of Your Dreams masterclass at https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com/.

Ready to take actionable steps towards your dream garden? Book a complimentary 30-minute training session with Matthieu for immediate results: https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams.

EP40: Bill Reed - Beyond Sustainability: The Regenerative Shift

“Changes can’t happen standalone by one company, it will require participation from peers, from supply chain partners, from government policy.”

The world is beginning the conversation of moving towards a greener future. What part do major businesses play in these next steps? A renewable future cannot be created by one person; change takes place with the participation of many, whether that be lawyers and finance companies funding future projects, or the electrification of transportation vehicles becoming more widespread, it takes major conversations over the course of months or years to see these plans come into action.

Ankit Todi of the Mahindra Group, shares his passions and exciting plans; this conversation walks through the major strides toward the future of green and renewable energy. Where action has already been taken and change already made, and what eliminating existing and future major emissions could mean not only for the Mahindra Group and other large scale businesses, but for the environment and our planet.

Born in Dibrugarh, India- a city known for its tea gardens and rich green space, Ankit grew to love the nature surrounding him. With his background in engineering, leading him into management consulting, Ankit eventually ended up with the opportunity to implement his passion with professionalism, carrying through into his position as Chief Sustainability Officer, offering him the opportunity to create a major impact in the sustainability movement within the Mahindra Group and eventually implementing the Planet Positive strategy.

https://www.mahindra.com/

LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankit-todi-bb891a25/]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankit-todi-bb891a25/

Explore these valuable resources to further your journey in regenerative design:

Discover more about Regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects. [https://www.paulownia-la.com/] https://www.paulownia-la.com/. [https://www.paulownia-la.com/]

Dive into the Twelve Laws of Nature and unlock the secrets of harmonizing with our planet at https://www.12lawsofnature.com/.

Fulfill your garden aspirations with expert guidance from the Garden of Your Dreams masterclass at https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com/.

Ready to take actionable steps towards your dream garden? Book a complimentary 30-minute training session with Matthieu for immediate results: https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams.

EP39: Ankit Todi - The Business Case for Climate Action in Manufacturing, Energy, and Agriculture

This is the Regenerative Design Podcast with your host Matthieu Mehuys. 

In this show we interview the leading authorities in the world of regenerative practices, people who do well and do good. 



The Regenerative Design Podcast™