Hi, I'm James.

I grew up in rural Worcestershire, England, and from a young age, I spent most of my time in the garden and fields with my grandmother, who came to England from Greece in the 1950's, after being a refugee in Syria as a child during WWII. Her spirit, love and wisdom (and the procude of her kitchen/garden!!!) thus inspired me significantly, and around age 11, she gave me John Seymour's classic 'guide to self sufficiency' which further inspired me to engage in sustainable land management, including the production, consumption and sale of my own chickens, ducks, geese and sheep on 4 acres of grassland adjacent to my Mum's house.
After completing my schooling in 2013, I studied Historical Archaeology at the University of York, specialising in Environmental Archaeology.
During this time I became aware of the 'permaculture perspective', i.e. going further than pure self-sufficient resource provision, and stepping into wider socio-environmental management and design.
Clearly permacultural thought and practice hold critically valuable potential for socio-environments across the globe, and perhaps, sooner or later, the rest of the known universe too.
Such work seems a sensible, intelligent and wise soloution to many of the issues we face in the contemporary world, as well as providing for my/our individual needs in a natural, sustainable and beautiful manner.
As such, my drive is to improve socio-ecosystems where and when I can, focusing on both human and environmental development.
I am currently developing a 15 acre site in Powys, Wales, with considerable consideration given to the principles of permaculture design, sustainable environmental relations and sustainable resource provision.
I have signed up for Geoff's greening-the-desert internship in Jordan this autumn, as well as some courses at Zaytuna farm over the winter, and intend to do a full PDC either later this summer or at some point in 2017, with a mid-term view to teach permaculture design around the world.
I have also spent time working with NGO, AID and Environmental organisations, most recently relating to the current socio-environmental issues in Europe and the Middle-East, (i.e.'migrant crisis' + wider socio-political-environmental instability), and am VERY keen to get involved with more projects in the region, aimed both at humanitarian and environmental aid.
I would be most joyful to engage with projects in the UK, mainland Europe and the Middle-East (specifically Syria) due to my family connections with these regions, so drop me a message if you know of or are involved with any, I'd love to hear from you! :D

P.s. if you happen to be nearby, drop me a message and lets collaborate! especially if you are in need :) #refugeeswelcome #hakunamatata <3

Cheers, James :D <3