Tom Palmer discovered permaculture while volunteering on an organic farm in the south of Chile, just days before an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck. While most of the country reeled from the disaster, the farm remained largely unaffected. They collected rainwater and harvested fresh produce from the gardens. It was a lesson in what resilience looks like in practice and why it matters.
Soon after, Tom began a career in the learning field, first as a teacher and curriculum developer. Yet he felt called to continue developing this role of Designer. At the time, it was far from clear how it would connect or where it might lead. He participated in a 2-week permaculture design course, where among other lasting influences he was introduced to Gaia U.
Enrolling in the Permaculture Diploma program at Gaia U was a pivotal moment in Tom’s life. Gaia U’s unique structure guided and nourished him through a transitional and transformative period: having his first child, building a house, starting a business, and making the difficult decision to settle down in a foreign country.
Gaia U gave Tom far more than knowledge. It provided him with a supportive developmental community that enabled him to make bold decisions in the direction of his calling.
One thing that was immediately inspiring for Tom about Gaia U was its innovative approach to education. He realized one source of creative tension in his own emerging career: he had both a deep love for learning and a general contempt for traditional “schooling.” New potential was revealing itself.
The community-centered, project-based approach at Gaia U was refreshing. The valuable impact was immediate. Learning wasn’t something that happens on the sidelines, or separate from the “real world.” The critical need for a fundamental shift in how we think about and approach learning was coming to light.
Tom began to see the system of education and learning itself as one in need of regeneration and redesign.
Within the Gaia U community, Tom was introduced to many influential thinkers including Carol Sanford, whose work integrating regenerative thinking with organizational development help to further reveal a new direction for him.
He enrolled in Gaia U’s master’s degree program, focused on this intersection of regenerative design and organizational learning, while at the same time starting a business as a freelance learning experience designer. The flexibility of the program structure allowed him to both home in on exactly what was most interesting and relevant for him, as well as immediately apply new skills and knowledge in his real-world projects.
In the years since, Tom’s business has grown as he has worked with diverse organizations ranging from small startups to non-profits, educational institutions, and large multi- national brands. A key shift Tom enables for his clients, which he believes is at the heart of regenerative work, is one from “learning as programming,” which comes from a mechanistic or behavioral paradigm, to “learning as capacity-building.”
In other words, working to build the capacity of individuals, teams, organizations, communities, and so on, to more effectively make sense of the complex world around them and evolve into higher-level, unique-value-adding roles.
Tom will be the first to admit it is a work in progress. The roots of the mechanistic paradigm run deep—it takes a lot of conscious energy to avoid slipping down and following old patterns. This is precisely why the type of learning (and unlearning) needed now must happen with communities of practice such as Gaia U International.
It’s hard work and it doesn’t happen alone. It requires the ongoing support of fellow practitioners who share an understanding of what it takes and why now.
Tom continues to explore the frontier of the intersection between regenerative design and learning, helping organizations and communities more effectively co-evolve with each other and the larger systems they are nested within.
To connect with Tom or explore potential collaborations, you can reach him on LinkedIn.