About Common Ground
Our Vision
Thriving communities where all people have a decent quality of life,
living in harmony with each other and their ecosystem.
Our Mission
Building the capacity of community leaders, planners and developers
to enable innovative and regenerative design
for the development of sustainable human settlements.
Our Why
Our conventional human settlement development models are
unsustainable:
Ecologically, they are contributing to high amounts of carbon emissions,
pollution and waste, and are energy and resource intensive
Socially, they create feelings of isolation and separateness and
many people feel powerless to develop their own housing solutions
Economically, housing and land has become unaffordable for most,
leading to financial stress, insecurity, and inaccessibility
In light of these challenges, we have opportunities
for creative and collaborative solutions to develop our communities in a better way
Why Work with Us
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Diverse Stakeholder Engagement Expertise
We have over 25 years experience in community-led development working with diverse stakeholders such as multi-cultural groups, community organisations, schools, corporates, local government, and the European Union
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Sustainable Development Expertise
We have over a decade of experience in training and creating permaculture and regenerative systems in urban and rural environments. We partner with experts in various fields to ensure projects have the right technical expertise.
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Guided by Ethics & Principles
The ethics of earth care, people care and fair share as well as regenerative and living systems principles guide our work. We enable projects that are life-enriching, create the least harm, and empowering for all those involved.
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Whole Systems Approach
We understand that successful systems change requires understanding the interconnectedness of all the elements within a place and building collective capacity. With design and systems thinking we develop regenerative solutions to complex problems.
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Continuous Learning and Feedback Loops
We build into our designs continuous learning and reflection. We explore new paradigms and ways of doing development that are"not business as usual" and that tap into international, local, and indigenous best practice and innovation.
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Joyful & Passionate
We do our our work with a spirit of joy, optimism, and passion for making the world a better place. We bring a sense of fun, collaboration, and possibility when working with leaders and teams.
Want to collaborate with Common Ground?
We are keen to collaborate with other professionals and businesses who share a similar vision, mission, and values for creating sustainable human settlements and are actively working towards this.
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Join our database as a systems or technical expert for regenerative project work
We're looking for people in the broad areas of:
regenerative development, permaculture, design thinking, systems change, facilitation, and training
Technically, we are looking for people skilled in ecological water systems, renewable energy, green building, local food, cooperative housing, connected living systems, ecovillages, and alternative financial models.
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Join as an affiliate partner with your business, product or service
If your business or organisation has a product or service that advances regenerative living systems and human settlements, Common Ground is a repository of innovative and best practice solutions.
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Partner with us for collaborating on systems change projects
If you have a development project that needs our particular area of expertise in regenerative human settlements, let's explore how we can add value.
Zola Samantha Rose
Director of Common Ground
- Masters degree in International and Intercultural Management with a focus on training for social change
- Ecovillage Design Education certificate, a 200-hour course with the Global Ecovillage Network
- Permaculture Design Certificate, a 72 hour course
- Regenerative Practitioners course, facilitated by the Regenesis group
- Author of The Case for a Community Land Trust (CLT) as a means for perpetually affordable housing in NZ &Aotearoa
- Supported the establishment of the Waikato CLT in 2019
- Committee member of the Society for Cooperative Housing NZ
- Member of the Society for Alternative Housing Development NZ
- Founding member of Zuvuya Ecovillage in rural South Africa 2006-2015
- Founder of the Rainbow Homestead and Sustainability Commons 2009-2015
Testimonials
Wealth of knowledge
Zola (Sam) has huge knowledge about alternative housing - both local and global issues. She is well connected in the alternative housing area and through those connections brings a wealth of knowledge to events and courses. She is an excellent facilitator both in small and large groups and is able to elicit responses and input from all group members.
Rich insight into community development
Zola cleared up my most urgent questions regarding our Upper Clutha Tiny House Community project. She also gave me a rich insight into the big task of community development from the ground up. For this daunting task, to shape our way of living and thriving, Zola is amongst the experts we need to build strong and connected communities to create our future the best way possible. I'm looking forward to learning more from Zola and Common Ground.
Passion for housing justice
Zola (Sam) has a significant level of knowledge about the topic of alternative housing and has an obvious passion for housing justice. Her work in developing learning guides for us has been excellent - demonstrating her ability to communicate the key aspects required to deliver alternative housing solutions.
Common Ground
Whakatū/Nelson, Aotearoa/New Zealand│Director, Zola Rose │(027) 449-0422│kiaora@commonground.net.nz
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