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(Directeur de l'Université Populaire de Permaculture)
Stella completed a full Permaculture Design Course with me and the late Carl Smith, in London, England in 1994. We had the pleasure of her company for the entire course and the design work she did during the course was of good standard. I remember her telling how she converted the freezer box of her refrigerator into a 'haybox' cooker.
Following the course she rose ably to the challenges of developing Permaculture in London and the Green Adventures initiative she set up was a great example of what can be done starting with few resources. Today I am very happy to be able to exchange opinions and advice with her and to play a minor rôle in the important initiatives she has set up, especially the Chaordic Institute.
(Director Gaia University)
I am delighted to think of Stella as a permaculture colleague and a life friend. We go back quite a way, to the early 90's. I am continually inspired by Stella's smart thinking and willingness to push the edges of permaculture thinking forward especially with regard to organizational and social issues. For example I am really pleased that she is prepared to bring our attention to the possibility that racism might be an issue for permaculture people, especially with IPC9 in Africa due in 2009. I appreciate too her thinking about how to raise the issue of interupting personal attacks in our networks so that, in the future, we may waste less time going down this sort of rabit hole. Stella is an intelligent risk-taker who knows that working on the edge is likely to attract criticism and, when it does, she models elegant recovery and learning and then moves forward with courage. This is great modelling and encouragment for me.
Stella's work with these wikis, nurturing the development of international permaculture communities collaborating in order that we can build constructive policy around permaculture organization and learning, is truly visionary. Her collection of stories around permaculture pioneers makes her our senior ethnographer and I love it that she invites us all in to play our part.
I'd like her to lead a whole team of on-line community builders in our networks soon - I was talking with George Por the other day, a man with senior interests in the field of community intelligence and digital mediation and he let me know that people with a socially oriented, digital literacy who also know about and practice permaculture are treasured assets in his view. That's Stella, a treasured asset.
(Director of Spiral Seed, author and permaculture Teacher)
Stella is a princess of permaculture!
One of the most respected members of our community that I can think of, who has a proven and documented track record in instigating community based permaculture projects that have made real differences to people's lives and environments in both London and the Canary Islands, and who has never shirked from asking difficult, challenging or searching questions.
She was my mentor when I did my permaculture diploma, and gave me loads of constructive and sometimes challenging feedback when writing/illistrating my Permaculture beginners Guide book, and most importantly was instrumental in setting up the the truly fantastic and transformational Green Adventure urban permaculture project in South London against all odds, that provided educational projects, employment opportunties, radical 'peoplecare' courses, forest gardens and inner city food growing initiatives.
Stella took on board Bill's message to 'start at the end of your nose' and fuckin' made it happen for real in the most heavy and deprived parts of London... She's an open,accepting and honest woman but has a very good built in bullshit detector.
(translated from the Spanish, in violet below)
I know Stella from 2005, I love all her projects to change the world and I join her to change this system with her!
She is focused on people for change, always interested to learn more, I've travelled with her to Croacia & Brasil for the Permaculture Conferences where she interviewed pioneers, collecting history which she then shares with others.
In the finca she runs everything in a recycling mode, trying to do the least construction of any type and this is something about her that I like a lot.
She is a very good teacher, giving much quality information, her courses are very intensive. Always doing many things, now with the Transition Movement, the Festival, etc. not only at Island level but also of Spain.
I´ve gone with her to various radio interviews (about permaculture, complementary currencies, transition) and the people liked it very much and for this reason now they want her to do more programmes.
Stella gives a lot to people and sometimes some want even more and then she gets angry because normally these don't give much (or anything) back. Now she is working more with native people of the Island (which is very important for me because I´m from here) and she apreciates very much things of our culture.
She is a person of strong character, what she has to say she says it, and this I like very much.
In order to decide something she thinks it a lot, analyzing everything in various ways - sometimes it seems to me even too much, because sometimes she changes idea about designs half way and prefers to leave that things move very slowly (she thinks in terms of decades and centuries rather than months or years).
A very original person who is always searching for how to change things that work badly.
Am very happy to know her and live with her because she is a vital and interesting person. She respects my space a lot, we complement each other very well.
Conozco a Stella desde el 2005, me encantan todos sus proyectos de cambiar el mundo y me apunto para cambiar este sistema con ella!
Está enfocada en la gente x el cambio, siempre interesada en aprender más, he viajado con ella a Croacia y Brasil para las Conferencias de Permacultura dónde ha entrevistado a pioneros, recompilando historia que luego comparte con todos.
El la finca que lleva en plan todo reciclaje intentando hacer el menos posible de construcción de cualquier tipo y esto es algo que me gusta mucho de ella.
Es muy buena profesora, da mucha información de calidad, sus cursos son muy intensivos.
Está haciendo un montón de cosas, ahora con el Movimiento de Transición, el Festival, etc. no solo a nivel de la Isla sino de España.
Yo he ido con ella a varias entrevistas en la radio (sobre permacultura, monedas complementarias, transición) y les ha gustado mucho a la gente y por eso ahora quieren que haga más programas.
Stella da mucho a la gente y a veces algunos quieren aún más y luego se enfada porqué normalmente estos no dan mucho (o nada) a cambio.
Ahora está trabajando más con la gente nativa de la Isla (que es muy importante para mi porqué soy de aquí) y aprecia mucho las cosas de nuestra cultura.
Es una persona de character fuerte, lo que tiene que decir lo dice, y esto me gusta mucho.
Para decidir algo se lo piensa mucho, analizando todo de varias maneras - a veces me parece incluso demasiado, porqué cambia de idea sobre diseños a medias a veces y prefiere dejar que las cosas se muevan muy lentas (piensa en términos de décadas y siglos más que en meses o años).
Es una persona muy original que siempre está buscando como cambiar las cosas que funcionan mal.
Soy muy contento de concocerla y vivir con ella porqué es una persona vital y muy interesante. Respeta mucho mi espacio, nos complementamos muy bien.
(Administrator of the Nodo Espiral of the PC Academy, in Galicia)
Of Stella I love her dedication, her clarity and her openness, in the time that I´ve been working with her (which is quite a few years now) I´ve felt cared for and supported. Every time that I speak with her, sometimes descouraged or confused by work-load, I come out with renewed energies, more decisive, more focused.
Also I highlight her courage when it comes to experimenting and innovate, as much in the Nodo Espiral courses as in Permaculture in general. I believe that the connexions work which she is doing with all these wikis is very important and solid.
A person who walks the talk and does what she preaches, with a lot of courage, authenticity and much fun!! Thank you very much Stella!!
Me encanta de Stella su dedicación, su claridad y su apertura, en el tiempo que llevo trabajando con ella (que ya son unos añitos) me he sentido cuidado y apoyado. Cada vez que hablo con ella, a veces desanimado o confuso por la carga de trabajo, me quedo con energía renovadas, con más decisión, más enfocado. Tambien destaco su valentia a la hora de experimentar e innovar tanto dentro de los cursos de Nodo Espiral como dentro de la Permacultura en general. Creo que el trabajo de conexión que esta haciendo con todos estos wikis es muy importante y sólido. Es una persona que se aplica el cuento y hace lo que predica, con mucho coraje, autenticidad y mucha alegria !! Muchas gracias Stella !!
(Aprendice Teacher with the Nodo Espiral, in Euskadi)
Stella is my principal referent in PermaCulture. With her I discovered the world of Complementary Currencies, a field that captured me from the start.
In our first contact in the certificate course (she as teacher, me as student), already I had been postively surprised by her enthusiasum, the braking of mental patterns that she provoked and her comunication habilities.
As our relationship has grown (in breadth) and got closer (in frequency and closeness, or this is how it feels to me ..), I´ve continued to be surprised by her great capacity for work and qualities as a visionary, positive, efficient ..
It is all a luxury and big oportunity to be able to share and learn with her about projects, concrete tasks or more personal questions.
Stella es mi principal referente en PermaCultura. Con ella descubrí el mundo de las Monedas Complementarias, ámbito que me enganchó desde el principio. En nuestro primer contacto en el curso de certificado (ella de profe, yo de alumno), ya me había sorprendido positivamente su entusiasmo, la ruptura de esquemas mentales que nos provocaba y sus capacidades comunicativas. A medida que nuestra relación se ha ido, al mismo tiempo, ampliando (en ámbitos) y estrechando (en frecuencia y cercanía, o así es como lo siento...), me ha seguido sorprendiendo su gran capacidad de trabajo y cualidades como visionaria, positiva, eficiente... Es todo un lujo y una gran oportunidad poder compartir y aprender con ella sobre proyectos, tareas concretas o cuestiones más personales.
(Travelling PC Action-Learner & Aprendice Teacher from Belgium)
Stella is a wonderful person!
I participated to the third learning action program she organised in Finca Luna (Canary Islands) in 2008 and I can tell it was a great and strong experience. With her, I learnt a lot of things about permaculture principles and ethics, self-responsability, proactivity, gestion of emotions,...
In fact, during the PDC course, Stella didn't really show us a lot of techniques or strategies used in permaculture. She insisted more on the way to THINK and the way to DO things towards a more sustainable society.
She really helped me to get the PERMACULTURE VISION!
Stella is also a fabulous designer: always experimenting new things, trying as much as posible to implicate people in her designs, keeping on with her objectives even if criticized or attacked.
I am very impressed to see in how many projects she can work in the same time, from personal, familial or local ones to regional, national and global ones... It's incredible how much information she is giving with her different wikis....
I think she is very strict in her convictions but that does not mean she is not open to talk and share opinions. Even if we often disagreed on various subjects she always respected and supported me.
Thanks for being there, Stella!
(Aprendice Teacher with the Nodo Espiral, in Cataluña)
Stella is an authentic tornado of energy capable of transporting you to almost any world.
She irradiates a great presence of wisdom and confidence mixed with humility, and she loves what she does, this is for me one of the best virtues of a teacher.
I loved the simplicity and clarity with which she says the things she wants to say, without games (?tituveos).
I loved watching her crying from laughter, she has a very contageous laugh.
She's always been willing to help, and she demonstrates it with .. (olgura?)
Stella es un auténtico tornado energético capaz de transportarte al casi qualquier mundo. Irradia una gran preséncia de sabiduria y seguridad mezclada con humildad, y le encanta lo que hace, eso resulta para mi una de las mejores virtudes del profe.
Me encanto la sencillez y claridad con que dice las cosas que quiere, sin tituveos.
Me encanto verla llorar de reir, tiene una risa muy contagiosa.
Siempre ha estado dispuesta a ayudar, y lo demuestra con olgura.
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