Hi, I’m Ben.

 
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Who am I?

Well… That’s a loaded question that I suspect I’ll never find an answer to. Here’s my best guess…

I’m an Ulsterman living and working across Australia and New Zealand.

Descended from a mixed religion family in Northern Ireland, my home is the town of Bangor, located on the southern shores of Belfast lough. My ancestors are strong-willed, determined and dogged people that have experienced the generations of hardship, trauma and colonialism that too often silently characterises people of my homeland. My parents - Julie and Ivan - are two of the most authentically compassionate, strong-willed and wise people going. My sister (Sara) was born with Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. We grew up as twins. She taught me that “normal” is a point of view, and not always a very useful one. My brother (James) lives in British Columbia with his partner and two kids. He taught me how to receive love and care, and together we learned how to party and celebrate life through music.

Every day I hope to show up for the immeasurable gifts they cultivated for and within me in a way that contribute to a better world for us all.

 

What do I do?

I’m currently transitioning towards offering curated, experiential and embodied learning journeys that give participants the opportunity to experience regeneration in action, and ultimately to use that as fuel for meaninful and creative action in life and work. This work integrates my experience as a yoga practitioner and (more recently) teacher, years of experience specialising in complexity theory, living systems and regenerative design and facilitation. I’m also currently up-skilling via a 200hr Yoga Teacher Training in Embodied Flow with Rise Yoga, on-going training in Mindful/Somatic Approaches to Trauma Therapy with Dr. Paris Williams and peer-support and guidance with Dr. Debra Fraser.

My early career saw me working as an engineer that helps people design in ways and achieve better social, environmental and economic outcomes. That’s often been in urban development and design, architecture, engineering and - more recently - business more generally. I have trained and practiced with world-leaders in regenerative design and development (with Regenesis Group and Centre for Living Environments and Regeneration), Ashtanga Yoga (Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor, Tara Mitra, Amanda Ferris and my current primary teacher, Mike Berghan), Tantrik Yoga (with Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor, Kara-Leah Grant and Rise Yoga and complexity theory (with Cynefin Co., Margaret Wheatley and The International Bateson Institute).

My real passion lies in connecting to the unspeakable stream of living energy that we inhabit through movement, poetry, yoga, connection with other humans muddling through life, dance and time in wild places, and channeling the resulting vitality towards creative and life-affirming behaviours and actions.

This living energy exists beyond either/or, in the gray space in between our ideas and beliefs. My job has often been to help people move beyond ideas about regenerative design (or any other fancy topic), and into the practice of it. These terms are not simply ideas, but represent living processes that need to be experienced directly.

Recently I submitted a PhD Proposal (which you can read here) intending to explore the role of movement, embodiment and other practices in helping us tune into a sense of aliveness, and to use that as a foundation for creative self-expression in service to health and life.

Where have I come from?

A proud global citizen, my passion for design and sustainability led me from my studies in Energy and Environmental Engineering to delivering engineering, sustainable and regenerative design services across Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

After studying in Scotland, I moved back to my native Northern Ireland to train in engineering, with a focus on Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), sustainability and consulting.

Moving to Australia to work with Norman Disney and Young, I worked on the Carbon Neutral Barangaroo South Commercial Towers in a variety of roles - leading the services delivery for the HSBC and Servcorp fitouts and, over time, the Pricewaterhouse Cooper and Lendlease fitouts - before relocating to Melbourne to focus on sustainable design. During my time in Melbourne I trained as a facilitator, led the collaborative design process for the Net Zero Energy Plumbing Industry Climate Action Centre (PICAC) Narre Warren, the sustainable design for the Victoria Police Centre (VPC) (headquarters for the state police), undertook a detailed energy audit at Collins Place, and led a variety of NABERS Energy, WELL and Green Star projects.

In 2018 I became the Better Buildings Lead for HIP V. HYPE Sustainability, a small and innovative start-up that was involved in the development of the Nightingale Housing model. During my time with HIP V. HYPE I led the sustainable design of the Victorian Pride Centre, developed sustainability strategies for some of Australia’s largest developers, led the sustainabile design for a few Nightingale Projects and facilitated a regenerative design process for a 350+ hectare site within Melbourne’s urban growth boundary (Hazelwynde).

While living in Australia I was lucky to participate in the Centre for Sustainability Leadership Fellowship programme. It changed my view of the world and my place in it more than almost anything I’ve done since. I was also part of The Weekly Service community, volunteered as part of the Living Future Institute of Australia (co-facilitating their Melbourne collaborative for a time), and was a speaker for youth mental health charity Batyr (who’s mission to smash the stigma surrounding mental ill-health and empower young people to reach out for support is really, really cool).

Over the last few years I’ve led and facilitated strategy for the New Zealand Green Building Council, the independently-funded How We Live work, helped to establish The Housing Innovation Society, supported the establishment of the Takaka Cohousing Village, led regenerative capability building for a major bid led by global engineering firms Mott Macdonald and GHD and led Housing and Development work for Hutt City Council.

Where am I now?

In February 2019 I relocated to Aotearoa New Zealand as part of the Edmund Hilary Fellowship (EHF). I currently lead Housing and Development work for Hutt City Council, and am a co-founder of a Joint Venture (JV) business focused on delivering social and environmental benefit through acomponent-based housing system and teach yoga.

Since relocating to Aotearoa, I have: