Jon heads up the College. He has a doctorate in Geography and Anthropology from the University of Oxford, an MSc in Environmental Management from the University of Stirling, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Desert Studies from Ben-Gurion University in Israel and a BSc in Business (minor in Economics) from George Mason University in the US.
Jon has held senior fellowships with the Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research and the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (member of the Consultative Group for Agricultural Research). Whilst holding a variety of roles with the Climate, Energy and Tenure Division of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (United Nations) he was seconded to co-facilitate the Environment Arm of the Clinton Middle East Peace Process. Jon has facilitated and launched a range of co-operative enterprises in local produce, skills training and education. His research and applied interests are collective responses to sustainability issues, social enterprise and local livelihoods, common property management and resilient institutions, ecological design and regeneration. Jon has published on a range of issues in professional journals and books.
Email: j.rae@dartington.org / Tel: +44 (0)1803 847240
Stephen Jones, Dartington Hall trustee and former Principal of King Edward VI Community College, joins Schumacher College as an interim Director.
Stephen will lead the College to deliver an improved business and expansion model for the College within the parameters of Dartington’s Five Year Plan. This is a time limited role (initially up until the year-end) to provide extra capacity and capabilities to deliver these required changes as quickly as possible. Stephen has been a Trustee of Dartington Hall Trust for three years and has a wealth of educational experience and contacts as well as exceptional change management skills.
Email: stephen.jones@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803847248
A former monk and long-term peace and environment activist, Satish Kumar has been quietly setting the Global Agenda for change for over 50 years. He was just nine when he left his family home to join the wandering Jains and 18 when he decided he could achieve more back in the world, campaigning for land reform in India and working to turn Gandhi’s vision of a renewed
In 1973 Satish settled in the United Kingdom taking up the post of editor of Resurgence magazine, a position he has held ever since, making him the UK’s longest-serving editor of the same magazine. During this time, he has been the guiding spirit behind a number of now internationallyrespected ecological and educational ventures including Schumacher College. Read more
Click here to download his biography
Click here to read about Resurgence, which Satish edits
Email: c/o: admin@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 865934
Stephan oversees the MSc in Holistic Science, teaching on the core models and as part of several of the short courses at the College.
Stephan was born in Venezuela in 1953. He came to England at the age of six with his father and housekeeper, with whom he spoke Spanish (his mother tongue) at home. Since childhood Stephan has had a deep fascination with the natural world, and his scientific cast of mind lead him to do a degree in Zoology at the University of Durham and then a doctorate on the behavioural ecology of the muntjac deer at Oxford University. Read more
Email: stephan@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 847225
In September 2009 Philip joined the MSc in Holistic Science Faculty as teacher of complexity.
Born in 1958 in England, Philip studied mathematics at New College Oxford from 1976 to 1980. Academia’s dull explanation of the world inspired Philip on a counter-journey into the depths of experience, travelling and a re-sensitisation to quality. In 2005, after a fifteen-year career designing intelligent software, culminating in a programme now used in The Netherlands by all Dutch courts, Philip had a chance encounter with Satish Kumar and was moved to come to Schumacher as an MSc student. Philip began and edits the Holistic Science Journal Read more
Email: philip@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 867 234
Julie has taught ecological economics and international development at the Universities of London and Sussex and has worked in sustainable development for over 20 years in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. This experience changed her view of ‘development’ – believing there is much we can learn from the wisdom of other cultures about sustainable livelihoods and restoring healthy relationship between human society and nature.
Julie has applied systems thinking and complexity science to different aspects of sustainability – including sustainable design, organizational change and environmental policy. The Landscope project at Dartington arose out of this work to demonstrate industrial ecology in practice. Read more
Email: julie.richardson@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 847249
Jonathan Dawson is a sustainability educator and a socio-economist with wide experience as a researcher, author, consultant and project manager. He was until recently a member of the Findhorn ecovillage community in Scotland and the President of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), the umbrella organisation for sustainable community initiatives worldwide.
Jonathan is the principal author of the Gaia Education sustainable economy curriculum, drawn from best practice within ecovillages worldwide, that has been endorsed by UNITAR and adopted by UNESCO as a valuable contribution to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. He teaches this curriculum at universities, ecovillages and community centres in Brazil, Spain and Scotland. He has also adopted the curriculum to virtual format and teaches it through the Open University of Catalunya in Barcelona.
Jonathan has over twenty years experience as a consultant in community economic development, rural transport and organisational development, with a particular focus on the design and operationalisation of monitoring and evaluation systems. His clients include the World Bank, the International Labour Office, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, Community Energy Scotland, the Cairngorm National Park Authority, the Intermediate Technology Development Group and a number of other NGOs.
Email: jonathan.dawson@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: 01803 847216
Bethan co-ordinates the garden operations and lectures in horticulture and agroecology for vocational and postgraduate courses. Bethan has a BSc in Biology from University of Bristol, an MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation from the University of Leeds and fifteen years professional experience, including as a co-ordinator of the national Allotments Regeneration Initiative, ecological consultant and farmers market manager. Bethan also works part-time at Plymouth University, where she is undertaking research on botanical education; other interests are organic crop production, perennial cropping and soils in sustainable agriculture.
Email: bethan@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 847218
Inga manages the short course programme at Schumacher College, as well as arranging partnership courses and external lets.
Inga has worked at the College since 1994, and took over management of the short course programme in 2008. She studied philosophy at the University of Bristol, then moved to San Francisco where she worked in community conflict resolution, studied for an MA in International Relations and became active in the movement against US intervention in Central America. Her interest in the work of Vandana Shiva brought her to Schumacher College in 1992, and soon after she returned to the UK and moved to Devon. She lives in Ashburton with her husband, daughter and a flock of chickens, and is gradually digging up the lawn and expanding the food-growing areas in her garden. “Schumacher College is constantly evolving – the lovely people that work here and attend courses, and the vibrancy of the ideas they bring, means that working at Schumacher is never ever dull!.”
Email: i.page@schumachercollege.org.uk Tel: +44 (0)1803 847236
Heather is reponsible for the overseeing the day to day running of the College.
Before her arrival at the College in 2001 she worked as office manager for Kindred Spirit magazine. Prior to that she made a change of direction and downshifted after more than fifteen years of working for the US Government as UK Sales Manager for the Stars and Stripes newspaper. Her favourite place in the College is the window seat in the library at the opening meeting at the start of a new course, listening to new participants introducing themselves. ‘How incredible to be able to go to work and meet such an amazing assortment of wonderful people from all over the World.’
Email: admin@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 847215
Melanie administers the MSc in Holistic Science course, giving support to the academic tutors and the students. She works three days a week at the College, and her remaining time is occupied with studying complementary therapies, healing, astrology and related subjects. Before coming to Schumacher, Melanie had worked in central London for many years: in business marketing for the Financial Times and more latterly in government communications in Whitehall. Melanie has a BSc degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (Linguistics with Music) and in the Autumn will qualify as a reflexologist. When she left London she was keen to align her working life with her core values: ‘It’s fantastic to be working in a place dedicated to exploring and developing more authentic paradigms for living as opposed to the pursuit of profit and power without care for the environmental and social consequences.’
Email: melanie@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 847221
Lou began her career as a published and recorded writer, working on radio and touring as a performer, sketch writer and poet.
Since then she has clocked up over fifteen years experience working in the arts sector and has worked in publishing and book selling, marketing and arts development. She worked as a community arts officer for a local authority, delivering creative workshops for The Housing Association and Young Offender Programmes and also has experience as a Marketing Officer for a Contemporary Art Gallery. Lou has also managed her own ceramics business, Made on Earth.
Before moving to Devon, Lou worked for the past 7 years for Arts Council England, specialising in Visual Arts and Literature and as Regional Partnerships Officer. Lou has been interested and influenced by land and our relationship with it for many years and it is a continual theme in her own writing and creativity.
Email: lou.rainbow@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 847238
Joanna came to Schumacher College for a Biomimicry course in 2008 and then was back two weeks later as a volunteer! The College has been a base for her ever since. She found Schumacher to be a ‘home’ where all her interests came together: holistic thinking, science, the arts and spirituality, to name a few. Prior to Schumacher she studied and worked at the University of Leeds … as a Research Fellow, Lecturer in Mathematics and more recently as a Learning Technologist. She is excited by the potential of blending the use of technology alongside traditional ways of teaching and learning, enabling more people to share something of the Schumacher experience.
Joanna is also an activist and has been very involved with campaigns for economic and climate justice. Her artistic practice and activism have come together in the development of a number of books – ‘Coffee’ being the first to be published when she studied for an MA in Fine Art. Currently, when she is not working at the College, she is attending the School of Social Entrepreneurs for support to lead the development of a social networking platform for people working for positive change.
Email: j.brown@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 847245
After growing up in the Austrian Alps, Constantin spent most of his adult life moving around the globe. In 2003 he went to film school in Australia, where he became involved in various grassroots documentary projects. One of these “The Economics of Happiness”, which was produced by one of Schumacher’s regular teachers Helena Norberg-Hodge, led to his first introduction to Schumacher College. Then, after spending a year living and working in an intentional community in Sweden, Constantin came to the college as an MSc student in 2008. Custom dictates that each year at least one MSc student remains in the area after the course is complete. Constantin took on this role for his year and in June 2010, he joined the staff team to set up the “Open Learning” programme.
Email: c.dumba@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 847241
Mark is responsible for all digital marketing and manages the website and social media platforms.
After graduating in Psychology, Mark spent many years in London working as a project manager for a large global research agency, conducting quantitative research for a variety of high profile corporations. Since leaving research Mark has spent the last 10 years studying and teaching in organic horticulture and education. He has also worked for a number of NGO’s in England, Ireland, Romania and Guatemala. These experiences fuelled an increasing interest in sustainability which culminated in him completing an MSc in Sustainable Development at the University of Exeter. He lives in a small village by the River Teign with his wife and their baby boy.
Email: mark.wallace@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 847227
William has been at the college for 20 years and manages the accommodation as well as various facilities across the college campus. Being resident on site, he is the point of contact for all first aid and emergency needs. He provides IT, photographic and multimedia support for all teachers and students, and manages the students’ archive of learning resources.
He has a degree in psychology, worked for BBC Radio Bristol doing regular interviews and is a craftsman. He has worked closely with various aspects of the Schumacher lifestyle, including meditation, soirees, community work and technology.
Email: william@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 847217
Wayne started working at the College in January 2001. He is a food technologist, Chef, Artisan Baker and Cheesemaker and has been involved in food for the past 30 years. He is Head of Food at Schumacher College and has the challenge of keeping the College on the cutting edge of food policy with regard to organic, fair-trade and local ingredients. Wayne is the originator of the concept ‘Food – A Path to Radical Amazement’.
Wayne is also a Craniosacral therapist.
Email: wayne@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 847222
Julia coordinates the catering two days a week when Wayne is with his cranio-sacral patients. Before the birth of Stephan and Julia’s son Oscar in 2001, Julia worked full time as the Catering Manager and put together the college cookbook Gaia’s Kitchen which won the Gourmand World Cookbook Award for best veggie cookbook in 2001. Julia has been at the College since the beginning and occupied various roles- including being a participant on the first course (Gaia theory 1991). She originally came to the College to deepen her knowledge of ecology so as to become a more effective member of the Green Party.
Before moving to Devon she worked for Westminster City Council and the medical charity Lepra. Prior to this she studied Social Anthropology and Philosophy at the University of East Anglia. ‘I have always loved cooking, but never thought I’d end up as a professional cook! Only at Schumacher College where the steamier side of the culinary world eclipses under the banner of team work and love of good fresh local food could I have enjoyed catering for so long. It’s exciting to see the importance of food (preparation, sourcing and growing) being put at the forefront of some of the cutting edge movements of today – the Transition movement and the Slow Food movement – and to realise that as a learning ground for holistic cooks, the College kitchen has a lot to contribute.’
Email: julia@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 847222
After making the leap from suburban Surrey to deepest Devon, Sarah and her husband joined an intentional community on Dartmoor. It was here that her vegetarian cooking skills flourished and she realised how nurturing food could be for people. When the vacancy at Schumacher arose, she jumped at the chance – to learn from Wayne and Julia was an opportunity not to be missed!
Sarah lives in nearby Totnes and enjoys playing on her allotment in her spare time.
Email: c/o: admin@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 847222
