the team
Karen and Ryan grew up in Cape Town, South Africa. After living and working in the UK and other places around the world, they decided to leave the city and see if they could bring a friends farm back to life. They moved to Spain and started the La Loma Viva project in 2009. Together they have been managing and running the project and are now the co-founders of the La Loma Viva Foundation. They have personally designed and been responsible for implementing all the infrastructure and current systems here - building both a working farm and an education/retreat facility.
Karen is a custodian of the land, an educator, a consultant and a whole systems thinker. Karen has a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Medical Anthropology, and she brings this trans-disciplinary approach to her work in regenerative design and syntropic farming. Her interests lie at the intersection of ecology and health. Karen´s main passion is exploring practical actions that contribute to the transformation of inner and outer landscapes. She has a strong sense of curiosity, works intuitively and is an independent thinker. Karen enjoys planting, cooking, and being in nature with her canine sidekick Lucy.
Karen is currently studying Chinese medicine and Hakomi (mindfulness based psychotherapy). These tools, along with a deep nature connection are teaching her how we can cultivate wellbeing on all levels, allowing us to make new choices, and nourish the ground for greater wholeness.
Ryan’s background is in horticulture and landscaping, which has provided him with a wide range of practical skills, as well as a strong interest in plants, trees, and ecology. Through his experience with permaculture, he was able to bring systems thinking into his work on landscape restoration. He considers himself a student of syntropic farming - discovering and putting into practice viable solutions for Mediterranean and semi-arid biomes.
Ryan approaches the problems we confront, by observing and emulating natural processes to discover solutions. He loves to teach, especially when it comes to hands-on activities on the farm (where he prides himself in a very organised and systematic approach). He is a syntropic farming and ecological landscape design consultant and facilitator.
You may also find him surfing the very rare waves in the local area.
