Talks for Communities
Nature's Guide to Ecological Citizenship, Thriving Human Settlements and Healthy Bioregions
Example Keynote - Creating Places We're Proud to Leave Behind: Bioregioning and Community-Led Regeneration
Imagine your community functioning like a thriving ecosystem—diverse, cooperative, resilient, and regenerative.
What if your town could capture and clean its own water, produce local food, support biodiversity, and create meaningful livelihoods—all while strengthening social bonds and collective wellbeing?
This isn't utopian dreaming. It's bioregioning—and it's happening in communities worldwide, from Devon to Colombia.
Dr Deborah Benham, who lives in Bridport's pioneering co-housing community, reveals how ordinary people are taking extraordinary actions by learning from nature's 3.8 billion years of innovation.
Through biomimicry and bioregioning, communities are addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, and social fragmentation—not through top-down mandates, but through grassroots collaboration rooted in place.
Drawing on success stories from the global Transition towns movement, biomimicry, indigenous wisdom, and emerging bioregional networks, Deborah offers practical frameworks for visioning, mapping, and co-creating regenerative futures.
Audiences learn what makes their place unique, identify existing strengths, and discover pathways to become ecological citizens—contributors to a thriving web of life rather than passive consumers or overwhelmed individuals.
Key Takeaways
- How biomimicry and bioregioning create systems-level change
- Practical steps: visioning, mapping assets, building partnerships
- Reframing humans as keystone species that improve ecosystems
- Case studies from successful community regeneration initiatives
- How to plug into emerging networks and funding opportunities (including the Living Systems Alliance)
Details
- Duration: 1 - 2 hour talk and/or half to full day workshop.
- Format: On-site at your base or venue near you (or online if preferred).
- Price: From £200 - turnover/organisation size based sliding scale.
- Booking: Please complete the contact form below or book a 30 minute call for an initial discussion.
About Dr Deborah Benham
Deborah is an ecologist, biomimicry educator, Gaia Education trainer, and co-lead of Transition Network International. With a PhD in marine conservation and 28 years of experience across wildlife guiding, sustainability education, and community resilience, she has worked with organisations from grassroots groups to international networks across 40+ countries. Deborah combines rigorous ecological science with deeply experiential practices, weaving together biomimicry, bioregioning, nature connection, and regenerative design. She lives in Bridport's co-housing community and is currently leading the Living Systems Alliance, a collaboration between Transition Network, the Permaculture Association, Global Ecovillage Network, and the Biomimicry Institute to support nature-centric bioregional regeneration worldwide.
Speaking Style: Warm, story-rich, participatory, and grounded in lived experience. Deborah creates psychologically safe spaces where vulnerability and wisdom coexist, inspiring audiences through personal narrative, rigorous science, and genuine hope. She regularly incorporates interactive elements, breakout discussions, and practical frameworks that audiences can immediately apply.
CONTACT ME
For any questions, or to express interest in a talk, workshop or course drop me a message using the contact form.
CHAT WITH ME
If you'd like a free 30 minute chat to explore how we might work together, or to see if any of the offerings mentioned on this site are a good fit for you.
Book a time using the button below.