The Regenerative Design Group was founded in 2009 as a mission-driven business to respond positively to the sweeping changes of our time. We seek to empower individuals and communities to create living, regenerative landscapes that thrive today and prepare us to flourish tomorrow.
Our team of ecological designers, landscape planners, and builders has over 50 years of diverse experience ranging from landscape restoration and energy efficiency planning to farming and teaching. Grounded in a common language of permaculture design, our backgrounds equip us to weave the elements of any project into a highly functioning whole system.
JONO NEIGER
A conservation biologist and ecologist since 1990 and permaculture teacher and designer since 1996, Jono has a diverse background in ecology, conservation, restoration, land stewardship, permaculture, horticulture, and landscape design. Jono was the Land Steward at Lost Valley Educational Center, Oregon, Restoration Ecologist with the Nature Conservancy of California, Lost Creek Watershed Council Founder and Coordinator, and Conservation Agent for the Palmer Conservation Commission. He is a member of the faculty at the Conway School of Landscape Design and teaches courses and workshops in Permaculture, ecological design and land stewardship. Jono is Board President of the Permaculture Institute of the Northeast, and is a founding partner of the Regenerative Design Group.
Community Connections:
• Grow Food Northampton Farmer Review Committee, 2010, 2011
• Pioneer Valley Sustainability Network, Steering Committee
• Workshop leader at NYC Urban Permaculture Design Course, University of the Wild/Earthlands, Petersham, MA, and Sirius Community, Shutesbury, MA
KEITH ZALTZBERG
Keith combines his professional training in environmental and Permaculture design with the hands-on experience of a farmer, homesteader, and builder to help communities and individuals create new, symbiotic relationships with their homes and place. Since 2002, he has dedicated his deep interest in applied ecology to exploring patterns in landscape use that can both rebuild ecosystem resilience and meet people's needs today. An avid teacher and skilled designer, Keith has worked with diverse groups from Latino farmers creating an urban farm to Smith College students engaged in a neighborhood wide infrastructure redesign. At the Conway School of Landscape Design, he teaches Master's candidates to apply digital tools such as GIS, CAD, and graphic design software to environmental design. Keith is a certified Permaculture Designer, holds a B.S. in Environmental Design from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at UMass-Amherst, and is a founding partner of the Regenerative Design Group.
Community Connections:
• Greenfield Tree Committee, Greenfield Community Garden design and coordination
• Instructor Smith College Winter-Spring 2010
• Town Councilor, Greenfield, Ma 2012 - 2015
SEBASTIAN GUTWEIN
An artist, craftsman and ecological designer, Sebastian cultivates a deep fascination with the poetics and politics of space and place. He draws on his experience in conventional and organic farming, construction and stonework to help generate resilient and beautiful landscapes. Sebastian holds a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Design from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and is a founding partner of the Regenerative Design Group.
Community Connections:
• Winner of RiverCulture design competition
• Greenfield Parking & Traffic Committee member
TOM BENJAMIN
Tom is a registered Landscape Architect and LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) practicing design and sustainability consulting in Massachusetts. He has more than 20 years experience in environmental design work with a focus on ecological restoration and green design. His restoration experience includes assessment, design, and construction of upland, wetland, riparian and coastal sites and properties using low-tech bioengineering solutions. In addition, Tom’s site planning work emphasizes low maintenance native plantings for public facilities; commercial, institutional, and residential developments; and private residences. His work has often encompassed creation and enhancement of natural stormwater filtration systems in both developed and natural contexts. He also has considerable natural resource planning and land use regulatory experience to support projects from conceptual planning through design, construction and monitoring phases. Tom has lectured at Harvard, MIT and many professional conferences. He continues to teach sustainable landscape design at the University of Massachusetts and Greenfield Community College.
Community Connections:
• Board Member, Grow Food Northampton, Northampton Community Farm
HELENA FARRELL
Helena has a Masters in Landscape Architecture with a background in Cultural Geography, Permaculture and Biointensive farming. She teaches urban agriculture and agroecology at UMass, Amherst, and assists in the Landscape Studies program at Smith College. She is an avid traveler and photographer pursuing new angles on 21st-century human ecology and best practices in contemporary ecological design and planning.
Community Connections:
• Guest Instructor Smith College Winter-Spring 2010
• Instructor Stockbridge School of Agriculture Winter 2012
JOSIAH SIMPSON
Josiah has a BA in sociology from Lewis and Clark, a certificate from ECOSA Institute of Sustainable design, and a Masters from the Conway School of Landscape Design. As a sociologist and designer, he endeavors to create landscapes that harmoniously integrate people, plants, and animals for a sustainable future. He has experience working in social ecology, permaculture, landscape construction and design on both the east and west coasts of North America.
Community Connections:
• Open Space Committee member Town of Shelburne, Ma
Regenerative Design Group 1 Chevalier Avenue, Greenfield Massachusetts 01301 413-325-7968