The Kwendalo Institute is reimagining education as a dynamic process of learning that promotes wellness, interconnectedness, and harmony with life.
At Kwendalo, we possess a genuine passion for acquiring and sharing knowledge that is in service to life, and which has harmony and health at the core of that emergent wisdom. We wish to enable diverse citizens, especially our youth, to become leaders in co-creating a regenerative future.
The Kwendalo Institute is therefore creating and implementing nature-inspired learning that promotes:
Harmony within Self: nurturing the curiosity, capabilities, and wellbeing of people at the centre of their learning.
Harmony within Society: recognising the interdependency of our relations and the actions that we can all undertake in support community and planetary health.
Harmony within Nature: nourishing a deeper embodied connection with place, enabling learners to experience kinship with life while cultivating meaningful regenerative relationships with earth.
We are aspiring toward these outcomes through formal education and curricula, gap-year learning journeys, workshops and training, and explorative research.
The Kwendalo Institute is bringing the philosophy of The Harmony Project to schools and courses around Plettenberg Bay and, in time, across South Africa. The Kwendalo Institute is home to Africa’s first international Harmony Project initiative.
The Harmony Centre at Kwendalo is the home of The Harmony Project in South Africa and is our shared hive for learning events and workshops that create a buzz of curiosity and pollinate new ideas within our community.
The Harmony Centre is equipped with conferencing facilities available for hire.
Dr. Matthew Zylstra is Programme Director with the Kwendalo Institute and coordinates the research, education and outreach programmes being implemented through the Institute. His is developing Nature Referrals (NRx) – a local multi-stakeholder programme that empowers primary healthcare professionals to formally ‘prescribe’ nature-based activities as part of a complementary lifestyle intervention for optimal wellbeing. Matthew is also creating education courses that speak to the Institute’s mission of promoting dynamic nature-inspired learning for human and planetary health. From a research perspective, Matthew tracks innovations in human-nature connectedness as well as evaluating the impacts of nature-based interventions for conservation, education and wellness.
Matthew Zylstra is a systems ecologist focused on deepening the human-nature relationship for the health of people and planet. He has over 20 years of international experience in social-ecological research and outdoor facilitation. Matthew completed his MSc at Wageningen University (2005) and a transdisciplinary PhD at Stellenbosch University / The Sustainability Institute. His research explored how meaningful nature experiences motivate pro-environmental behaviour for action in sustainability education. Insights from this research have informed several global initiatives, such as #NatureForAll and the Planetary Health Alliance’s education framework. He was a founding co-director for Living Lands (2007-2011), education associate with Sea Change Trust (2014-2019) and field lecturer for Wildlands Studies university programmes in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand (2009-2018). Matthew is a Scientific Advisor for NatureFix and Research Fellow with the Centre for Sustainability Transitions (CST) at Stellenbosch University. He is also registered as a Professional Natural Scientist with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions.
Contact Matt on institute@kwendalo.co.za
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Sue has been working in conservation and environmental education for 34 years and immersed in the teaching and practice of biomimicry since 2007. Sue’s primary focus is on Biomimicry as a way of Being and Belonging as a means of, once again, living in right and rich relationship with Nature. This looks at how to make the practice of reconnecting with, revaluing, learning from and living as one with the community of Life on Earth, a part of our daily lives. Sue offers Forest Immersion experiences and engaging workshops related to this, and also developed an online course on the topic.
Founding Chair at World Trails Network.
Galeo Saintz is the founder and co-founder of multiple non-profit organizations and initiatives linked to trails and conservation. As a mountain wilderness guide, he leads unique trips and expeditions with an emphasis on conservation and ecological awareness. As the Founding Chair of the World Trails Network, a Swiss-based international non-profit association working for trails globally, Saintz helps to shape a global outdoor sector that makes a difference to rural communities, to nature, and to tourism. He is also the Co-Chair of the IUCN – CEESP Commission’s Theme on Environment and Peace, and its Task Force on Migration and Environmental Change, fostering collaboration for environmental peacebuilding.
Carol Surya is a children’s wellness expert, counseling psychologist, author and game developer, who is passionate about empowering parents, children and those involved in raising children. Using a positive psychology approach to bring out one’s potential, she inspires audiences with her practical, solution-focused tools that help parents and children feel happier, calmer and more connected.
Additionally, Carol offers Biodanza classes at Kwendalo’s Studio on Mondays at 17:30. R180 per class or R1500 per package of 10 classes.
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