What were you doing before you applied to the Conway School?
Assistant 5th grade teacher
What brought you to Conway?
Being inspired by the total landscape, design and usage, exemplified in the Balinese culture.
How did you first learn about Conway?
From a friend
Imagine we just met, and recognized we had common interests. How would you describe Conway to me?
A no nonsense approach to regenerative landscape planning and thinking in a New England context
What advice do you have for someone just starting out in the field?
Do one thing really well, learn a little bit about everything else and partner with people who do all the other things really well
What are you doing right now, and what do you love about it?
Working with a coffee growing village to find income producing methods to preserve the protected forest they manage. I love the complexity and possibility of this long term project.
What is your favorite tool? E.g., a type of gardening tool, digital tool, etc.
An IPad equipped with an Apple pen, Claude and many mapping and drawing apps
How do you think ecological design and planning can help make positive change?
Mostly by supporting people in behavioral change. Good design guides a user towards certain awareness and related actions. Designers can help people to recognize and engage with ecological processes around them.
Which aspects of your Conway education do you use in your current work?
Conway provided me with an approach of “do what you can with what you have now and figure out the rest later” which has served me well in a quickly changing context of property in Indonesia.
What blogs or podcasts do you recommend?
What should we have asked you in this form that we haven’t?
How do you see ecological design changing in the near future?
I see access to information and case studies on ecological design accelerating the effectiveness of many well intentioned efforts to date.
Please provide a short bio, or link to your bio.
With over 20 years of experience in Indonesia, currently serving as Managing Director at Abian Gede, driving projects that blend infrastructure, agriculture, forestry, and conservation. By leveraging expertise in sustainable development and environmental planning, the team delivers innovative, multi-use properties, including planning scale forest initiatives and eco-focused residential designs.
What is the link to your website?
Abiangede.com