Building The Connections

In 2006, Christopher Cooke came to Australia to make Regeneration, featuring Walter and HSA’s pioneering regenerative farmers.

In 2009, Walter began a decade-long collaboration with Major General Michael Jeffery, later founder of Soils for Life and Australia’s first National Soil Advocate. Nearly all farmers in the first Soils for Life case studies came from the HSA network.

Phill joined HSA in 2011, marrying his farming experience, field investigation and microscopy with Walter’s science. Together with farmers and practitioners, science, observation and practical experimentation increasingly informed one another.

Cindy Eiritz joined Walter and Phill in 2013, bringing experience connecting people, organisations and knowledge. She built connections across soil, regenerative agriculture and ecosystem restoration networks, helping extend Walter’s work internationally. This included Global Soil Week and the first Restoring Water Cycles to Reverse Global Warming conference.

There Walter met Didi Pershouse, who later organised US workshops and speaking tours with him. Concurrently, Biodiversity for a Livable Climate brought Walter’s work to wider audiences, including Harvard University in 2018.

Vijay Kumar saw a recording of a 2016 workshop with Walter and Didi and began experimenting with the ideas in Andhra Pradesh. This began a long-term partnership.

Becoming Regenerate Earth

In January 2019, Walter, Phill and Cindy established Regenerate Earth, carrying forward decades of science, practical experience, relationships and learning. The name came from Walter’s “Regenerate Earth” paper for a 2017 UN Food and Agriculture Organization soil conference.

Later that year, Walter and Didi travelled to India to support Vijay and RySS with the science. They also helped develop educational programs for 365-day green cover and pre-monsoon dry sowing. Phill subsequently brought his expertise in microscopy, field investigation and practical teaching.

Ecological filmmaker Stephen Curtain joined Regenerate Earth in 2019. Dr Gundi Rhoades, Katrina Kell and Evelyn Lee Collin joined in subsequent years.

Learning, Action & Evidence At Scale

Andhra Pradesh’s women’s self-help group networks have enabled knowledge and practice to spread at extraordinary scale. Today, over 1.8 million farmers are transitioning to Community Managed Natural Farming, with interest extending to more than 50 countries.

Working with RySS teams, Regenerate Earth has investigated soils, water and local temperatures. Field measurements reached 74°C under chemical farming, compared with 29°C under natural farming. This validates Phill and Walter’s decades of work on living soil biology, biological hydrology and cooling.

We also continue our longstanding work with farmers and practitioners across Australia, while expanding work on green water and biological hydrology internationally. Through research, education and policy, we put decades of knowledge and experience into practice — to regenerate Earth.