Permaculture Australia is excited to share that we have initiated a Youth Circle, with the intention of connecting youth across Australia and around the world to the permaculture movement.
We are fortunate to have Karla Quintana step up to lead this circle and harness her youth network from the many youth communities that she works across.
The first activity is establishing Youth Ambassadors from each State and Territory. These inaugural ambassadors will be sponsored to attend the International Youth Permaculture Convergence in Timor Leste in October this year.
If you can’t wait to get involved and support this program, as either a nominator of a Youth Ambassador, a candidate or a Youth Circle member reach out to eo@permacultureaustralia.org.au. An information pack will be released to members within the week.
About Karla Quintana
Karla is a regenerative bioregional educator, biologist, community weaver, and founder of transformative learning spaces rooted in permaculture, collective transformation, and the sacred balance of nature. With a background in biology and
scientific research, she brings an ecological and systems-thinking lens to her work—bridging science, education, and community resilience.
For over two decades, Karla has empowered young people to become stewards of the Earth through mentorship and life-shaping experiences grounded in ecological literacy, outdoor environmental education, and intentional community living. She completed her Permaculture Design Course at Crystal Waters Ecovillage, deepening her commitment to regenerative practices.
Karla currently leads the Bioethical Student Residence, an intentional urban community where youth engage in environmental sensitization, behavioral change, collective responsibility, and social transformation in action. She is also the founder of Acampalli, a cooperative of young environmental educators—an embodied school of thought and action committed to forging new paths toward ecological justice, cultural renewal, and cooperativism.
Her vision of education and community was profoundly shaped during her youth by the Zapatista revolution of the Mayan people in Chiapas, Mexico. The Zapatistas’ call for dignity, autonomy, and collective liberation continues to influence her deeply. Central to their philosophy is the phrase: “In the world we want, everyone fits. We want a world where many worlds fit.” For Karla, this is more than an ideal—it is a lived commitment. Her work centers on building social structures and relationships that care for nature, honor diversity, resist domination, and make space for multiple ways of being, knowing, and organizing life.
She fosters intergenerational learning, creating spaces where the wisdom of elders and the creativity of youth come together to restore the continuity of knowledge and regenerate both social and ecological systems. Karla’s pedagogy is rooted in Deep Ecology, Outdoor Education, and Indigenous knowledge systems. Through her programs, her mission is to cultivate a generation of empowered changemakers.
With a warm presence and radical clarity, Karla continues to guide youth in living in alignment with the Earth and with each other—through practices that heal, reconnect, and reimagine the world we share.
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