Stephen Brooks has over 25 years of experience working on the creation of thrivingecological communities, beginning in 1995 with The Punta Mona Center forRegenerative Design and Botanical Studies, which has become a world leader intropical permaculture and an extensive botanical collection of useful plants. Tens ofthousands of students have visited and have been inspired by this rotatingcommunity of change-makers. In 2006 La Ecovilla was founded as a world model forsustainable living, made up of 45 families from 22 countries. Ecovilla’s roads aremade from recycled plastic, the septic is treated by one of Costa Rica’s largestmethane digesters and large communal gardens and orchards feed the residents.In 2008, up the street from La Ecovilla, Stephen co-founded Tacotal which is co-owned by 33 families and is 70 acres on the same river as La Ecovilla. His most recent addition is Alegria Village which neighbors La Ecovilla and is 170 acres and has sold 140 lots to neighbors from 32 countries!Stephen co-founded the annual Envision Festival, an educational and consciouscelebration on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica featuring music, workshops, artinstallations and a host of activities designed to build community and inspirationaround creating a sustainable world. Nearly 10,000 people attended the EnvisionFestival in 2024.A self-trained ethnobotanist, specialist in exotic fruit trees and permacultureeducation, Stephen has taught over 40 Permaculture Design Courses in Costa Rica,Mexico, Guatemala, and the US and last year he co-founded Ecoversity which isteaching permaculture and other Earth skills online. He currently does consultationsand permaculture installations on many scales, from working with Hollywoodcelebrities to resorts and wellness centers to community development projects tosmall family farms. Stephen has become the go-to in Costa Rica when people wantto increase their biodiversity, nurture their soil and design the self-sustaining projectof their dreams.A passionate speaker and educator, Stephen has given numerous talks and lecturesover the years, including several TedX talks, and appeared as a host andcorrespondent on multiple TV shows including Edible Adventures for the TravelChannel, G Word for Discovery's Planet Green, Save My Planet for ABC's Livewell HDand most recently was featured on Down to Earth w/ Zac Efron on Netflix!Stephen BrooksIG: stephenrbrooksPROJECTSIG @PUNTAMONAIG @ENVISIONFESTIVAL@PUNTAMONAENVISIONIG @ALEGRIAVILLAGEALEGRIAIG @ECOVERSITY