As a learning designer working across the Great Plains, I’ve found that conventional instructional design approaches often wither when transplanted to rural and unique contexts. This realization sparked Homegrown Learning: A Seed Packet for Trainers – my ever-in-progress book that explores a more organic approach to learning design.

“All that you touch You Change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth Is Change.” — Octavia Butler

This quote from Butler’s Parable of the Sower (a personal favorite) captures the reciprocal relationship I’ve discovered between designer and community. When we create learning experiences with genuine care for context and sustainability, we ourselves are transformed.

Homegrown Learning integrates:

• Context-sensitive design approaches
• Natural systems thinking and biomimicry
• Low-tech, accessible alternatives
• Community co-design principles