S39 director, founder and lead tutor Steve Jones is a passionate and articulate teacher and practitioner of permaculture design with extensive knowledge of both the theory and practice of sustainable development.
Alongside our rolling Permaculture education programme Sector39 are currently deliver these projects:
- Permaculture Education Partnership & S39 Design Academy
– Wales / Uganda. Supported by the Welsh Government and Hub Africa Cymru - One School One Planet – Permaculture in Schools Programme
– Wales / Global education for transition. Supported by EU and Welsh Government - Permaculture Design Course
– Adult education and project development facilitation, a rolling courses programme
Since 1991 Steve has been gaining hands-on experience implementing and project-managing land-based initiatives such as community gardens, and small farms housing cooperatives.
Steve has worked as a member of the Get-Growing team in Newtown, Powys, creating the Cultivate enterprise offering organic horticulture training and supporting the development of community food growing projects. Steve was a consultant to the Squash Nutrition urban food growing project in Liverpool and has a growing interest in urban agriculture.
As a certified business studies and economics teacher Steve has a degree in sustainable development, which brings depth and professionalism to his teaching approach. Steve writes several blogs and is an avid networker and communicator on the subjects of sustainability, transition and co-operatives.
With his colleagues at Sector39 – have delivered 35+ full permaculture design certificate courses alongside 100’s of shorter courses, including on low impact structures, introduction to permaculture, and forest gardening.
The interplay between Steve’s project work and teaching allows theory and practice to continually inform each other, ensuring that he stays engaged and up to date with the latest developments on both sides.
Steve has also played a key role in the Growing Schools forest garden projects in the South East and the award winning RISC Roof Garden project in Reading.
This work has evolved into the One School One Planet programme working to bring permaculture principles into the core curriculum of schools.
As a founding member of the Chickenshack housing co-op in West Wales, has worked at the Centre for Alternative Technology in mid Wales and was green advisor on Channel 4’s ‘Changing Lives – Going Green’ series in 2009.
Prior to that Steve ran a series of projects in Central Africa in grass-roots permaculture farming, micro-business development, sustainable agriculture, and has since began a Welsh Government supported permaculture education project in Uganda.
Brought up on a farm in Shropshire, Steve’s childhood memories are of working on the land, sorting potatoes and plucking turkeys. This formative experience and his subsequent observation of the ongoing changes in agricultural practices and their adverse effects on the environment have remained driving forces in his professional life.
Steve and Sector39 are based in Llanrhaeadr Ym Mochnant, in the Welsh borders.
- Sector39 is an association of designers, gardeners, teachers, artisans and project crew working for a sustainable future. We run courses, build gardens and work with community projects and more… working in Mid Wales and all over the UK.
- We act as a platform to develop and deliver courses and training. We are currently working with schools, colleges, projects, new businesses, craft makers and artisans.
- We work in partnership with and are based at Dragons Co-op, our new hub, shop and office in Llanrhaeadr in North Wales.
