Imaginarium
The Imaginarium:
The physical and experiential heart of our campus, a playground for learning where imagination is shaped through space, practice and relationships that model regenerative ways of being.
Physical
Experiential
Psychological
Cultural
How we live it daily: shared lunches, story circles, rituals of care, maintenance as stewardship, playful experimentation. Norms and practices reinforce regenerative values until they become “the way we do things here.”
Relational
Together these layers form a living ecology where ideas become practices, practices become culture, and visitors leave with models they can carry into their own contexts.
Cafe, venues and catering
Tours
A pioneering campus and community
In the early days of South Africa’s democracy, a bold vision emerged for a place where leadership, social justice, and sustainability could flourish together. This vision materialised as the Sustainability Institute.
The campus serves as a demonstration of regenerative living in action from the energy, water and waste management to biodiversity and food production, which serves as a model for others to follow. It also provides spaces for students and visitors to reflect, connect, and imagine more just futures.
The Lynedoch Eco-Village, part of our campus, is South Africa’s first socially-mixed, mixed-income eco-community. Organised around nature and child-centered schools, it demonstrates a self-reliant, ecologically designed urban system. By prioritising affordable housing and enabling ownership, the village has created a diverse community of residents living closely to nature. Its architecturally diverse, eco-friendly homes reflect a commitment to both human wellbeing and ecological balance.
Sustainable systems integration
Responsible resource management is part of creating regenerative futures.
Waste management requires community participation and source separation throughout the campus and eco-village. The waste stream is divided into recyclables, food waste, and landfill waste. We continually explore innovative approaches for waste that include making eco-bricks, a process taught to the school children as part of waste education.
Our energy systems emphasise using renewable energy and also reducing consumption through solar hot water heaters and mandatory gas stoves instead of electric ones, cutting energy use by up to 70%.
The SI’s ecological mission is to recycle water and then reuse it in as many ways as possible. All the grey and black water that comes out of residential homes and SI buildings joins together and runs down to the corner of the property where we have a biological sewage treatment plant. This treatment plant and accompanying natural wetland treats water to a good level before pumping it back into various storage tanks. The recycled water is then used to flush toilets or irrigate non-edible plants. This system enables cost savings of between 70%-90%.
Food garden that feeds body and mind
We believe true nutrition transcends mere calories. We cultivate a profound appreciation for food and its origins, recognising it as the heartbeat of community wellness and vitality.
Our food garden serves as an inspiring gathering place where learners reconnect with earth by planting seedlings, crafting compost, harvesting vegetables, and tending to fruit trees. The addition of an indigenous food garden has enriched this space with traditional plants being reintegrated into the local food system and daily menus.
This living classroom not only educates but nourishes approximately 150 children daily.
Through years of thoughtful evolution, the garden has transformed from beds cut into rough grass to productive contoured fields, all while maintaining organic and permaculture principles.
The soil itself tells our most beautiful story. Years of regenerative care have created earth so alive you can smell its vitality when held in your palm. This living soil produces naturally disease-resistant plants – a testament to our belief that when we nurture the soil, it nurtures us in return.
Pedagogies in practice
Many of us have encountered formal education as a process centred around rote memorisation of abstract information, disconnected from “the real world”. This makes learning uninspiring and of little value.
The foundation of our approach is rooted in a balance between action and reflection, which is why we choose to align with frameworks and methodologies such as Montessori and Experiential Learning Theory (ELT- developed by David A. Kolb).
Acclaimed American author, feminist theorist, cultural critic, and social activist, bell hooks advocates that joy, playfulness and engagement are vital ingredients in effective teaching.
Maria Montessori, a renowned educator and innovator and also very influential in our work, aligns with bell hooks’ perspective on the inherent joy of learning. Montessori observed that children possess a natural curiosity and an innate desire to explore and understand the world around them. She believed that the role of an educator is to create an environment that fosters this inherent love for learning. We believe this applies to adults as much as it does to children.
We believe fun and learning can happen together, to enjoy acquiring new knowledge and reignite our genuine love for learning. For us learning should be a dynamic and iterative process that involves the integration of imagination, knowledge and experience, thinking and action.
At the SI we apply the experiential learning approach to all learning experiences that we design. In addition to this we incorporate six learning principles:
Place-based
Embedded in Nature
Reflective
Of mind, body & soul
Action-oriented
Community-led
Cafe, venues and catering
We see food as a powerful tool for connection and learning and a way to bring people together and nourish mind, body and soul.
The Green Café is our on-site coffee shop that serves delicious, healthy meals. It’s a vibrant space where people connect and enjoy food made with vegetables and herbs from the garden and that include local, wild indigenous plants. It is also a learning space, innovating new meals and showcasing products made on site from the abundant produce.
Both the school nutrition programme and the Green Café are run by our Nourish team, who are passionate about how food is at the heart of a community. Our team also cater for a variety of events held on-site, and a range of venues are available for hire.
Venue and hosting brochure
Catering brochure
Venues special offer 2026!
Tours
Various types of tours can be hosted for school groups, students, workshops, conferences or as a unique learning experience. Please contact us for price packages and options.
We invite you to come and learn more!
Book a Tour
Tours & Experience
VENUES AND TOURS
We see food as a powerful tool for connection and learning and a way to bring people together and nourish mind, body and soul.
The Green Café is our on-site coffee shop that serves delicious, healthy meals. It’s a vibrant space where people connect and enjoy food made with vegetables and herbs from the garden and that include local, wild indigenous plants. It is also a learning space, innovating new meals and showcasing products made on site from the abundant produce.
Both the school nutrition programme and the Green Café are run by our Nourish team, who are passionate about how food is at the heart of a community. Our team also cater for a variety of events held on-site, and a range of venues are available for hire.
Venue and hosting brochure
Catering brochure
The Sustainability Institute and Lynedoch Eco-Village is a unique community where learning and practice come together. We focus on food systems, social innovation, optimal resource flows and transformative learning from birth. All of these elements are shown and explained when booking a tour with us.
Various types of tours can be hosted for school groups, students, workshops, conferences or as a unique learning experience. Please contact us for price packages and options. We invite you to come and learn more!