OUR TEAM

  • Carla Ackerman
  • Jan Vingerhoets
  • Alison Martin
  • Paul Bewsher
  • Lesley Richardson 
Carla Ackerman

Managing Director

Carla (Founder of Regenerative SPACE) worked in the sphere of national and provincial government for a number of years. She then ran a successful consultancy focused on gender in socio-economic development for two decades. This background has refined her understanding of the interdependence between human development and the natural environment. Since 2019 she has focused on the green economy, specifically in the Overberg region of the Western Cape.


This is Carla’s vision for Regenerative SPACE: “To facilitate alternative ways of living that are more sustainable and less consumerist, in partnership with like-minded others. To foster alternative options and more sustainable solutions to the developmental challenges that we face collectively. To open up creative avenues towards more authentic ways of living, which include people and nature as part of the circle of life.”


Jan Vingerhoets

Executive Director

Jan is equally well versed in business and in dealing hands-on with environmental challenges.


He ran drilling data analysis units on oilrigs, then worked as an applications programmer in San Francisco, before starting a successful biometrics company on his return to South Africa. He later became the CEO of a waste-to-energy company.


He and his wife and son now live entirely off-grid on a smallholding where they farm organically, growing heirloom varieties for seed, and live in a self-built strawbale house. He is also an artist, making functional art from waste.


Alison Martin

Executive Director

Alison has been working in visual arts and communication for the past 15+ years, predominantly in the film and television industry. She has a keen eye for detail and is completely fascinated by the human story as well as beauty in all that surrounds us. As a film director, her focus has been on upliftment and capturing the true essence of what is.


Paul Bewsher

Non-Executive Director

Paul combines environmental and spatial knowledge with an understanding of policy issues. He has worked on large national parks and transfrontier conservation areas and World Heritage Sites. Paul is the chairperson of our Advisory Board.


Lesley Richardson 

Special Advisor

Lesley spent 18 years with Flower Valley Conservation Trust as Executive Director and latterly as Development Director. For the past 10 years she also co-ordinated the Agulhas Biodiversity Initiative (ABI), a landscape programme in the Overberg. Lesley is a longstanding member of CAPE (Cape Action for People and the Environment).  Earlier in her career Lesley worked for WWF South Africa. Lesley has a deep commitment to sustainability, resilience and equity which is visible in all her endeavours.


OUR COLLABORATORS

Join Regenerative SPACE

TAKE ACTION NOW

Invest in the environment and local communities

KEEP TRACK OF OUR FUTURE PLANS,

FURTHER INNOVATION AND EXPLORATION.