Colorful illustration of a vegetable garden with the text 'The Island Almanac' surrounded by a sun, tomato, carrot, lettuce, flower, and a small solar panel.


“We weave ideas, scribe forward, align with life and create connection.”
— Dr Demeter | Emily Samuels-Ballantyne

Covering topics on Foundational Economics, Convivial Governance, Anthroposophic Philosophy & Everyday Regeneration in Tasmania

Overview
The Island Almanac is a living compendium of stories, tools and place-based examples that weave together foundational economics, anthroposophic wisdom and the rhythms of everyday life. Rooted in the soils of Tasmania and flowering from Magical Farm Tasmania. Across its pages you’ll find:

  • Practical essays on redirecting public and private wealth into community resilience

  • Anthroposophical reflections on seasonal rhythms, ritual and soul-led innovation

  • Tasmanian case studies from coastal hamlets to mountain valleys

  • Project spotlights on island-wide initiatives, from seed libraries to solar co-ops.

    Living Architecture: A dynamic framework of interconnected practices, food, housing, energy, governance, culture, activism and economics that grows, adapts and breathes like an ecosystem, rather than standing as static policy or infrastructure. These seven pillars form the Living Architecture of Regen Era Design Studio & The Island Almanac: integrating heart, head & hands to power a truly regenerative future.

    1. Food

    2. Housing

    3. Energy

    4. Community Life, Learning & Culture

    5. Sacred Activism

    6. Convivial Governance

    7. Regenerative Economic Design.

Wildflowers growing in a field with a backdrop of trees and a partly cloudy sky.
Emily Samuels-Ballantyne Emily Samuels-Ballantyne

From Clash to Pattern: A Living Systems Guide

Dr Emily Samuels-Ballantyne argues that communities don’t fail because people disagree; they fail when disagreement has nowhere useful to go. Drawing on Con Viv (head–heart–hand alignment), Jung’s idea of the “Third,” and Anthroposophy’s threefold social order, she reframes conflict as a constant input that can be metabolised into capacity. The article outlines practical containers, listening spaces that surface facts, rights processes with visible decision rhythms, and small, time-boxed pilot projects, that turn heat into shared work. Rather than “being nicer,” it proposes love as infrastructure: clear lanes between cultural freedom, equal rights, and mutual economy, plus simple cycles of notice → propose → trial → review. The result is a pattern language for civic care where friction becomes fuel and culture grows through practice.

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