Marina O'Connell

We are very sad to hear that Marina Brown-O’Connell died yesterday morning - Monday the 9th September. She died peacefully in the company of people she loved. Marina will be very much missed by all that knew her and we pass on our sincere condolences to her family, friends and colleagues.

We celebrate Marina as one of the most influential pioneers and practitioners of permaculture in Britain. She attended one of the first Permaculture Design Courses led by Andrew Langford in Dartington, having already studied horticulture at the University of Bath. Marina combined her many skills in a creative way and always incorporated educational and therapeutic opportunities for children and young people within the horticultural settings that she created.

Marina developed a number of brilliant projects including School Farm and the Apricot Centre, which was located in Suffolk and then Devon. A lifelong learner, Marina gained a Masters Degree in Environment and Society from Essex University, studied biodynamic farming, agroforestry and many related subjects. She shared her learning through adult education, teaching permaculture design courses, as a tutor for the Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design and as a lecturer at Suffolk Agricultural college.

In 2015, Marina took on the tenancy for Huxhams Cross Farm near Dartington, which was secured through a collaboration with the Biodynamic Land Trust. She led and worked with an embryonic team to design the new farm, integrating permaculture, biodynamics and agroforestry into an overall strategy for the land, business and community. Since then she has held numerous trainings, developed a thriving consultancy working with landowners and farmers across Devon and beyond and nurtured and developed the team and Centre to become one of the UK’s foremost demonstrations of permaculture, agroforestry, biodynamics and community development.

Her thoughtful and practical contribution to permaculture, regenerative farming and horticulture can not be overstated, and her great wisdom and insight was brought together in her 2022 book “Designing Regenerative Food Systems: And Why We Need Them Now”.

We were able to let Marina know how much we appreciated her a few days before she died, and presented her with a lifetime achievement award on behalf of the Association.

Marina’s legacy will be remembered with great fondness by all that knew her, and will also be found in new regenerative farms and smallholdings, in meadows and hedgerows, shelterbelts and agroforestry systems, in Community Supported Agriculture schemes and the many projects devised and rolled out by her students and team. Truly a life well lived.