About Common Ground

Our Vision

Thriving communities where all people have a decent quality of life,
living in harmony with each other and their ecosystem.

Our Mission

Building the capacity of community leaders, planners and developers
to enable innovative and regenerative design
for the development of sustainable human settlements.

Our Why

Our conventional human settlement development models are
unsustainable:

 

Ecologically, they are contributing to high amounts of carbon emissions,
pollution and waste, and are energy and resource intensive

 

Socially, they create feelings of isolation and separateness and
many people feel powerless to develop their own housing solutions

 

Economically, housing and land has become unaffordable for most,
leading to financial stress, insecurity, and inaccessibility

 

In light of these challenges, we have opportunities for creative
and collaborative solutions to develop our communities in a better way

Our Point of Difference

Diverse Stakeholder Engagement Expertise

We have over 25 years experience in community-led and focused development, working with diverse stakeholders such as multi-cultural groups, community organisations, schools, corporates, local government, and the European Union

Whole Systems Approach

We understand that successful systems change requires understanding the interconnectedness of all the elements within a place and building collective capacity.   With design and systems thinking, we develop regenerative solutions to complex problems.

Sustainable & Regenerative Development Expertise

We have over a decade of experience in training and creating permaculture and regenerative systems in urban and rural environments. We partner with experts in various fields to ensure projects have the right technical expertise.

Continuous Learning & Research 

We build into our designs continuous learning and reflection.  We explore new paradigms and ways of doing development that are beyond "business as usual" and that tap into international, local, and indigenous best practice and innovation.

Compassionate Culture

We need more peace in the world so we explore what this looks like in organisational and team culture. We bring skills and practices in compassionate communication (NVC), cooperative culture, diversity-equity-inclusion, intercultural understanding, restorative conflict resolution, and more...

Joyful, Playful, Creative

We do our work with a spirit of joy, optimism, and possibility. We have unique and transformative approaches that include fun, play, creativity, music, imagination, storytelling, dynamic movement, authentic personal connection, and nature-based experiences.

Zola Aroha Leigh Rose
Director of Common Ground

  • Certificate in Essentials of Engagement, International Association of Public Participation Australasia

  • Masters degree in International and Intercultural Management with a focus on training for social change

  • Ecovillage Design Education certificate, a 200-hour course with the Global Ecovillage Network

  • Permaculture Design Certificate, a 72 hour course

  • Regenerative Practitioners course, by The Regenesis Group

  • Author of The Case for a Community Land Trust (CLT) as a means for perpetually affordable housing in NZ &Aotearoa & Enabling Housing for Ethnic Women

  • Supported the establishment of the Waikato CLT in 2019

  • Committee member of the Society for Cooperative Housing NZ 2018-2020

  • Member of the The Housing Innovation Society NZ 2019-current

  • Founder of the Rainbow Homestead and Sustainability Commons 2009-2015

Testimonials

Brad White

Connected Living Advocate
Co-Founder of Cambridge Co-Housing

Wealth of knowledge

Zola (Sam) has huge knowledge about alternative housing - both local and global issues.  She is well connected in the alternative housing area and through those connections brings a wealth of knowledge to events and courses.  She is an excellent facilitator both in small and large groups and is able to elicit responses and input from all group members.

Greer O'Donnell

Urban Strategist with Urban Advisory
Co-Founder of Society for Alternative Housing Development

Passion for housing justice

Zola (Sam) has a significant level of knowledge about the topic of alternative housing and has an obvious passion for housing justice. Her work in developing learning guides for us has been excellent - demonstrating her ability to communicate the key aspects required to deliver alternative housing solutions. 

Anja O'Connor

Co-founder 
Upper Clutha Tiny House Community Project

Rich insight into community development

Zola cleared up my most urgent questions regarding our Upper Clutha Tiny House Community project. She also gave me a rich insight into the big task of community development from the ground up. For this daunting task, to shape our way of living and thriving, Zola is amongst the experts we need to build strong and connected communities to create our future the best way possible. I'm looking forward to learning more from Zola and Common Ground.

Pilar Garcia Domingo

PhD Urban Designer, ARB registered Architect

This event is a great opportunity for individuals who would like to continue or start participating in creating innovative housing alternatives to come together, share experiences and learn, getting and giving support to each other.

This retreat is an essential network event to unlock key business connections for professional women in this field.