Catherine van der Meulen
on community-rooted education
Catherine van der Meulen is deeply rooted in the soil of Aotearoa’s regenerative movement. As the Founder of Climate Action Marlborough and Co-founder of Girls who Grow and AotearoaNZ2125, she brings together threads of community, education, and intergenerational responsibility to reimagine what sustainability truly means in practice.
If sustainability were a flower blooming in her life, it would be harakeke. Not just a plant, but a philosophy. Its outer blades shelter the rito — the baby shoot — reminding us that when we care for the youngest, the most vulnerable, we are also honouring whakapapa, whenua, and wairua. For Catherine, sustainability isn’t a framework to apply, but a way of being. “It’s not a goal. It’s a way of seeing,” she explains, her voice steady with conviction. “And it’s nurtured by listening. Listening to the whenua. To our rangatahi. To those whose voices haven’t been heard.”
She speaks often of disconnection — from land, from each other, and from time. “Systems are built for speed and extraction,” she says, “but we are asking for something else. For patience. For presence. For deep repair.” It’s an invitation to slow down and re-root. And while that invitation can feel uncomfortable to those used to controlling outcomes, she believes it’s the only way forward.
Catherine’s turning point didn’t arrive in a strategic document or a funding grant. It came unexpectedly, out in the paddocks during a Girls who Grow "On farm lunch and learn" day. The students were lying in a circle in the grass, soaking in the sky and the silence. “This is where the learning begins,” she remembers thinking. “In the outdoor classroom.” That moment — simple, quiet, embodied — has stayed with Catherine as a compass.
The whakataukī that guides Catherine — “He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata” — is more than a value statement. It’s the thread that connects every project, every relationship, every challenge. “What holds our work together is not policy. It’s people,” she says. “If we begin with care, the rest unfolds.”
And it’s care — deep, radical, relational care — that underpins Catherine’s approach to change. When asked how to engage others in sustainability, she doesn’t rattle off stakeholder matrices or policy levers. She begins with storytelling. “A new story. A wild and imaginative one. One that people can see themselves in.” If you can help someone imagine it, she believes, the first step becomes easier.
The concept of kaitiakitanga is often used in sustainability conversations, but she reminds us it’s not a metaphor. “It’s a living practice,” she says. “It’s about relationship, not management. You don’t manage a river like you manage a task. You have to know its moods. Its ancestors. Its songs.” That shift — from control to kinship — is perhaps Aotearoa’s greatest superpower in building a sustainable future. “Our indigenous roots, our deep and authentic connection to the land — that’s what will guide us.”
If she could plant one seed of change, it would be this: that every human in Aotearoa knows their mountain, their river, their place, and their role. “Once you know better, you do better,” she says, echoing Oprah’s wisdom. “And once you’ve seen it — really seen the world for what it is and what it could be — it’s impossible to unsee it.”
Read Catherine’s answers to BLOOMING Sustainability — and be inspired to cultivate community-rooted education that regenerates people and place.
BLOOMING Sustainability Questionnaire
Name: Catherine van der Meulen
Company & Title: Founder - Climate Action Marlborough, Co-founder - Girls who Grow and AotearoaNZ2125
Website & LinkedIn Profile: https://nz.linkedin.com/in/catherinevandermeulen
These are living responses rooted in the work that culminates through Climate Action Marlborough, Girls who Grow and AotearoaNZ2125.
* Guiding Values | Kaupapa
If sustainability were a flower blooming in your life, what would it look like? What nurtures it?
It would look like a harakeke — flax — growing strong in the community. The outer leaves protect the inner shoots, just as we protect the young by honouring whakapapa, whenua, and wairua. It is nurtured by listening — to whenua, to rangatahi, to the wisdom of those who have not been heard.
A quote, personal motto or whakataukī that reflects your vision:
“He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.”
What connects our projects is not policy, but people. If we begin with care, the rest unfolds.
If you could mentor a rising change-maker in Aotearoa, what advice would you share?
Start by noticing what you naturally love. Then protect it with everything you are. Sustainability is not a goal — it’s a way of seeing. Keep your hands in the soil, your heart in the community, and your eyes on what has not yet grown.
* Leading Change | Arataki
A key moment in your journey that shaped your path:
One of these moments was when we were out at a Girls who Grow “On farm lunch and learn” experience, and our students were lying in the paddock in a circle and I had this inner thought, “this is where the learning begins… in the outdoor classroom”. It has been pivotal in motivating us to continue to educate in nature, through nature, with nature. That was a turning point. Not the funding, not the strategy — but that moment of re-rooting.
What’s the main challenge you face in driving sustainability within your sector?
Disconnection. From land, from each other, from time. Systems are built for speed and extraction. We are asking for patience, presence, and deep repair. That can be uncomfortable for those used to control.
An area you need more support with:
We know that continuous education of every human is mandatory to craft a new story for the future but so many people are walking through life, blinded by the reality of what is shaping around us and moving from beneath us. A great quote that Oprah shared was “once you know better, you do better”. Once we have learnt something new its very difficult to unlearn and unsee.
An Indigenous perspective you admire and want people to be mindful of:
The concept of kaitiakitanga is not a metaphor. It is a living practice. It is about relationship, not management. You cannot manage a river like you would a task. You must know its moods, its songs, its ancestors.
Your best approach for engaging stakeholders in meaningful dialogue about ESG:
We begin with storytelling. A new story, a wild and imaginative story. One that they can visualise and see themselves in. If you can see it, it makes the pathway easier to start on.
What do you think is Aotearoa’s superpower in creating a sustainable future?
Our indigenous roots and the deep and authentic connection to the land.
* Surfing the Green Wave | Kakariki
Books, podcasts, courses or other resources that profoundly shaped your approach to sustainability:
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Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
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One Life, how we forgot to live meaningful lives by Morten Albaek
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Nga Kete Matauranga by Jacinta Ruru and Linda Waimare Nikoa
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Sustainability Matters podcast by EY
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The Nature based solutions podcast hosted by Dr. Murray Collins
Events in Aotearoa or globally that you think are must-attend:
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Climate Action Week Marlborough - February 2026
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Future Farmers NZ
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Quorum Sense events
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WAO Wanaka
A sustainable initiative or project in Aotearoa that deserves more attention:
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AotearoaNZ2125 — a living invitation to imagine our future landscapes with care, courage and creativity
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Climate Action Marlborough — not just educating our business community, but reweaving them into the story of place
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Girls who Grow — redefining meaningful leadership, entrepreneurial mindset and environmental guardianship.
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If your work could plant one seed of change for the future, what would it be?
That every human in Aotearoa knows their mountain, their river, their place, their role and the connection that each of those holds in their heart. And that we measure success not by profit, but how abundant our nature is.
The leader(s) you endorse for a future edition of Blooming Sustainability:
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Aimee Blake, Future Farmers NZ, Girls who Grow, AotearoaNZ2125
* One actionable takeaway for our readers to make a change today for a brighter tomorrow:
Ask a young person what they care about — and truly listen. Then ask how you can help them protect it. That is where all true impact begins.