Catherine Knight
on an “uncommon land” and walking backwards into the future
“I hope you will join me on this unpredictable, exploratory, and hopefully, thought-provoking journey from the past into the vast potentiality of a different kind of future.”
Catherine Knight invites you to step into an uncommon land. Not one defined by borders or ownership, but by possibility. Imagine a place where social connection is valued over accumulation, and where care for the commons shapes how we live: “It is a return to the values many of our ancestors once held.”
An award-winning environmental historian, public policy advisor, and Honorary Research Associate at Massey University, Catherine is the author of several acclaimed books that trace Aotearoa’s environmental past: New Zealand’s Rivers, Ravaged Beauty, and Beyond Manapouri, among them. Her latest work, An Uncommon Land, is both a personal and historically expansive exploration of the commons: a concept rooted in shared land, mutual care, and interdependence. Drawing from the stories of her own ancestors — settlers on confiscated lands in Waikato — Catherine holds a dual lens: one that examines the legacy of enclosure, colonisation, and denaturing, and another that reveals glimpses of what might have been. “In their stories,” Catherine writes, “lie both the roots of the planetary crisis we face today and the seeds of a more regenerative, equitable future.”
“The commons”, a concept still prevalent in many parts of the world, was largely displaced in Aotearoa by a model of private ownership that equated land with progress. But as Catherine carefully traces, that progress has come at a cost. “Is it really so extreme,” she asks, “to contemplate a society which carefully regulates the use of common resources, lives within limits, and values social connection rather than the accumulation of material possessions, when these were commonplace features of our own ancestors’ lives just a few generations ago?” To reimagine the commons is not just to look outward, but to look back and within.
The whakataukī that guides Catherine’s journey respects this philosophy: “Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua. I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past.” In this worldview, time is not linear. The past is not left behind. It is part of us. Catherine believes this shift in perspective is essential to addressing the polycrisis we now face. “Awareness is where it all begins. For us as a society to formulate real solutions, we must first understand the problem. Every additional person who becomes aware takes us further towards the tipping point required to achieve fundamental system change.”
Her writing and policy work follow this central idea: that disconnection, from land and each other, lies at the heart of our current predicament. But the antidote is already here: “From a past of enclosure, resource exploitation and denaturing we could choose a path of re-commoning and regeneration.”
If sustainability had a form in Catherine’s world, it would be a kahikatea. Towering giants of the lowland swamp forests, kahikatea trees are sustained by root systems that both anchor in water-logged soil and intertwine with neighboring trees, offering support, stability, and strength: “There is a lot we can learn from this majestic tree in human society, especially as we transition into a future in which community and interdependency will be more important than ever.”
Her essence is clear-eyed yet hopeful, and recognizes the complexity of our moment, but also the immense opportunity it holds: to repair, reimagine, and reconnect. As she shares in An Uncommon Land, this is not just her journey, but an open invitation to all of us: to become more aware, more rooted, and more willing to walk into the future with our eyes fixed on what matters most.
Read Catherine Knight’s full interview in Blooming Sustainability and be inspired to explore the seeds of a re-commoned future, where care for people and planet grows from a place both ancient and new.
BLOOMING Sustainability Questionnaire
Name: Catherine Knight
Company & Title: Author and strategic policy
Website & LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.catherineknight.nz/
Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKx9o-HdQjQ
https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherineknightnz/
* Guiding Values | Kaupapa
If sustainability were a flower blooming in your life, what would it look like? What nurtures it?
Not a flower as such but a berry – of the noble kahikatea. Kahikatea were the giants of our now largely vanished lowland swamp forests. Their berries fall in autumn, the purple of their seeds and orange/red of the fruit creating a brightly coloured carpet on the forest floor. The berries are important food not just for tūī, kererū and other birds but also lizards and invertebrates – and in the past, humans too. Kahikatea grow up to 60 metres on what is often water-logged soils, so their upward protruding roots work as buttressing to keep them stable, but also intertwine with neighbouring trees to support each other as a community. There is a lot we can learn from this majestic tree in human society, especially as we transition into a future in which community and inter-dependency will be more important than ever.
A quote, personal motto or whakataukī that reflects your vision:
Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua. I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past.
This whakatauki (proverb) speaks to the Māori perspectives of time, where the past, the present and the future are perceived as being inextricably intertwined. It reflects the belief that the past is central to, and shapes, both present and future identity.
If you could mentor a rising change-maker in Aotearoa, what advice would you share?
Work to your strengths, but be open to perpetually learning.
* Leading Change | Arataki
What’s the main challenge you face in driving sustainability within your sector?
A lack of full and deep awareness of the planetary predicament, and a tendency to reach for simple solutions that may address a single symptom but not the causes of the polycrisis (overshoot).
An Indigenous perspective you admire and want people to be mindful of:
The intergenerational concept of stewardship (kaitiakitanga) in te ao Māori.
Your best approach for engaging stakeholders in meaningful dialogue about ESG:
Engaging through storytelling – this is what I seek to do through my latest book ‘An Uncommon Land’.
* Surfing the Green Wave | Kakariki
Books, podcasts, courses or other resources that profoundly shaped your approach to sustainability:
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagen https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/; “Less is More”, by Jason Hickel.
Events in Aotearoa or globally that you think are must-attend:
A little bit biased, but I am travelling around the motu talking to groups and communities about my latest book An Uncommon Land, which is an invitation to draw on our collective ancestral wisdom to help shape a more regenerative, equitable future. These events can be found on my Substack.
A sustainable initiative or project in Aotearoa that deserves more attention:
The repair cafes, community gardens, food redistribution (Kaibosh. Just Zilch etc), nature regeneration, community- and iwi-led health and housing initiatives that are mushrooming around the motu, often led by tireless community leaders with little funding or outside support. In a more balanced, wellbeing-centred economy, these initiatives and organisations would receive much more public investment in recognition of the public good that they deliver to society.
If your work could plant one seed of change for the future, what would it be?
Awareness. For us as a society to formulate real solutions to address the planetary predicament (the polycrisis), we must first understand it. Everyone has a part to play in this. Every additional person who becomes aware takes us further towards the tipping point required to achieve fundamental system change.
The leader(s) you endorse for a future edition of Blooming Sustainability:
Gareth Hughes
Sahra Kress
* One actionable takeaway for our readers to make a change today for a brighter tomorrow:
Keep seeking a deeper understanding of the planetary predicament in all of its complexity, and coalesce with others who are also yearning for a deeper understanding and real solutions.
