Kenton Zerbin, CPI

Kenton Zerbin is an internationally certified permaculture instructor, consultant, and educator based in British Columbia, Canada. He holds certification from the Permaculture Research Institute and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta. Since 2012, he has taught permaculture design across Canada, Australia, the Caribbean, and the United States. His expertise spans edible landscape design, off-grid living, tiny home construction, natural building, earthworks, and food forest development. He founded the Attainable Sustainable Academy and serves as a continuing education instructor at NAIT in Edmonton.

That credential list only tells part of the story.

A Different Kind of Classroom

Kenton grew up second eldest in a household of more than 100 children. Four biological siblings. Six adopted. Over 100 foster brothers and sisters moving through the home across the years.

His mother was a social worker who brought her professional calling home. His father was a police officer known for rescuing animals and offering second chances to people others had written off.

The household ran with what Kenton describes as military precision and infinite compassion.

This upbringing shaped everything that followed. Sharing resources. Solving problems with limited inputs. Listening before acting. Building systems that hold space for everyone.

These weren’t abstract values.

They were survival skills in a home where the needs were real and the logistics were relentless.

When Kenton eventually found permaculture, he recognized something familiar.

From Art Teacher to Permaculture Educator

Kenton trained as a high school art teacher at the University of Alberta, completing his Bachelor of Education in 2009 and a Diploma of Secondary Fine Arts in 2011. He taught at Morinville Community High School from 2010 to 2012, where he managed department budgets, built curriculum for grades 9 through 12, coached volleyball, and started a permaculture club that took students on field trips to see regenerative systems in action.

He was good at it. Structured. Organized. Respected by students.

But something kept nagging at him.

“How are we really preparing students for life on earth?”

The question wouldn’t leave him alone.

The government curriculum covered content. It didn’t cover how to grow food. How to build shelter. How to create community.

Kenton realized he was teaching young people to succeed in a system without teaching them how to live outside of it.

He left the school system in 2012. He didn’t leave teaching.

Learning From the Source

In 2010, while still teaching high school, Kenton completed his Permaculture Design Certificate through Verge Permaculture in Calgary.

Two years later, he flew to Australia for a 10-week internship at the Permaculture Research Institute, the organization founded by Bill Mollison and now led by Geoff Lawton.

The internship covered soil microbiology, earthworks, aid work, urban consultancy, teacher training, community land trusts, and growing nutrient-dense food.

Kenton didn’t just study. He worked. He managed animals. He built rocket stoves. He saved seeds.

He learned by doing alongside practitioners who had spent decades refining their craft.

Then came the invitation that changed his trajectory.

Geoff Lawton asked Kenton to assist at the 2012 Melbourne Permaculture Design Course. Bill Mollison was there. Kenton worked alongside both of them, absorbing teaching methods and design thinking from the two people who created the discipline.

That year, Kenton also designed and installed a 1.5-acre permaculture property in Australia featuring earthworks, a large market garden, rainwater harvesting infrastructure, and a food forest containing 180 fruit trees and shrubs across 82 varieties.

In 2013, he earned his certification as an International Permaculture Teacher from the Permaculture Research Institute. The accreditation process required curriculum review by a panel of teachers, vetting of professional references, detailed documentation of teaching hours, and evidence of two permaculture projects taken from design through installation.

Geoff Lawton later provided an endorsement: “Kenton is a strong teacher with commitment, admirable energy and a well rounded expertise.”

Building a Permaculture School in the Caribbean

After Australia, Kenton toured across Canada in 2013, working on farms and projects from Hornby Island to Quebec. He managed a grape orchard and nursery on an off-grid farm in British Columbia. He labored on a 160-acre operation in Saskatchewan that specialized in foraging medicinal herbs for First Nations communities without land access. He worked as a designer and labourer on the Manitoba Earthship project. He facilitated a hugelkultur workshop in Ontario and helped organize the 2013 Quebec Permaculture Convergence.

Then Barbados called.

In July 2013, Kenton joined the founding team of the Caribbean Permaculture Research Institute. For 18 months, he helped build the organization from scratch. The work demanded everything: writing a curriculum, designing a website, launching social media, renovating a building into an educational center, supervising five acres of earthworks, leading tours and workshops, and facilitating full 72-hour Permaculture Design Courses.

The team wrote a grant proposal to the United Nations. They received $75,000.

Kenton also consulted for the Ministry of Agriculture in Barbados, training government staff and young farmers in sustainable food production methods. The focus was practical: how to grow more food with fewer inputs, increase yields, and revitalize an agricultural sector that had been struggling for decades.

He left Barbados in December 2014 with a clear sense of what he wanted to build next.

Return to Canada

Kenton launched KZ Permaculture in January 2015. The business became his platform for everything that followed.

He organized and facilitated intensive permaculture courses across Western Canada. He guest lectured for gardening groups, library programs, and universities. He consulted for private clients on urban and rural property design. He created and delivered tiny house educational programs across Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan.

One project became a local landmark.

In St. Albert, Alberta, Kenton designed and installed a public food forest on a church lawn. He also created the educational signage. The project demonstrated permaculture principles in a community setting where anyone could visit, learn, and harvest.

He completed two school permaculture projects. He designed and built the Edmontiny Tiny House, documenting the process and using it as a teaching tool. The 28-foot by 10-foot mobile home runs completely off-grid with a 3-kilowatt solar system and battery storage.

He still lives in it.

Teaching Across Institutions

Kenton teaches continuing education courses at NAIT in Edmonton, specializing in sustainable environment and green culture programs. His courses cover sustainable homes, off-grid systems, and practical permaculture for professionals, homeowners, and community members looking to reduce their dependence on external inputs.

In 2018, he led a two-week Permaculture Design Certification Course at Cedar Coast Field Station on Vargas Island, British Columbia. The intensive program provided immersive, hands-on training in a coastal ecosystem context.

He has delivered programming to schools, universities, polytechnics, and municipal governments across Canada. His teaching addresses sustainable living, permaculture design, and environmental management tailored to institutional and community needs.

The audiences keep expanding.

Attainable Sustainable Academy

In 2024, Kenton founded the Attainable Sustainable Academy to scale his educational impact beyond what one-on-one consulting and regional workshops could reach.

The academy offers a foundational course called Attainable Sustainable 101, covering core permaculture principles and sustainable living practices. Specialized mini-courses address specific topics in depth. International retreats combine permaculture workshops with wellness components including yoga, hiking, nourishing meals, and community building. Online courses provide global access to his teaching for students who cannot attend in person.

A recent seven-day retreat in Kelowna, BC brought together participants from across North America for hands-on learning in the Okanagan Valley.

Kenton is currently establishing a new permaculture school and community in the region.

Media Recognition

Kenton’s work has been featured across major Canadian media outlets.

Television coverage includes CTV News, Shaw TV, and Global News. Print and digital features have appeared in The Globe and Mail, Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, St. Albert Gazette, and Huffington Post. He has been interviewed on CBC and Sonic 102.9 radio. RBC featured his work in their coverage of sustainable entrepreneurship. REP Canada profiled his approach to regenerative design.

The Green Energy Futures podcast on CKUA Radio has featured Kenton multiple times. Episode 260 documented a tour of his off-grid tiny home. Episode 261 covered the transformation of the St. Albert church lawn into a community food forest.

He has collaborated with Yoko Company on video series covering sustainable home design, vibrant landscapes, and food production. He delivered a keynote at Yoko Connect 4 in 2025.

The attention follows the work. The work keeps expanding.

Consulting Services

Beyond teaching, Kenton provides permaculture design consultation for three types of clients.

Property hunters receive guidance on identifying land with permaculture potential. Using mapping data and remote consultation, Kenton helps clients evaluate sites before purchase, assessing water access, slope, soil indicators, and design opportunities that aren’t obvious to untrained eyes.

Property owners receive custom designs for water security, food production, income generation, off-grid living, and landscape resilience. Each design responds to the specific conditions, constraints, and goals of the site and the people who will steward it.

Project implementers hire Kenton as designer, project manager, and hands-on supervisor for major installations. He takes on two to four active projects annually, ranging from one week to six months. Work includes food forest installation, water infrastructure, earthworks, and system integration across the property.

Teaching Philosophy

Kenton left the school system because he believed it wasn’t preparing students for life on earth. Permaculture gave him a framework that addressed what he felt was missing: how to grow food, how to build homes, how to create community.

His teaching style reflects his formal training as an educator combined with 14 years of field experience across four countries and multiple climate zones. Students describe him as charismatic, passionate, and energetic. They also describe his courses as structured, organized, and dense with practical information.

One student wrote: “Kenton Zerbin was enthusiastic about everything from worm poop to food forests. It was amazing to be inspired and educated by such a charismatic individual.”

Another noted: “Kenton is a great teacher, and passionate too. I was never bored. His workshop was full of amazing information. You will save countless hours of research. There is always more to learn however I feel like he covered way more than the average teacher could.”

A retreat participant summarized the transformation: “I have new skills and a new way of looking at the world. How do we build homes? Grow food? Build community? Instead of feeling depressed, I have a place to begin, myself and my backyard, and that fills me with hope.”

That response captures what Kenton is trying to create.

Mission

Kenton believes humanity can be a force for regeneration rather than depletion. His work aims to demonstrate that sustainable, abundant living is attainable for ordinary people willing to learn the skills and apply them consistently.

He calls himself “Your Friendly Neighbourhood Permaculture Guy.” The tagline reflects his commitment to making permaculture accessible and practical rather than theoretical or exclusive.