RDI Team: Joshua S. Finch

Joshua S. Finch

Joshua is a self-taught agroecologist who designed and operated the first commercial farm in Finland to utilize permaculture design from the beginning. His interest in practical projects to alleviate social challenges and help communities adapt to climate change began during his Bachelor of Arts studies at the University of South Florida in the United States.

Studying History has helped Joshua place modern problems in the context of a broader human story. His main interests are in helping others discover the ways in which people can use their unique gifts to integrate better into ecological systems and develop flexible, context appropriate systems that improve their quality of life. He focuses on providing the conceptual framework for students to feel comfortable designing and managing their own agroecosystems.

Joshua has worked as a sole entrepreneur for several years primarily producing vegetables and herbs for local consumption in the Helsinki area. Alongside running courses on permaculture design and gardening for local university students and non-profit organizations, Joshua also trained more than a dozen horticulture students in whole systems thinking and applied agroecology in the context of market gardening.