Priya is an award-winning architect, artist and green building professional whose work has been published in various magazines and journals. She has 14 years of experience in the industry.

Raised in Oman, and having worked in the UAE, India, UK and Singapore, she brings with her several years of expertise in major projects globally.

She has previously worked across notable firms such as Atkins, Aedas and Surbana Jurong. Her early introduction to the field on construction sites shaped her practical understanding from the ground up.

Driven by design excellence, betterment of communities and being a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional, she leads projects with a focus on sustainability.

She holds degrees from the Sir JJ College of Architecture and The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London.

Director of ONE Forest School and Deerhead Nature Preserve located in Bedford County.

After going back to school to receive her Level 3 Forest School Practitioner Certification, Catherine and her husband Danny built an interactive nature preserve and forest school on our property.

She is a Certified Virginia Master Naturalist, and have an International Certification for Environmental/Nature Interpretive Guides from NAI (National Association for Interpretation).

She is also recognized as the founder and CEO of this nonprofit organization. To her credit, ONE Forest School is the first accredited and internationally recognized forest school in the state of Virginia.
It was also chosen 1 of 3 schools in the United States to partner with Constructive Visions, a global educational resource project funded by National Geographic.

Esther and Nicolas Mottier’s family business is located in the village of Château-d’Œx, in the heart of the Swiss pre-Alps.

Together with our family and our team, we have been committed for years to sustainable and innovative development in the fields of agriculture, health and food.

In recent years, we have gradually converted our farm to biodynamic agriculture and opened an organic shop as well as a naturopathic practice offering Feng Shui consultations. Now we are preparing to open our doors to an even wider public in a pioneering project.

Our concept, developed with love and enthusiasm, aims to offer visitors as many opportunities as possible to live and experience the farm. Traditions, crafts and biodiversity will go hand in hand with ecology, holistic training concepts and innovative jobs.

Esther Mottier, daughter of a farming family, grew up in the Simmental valley before settling in Château-d’Œx. Trained as a naturopath, owner of an organic shop and a Bed & Breakfast, she is interested in nature and health. Esther is a farmer, co-founder of Votre Cercle de Vie and a mother. With her energy and generosity, she ensures that everyone feels good on the farm.

Benoit is a naturally talented animator, science popularizer and educator. He has been teaching nature for over 35 years.
He studied preparatory science and then obtained a degree in biological sciences at the University of Montreal. Self-taught, he studied geology, astronomy, astrophysics, quantum physics, ecology and holistic health.

His journey brought him into contact with the wisdom of ancestral native cultures, which allowed him to reconnect with his family’s forgotten roots and to build a bridge between science and life itself. He says “nature is much more than a notion of environment – it is a matter of deep relationship“. Benoit teaches in the midst of nature for a living teaching that allows you to relate to the subject he is addressing.

Over the years he has created guided forest walks, discovery trips, countless nature experiences and numerous conferences in Europe and Quebec. He is also the author of a personal transformation approach called Quantum Calibration (2011) and founder of Geoherence (2015), a discipline of reharmonization of natural environments.

To listen to Benoit is to live a quest for meaning and connection with nature. During his evenings and experiences of stargazing, one of his first passions, the starry sky comes alive and becomes the theatre of an intimate relationship that touches the deepest fibres of an ancestral link between humanity and nature.

Since 2017, he has continued his work at Hébergement aux Cinq Sens in Piopolis, Quebec, a place where one can come and stay in the forest and listen to nature as well as participate in activities with him. The teaching is also transformed into concrete works such as:

• the creation of a rainwater recovery system,
• the co-creation of a permaculture garden with his partner,
• the planning/construction of a four-season passive solar greenhouse and many other initiatives.

In short, to meet Benoit is to experience teaching differently, in the richness and wonder of living nature.