Changeworker of the Week #33: Hardeep Kaur: From Extraction to Stewardship

For Hardeep Kaur, the question is not only what needs to change but how we relate to the world as we do it.

Her work begins by naming what is often left unseen: The extractive systems that shape our cultures, our economies, and our ways of living.

As a Narrative Designer and Founding Steward of Age of the Steward, Hardeep works through storytelling not just to inform, but to shift perception. To help us see clearly and then, to choose differently.

Through the #MyPieceForChange campaign, we invite people to share their unique contributions to collective transformation. This series exists to honor their stories, amplify their voices, and connect them with a wider community of like-minded peers. Today, we’re honored to introduce our Changeworker of the Week: Hardeep Kaur whom we had the pleasure of interviewing for this special spotlight.

What’s your piece for change?

My mission is to reveal the complex, extractive systems that underlie our cultures, and to offer stewardship as an alternative paradigm for collective care, regeneration and all-life flourishing.

What inspired you to begin this work or stay committed to it?

I was raised in a tradition which instilled early on the idea of seva, or selfless service, as a fundamental life ethic. Over time this ethic became more embodied beyond my personal practice into something deeper. As I became interested in story and narrative, I started to see the gap between the lens I was raised with, and the one our cultures inculcate within us, and the harms it was creating at scale, for people, planet, and future generations of all species. This created my desire to use storytelling to expose the inherent flaws and harms of the systems we live within, and amplify the work of those building inspiring alternatives.

What’s one hope or vision you hold for the future?

That we awaken from false fallacies and hope, and act now to responsibly restore, regenerate and tend to our societies at a practical level. We are accelerating behaviors of extraction and consumption, bringing us to the brink of extinguishing the ecosystems that have allowed us to exist on this planet for generations. We can say at this moment, enough, truly, is enough.

What support or connection are you currently looking for?

The support I can receive is each individual tapping into their own agency, to start taking responsibility and modelling the behaviour change we so need. To bring this into our families, our friendship groups, the organisation we work within - support now comes through embodied, aligned action.

What’s one thing about your field or topic you wish more people knew, considered, or acted on?

Individual choice without collective consequence does not exist. Each single act ripples out across not only your life, and lifetime, but it impacts the collective. We are part of a complex web of life, and as much as one water molecule in an ocean cannot separate itself from the other water molecules, we cannot separate the impact of our actions from the rest of life on this planet.

What practices, tools, or resources have supported you most on your changework journey?

Too many to list, but as a larger theme - reading fiction. Books have done more to raise my awareness, and consciousness, of the majesty and tragedy of life on this planet, than any models or report. Fiction has allowed me to enter worlds of feeling, knowledge and wisdom, that have nourished and fortified my mind and spirit, that is inseparable from the work I do now.

Can you share a moment or experience that deeply shaped the way you approach change today?

In 2016 I launched my design studio. The aim was to tell the story of responsible, conscious living through highly intentional, and responsibly created objects. A year in, I came across the term ‘peak stuff’ - that we had reached a moment in history where we had enough products on the planet to last several generations. From that moment, I evolved the studio away from creating physical products, and devoted myself to the more traditional arts of storytelling, through the written word, visual media and audio transmissions.

What collective shift do you believe is needed for meaningful change to happen and what gives you hope that it’s possible?

To reject the narrow vision of the future being pushed by a narrow group of people for self-enrichment and dominance; everyone has a stake in the planet. I have daily experience in learning about, and meeting with people building new systems that re-centre Nature, restore depleted ecosystems, and empower people to reclaim their agency as citizens and stewards to affect tangible, mutual, beneficial change. Hope comes from proven examples that different is not only possible, but alive in examples in their millions, the world over. There is so much good emerging at this moment.

How do you take care of your own energy or wellbeing while doing this work?

I love taking long, long walks and being present to each act of magic I witness - from wizened trees and mellifluous birdsong, to the giggle of a child or observing the quiet industriousness of a street cleaner, keeping our common spaces so well tended.

Where can people learn more about your work or connect with you?

• Creative practice: www.perse.london 
• Stewardship: www.ageofthesteward.com
• Instagram: @hardeep.earth

The Parayma community is rooted in authentic, supportive relationships. 

Hardeep’s changework invites us to reconsider not just what we do but how we belong.

Thank you, Hardeep, for your powerful #PieceForChange.

If you are reimagining systems, stories, or ways of living, we invite you to share your story and join the movement.