Background
Trainer grew up in Sydney, Australia.
Trainer grew up in Sydney, Australia.
He has a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Sydney ("A study of orientations to social rules: with special reference to autonomy and some educational implications", 1975) and lectured in education at the University of New South Wales from the 1970s.
In the 1980s he shifted gears to join the growing environmental and limits to growth movement in Australia, and became a frequent speaker and activist, largely in New South Wales. He has remained teaching at UNSW for several decades, working part-time and usually delivering an undergraduate course on global problems. His practical energy has been thrown into Pigface Point, an alternative lifestyle educational site on a swampy meander of the Street.George"s River 20 km from Sydney, near East Hills/Voyager Point.
Trainer lives there with his family, practising voluntary simplicity and the art of re-use.
He lives partially in a barter and subsistence economy, and built a house and the grounds from recycled materials and manual labour. His household uses 2% of average Australian electricity consumption and he rarely travels Photos show the extent of the property, which was originally purchased by his father in 1940.
He is currently Honorary Adjunct Associate Professor in Social Work at UNSW, and also a member of the Melbourne-based Simplicity Institute.