the journey towards
CO-DESIGNING WITH COUNTRY
Country-led co-design advisory and facilitation
HONOURING IS A PRACTICE OF deep listening
To Country, to self, to the way we re-awaken memories of the cultural landscape for our projects
Honouring supports architects, creative leaders, built environment professionals and project stakeholders to integrate a Country-led approach, into their work and ways of thinking.
Through advisory, creative guidance and facilitation, it weaves together design and embodied awareness together with indigenous and ancient ways of relating to land and place — into one integrated, living practice.
honouring interwoven…
Honouring operates interchangeably through three different pathways.
Read more about Honouring Projects. And you’re welcome to get in touch for Cultural Immersions or Embodied Leadership Support.
HONOURING COUNTRY
Aboriginal-Led Cultural immersions on ancient lands to deepen awareness of Country and living landscape.
HONOURING PROJECTS
Country-led facilitation and co-design consultancy for architects, designers, and built environment professionals.
HONOURING leadership
Leadership through a practice of embodied deep listening through movement, stillness, and awareness of natural cycles.
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Honouring brings together a unique combination of expertise in architecture and urban design excellence, government design review insight, and long-term lived experience alongside Aboriginal communities.
Through Connecting and Designing with Country, we support project teams to deliver meaningful outcomes aligned with the NSW Connecting with Country Framework, particularly for State Significant Development (SSD) and State Significant Infrastructure (SSI) projects.
We help translate Country-based knowledge, cultural values, and community aspirations into practical project outcomes and strategic opportunities. The result is stronger design quality, support for approval processes, and places with a distinct sense of identity, purpose, and belonging—creating lasting value for Country and community.
honouring relationships…
It all started with establishing relationships and building trust over time… Whilst architecture designs buildings, Honouring is conceived as a way of designing relationships first— between land, people and time, integrating it into the design process.
Traditional Owners
Yoga Teachers
Architects
Academics
Educators
Facilitators
Cultural Guides
Cultural Leaders
Cultural Rangers
Traditional Custodians
Knowledge Holders
Indigenous Artists
honouring PLACES…
It all continues by tracing the Countries and landscapes that hold meaning within this work… places connected through ancestry, belonging, lived experience, and relationships built over time. Together, they form a map of connection — between people, story and Country.
NOONGAR
KUNWINJKU COUNTRY
BIRIPI
ANAIWAN
DHARUG
GADIGAL
Living Systems
Wildlife
Bioregions
Earth Systems
Flora
Ecosystems
Habitats
Ancestral Lands
Homelands
Seasonal Cycles
Remote Communities
Mother Earth
Fauna
Cultural Landscapes
Geological Formations
Hydrology
Father Sky
Fire Ecology
who holds this work
Honouring is not a solo journey.
Architect Founder works with her partner, the Indigenous cultural advisor for Honouring. They have lived and worked with Aboriginal communities for decades, establishing bonds with people who walk alongside this work, each from their own Country, their own knowledge, their own practice.
founders
cristina aranzubia
& Nik Wheatley
Gadigal & Dharug Country - Sydney NSW
Kunwinjku Country - Arnhem Land NT
Biripi & Anaiwan Country - Mid North Coast NSW
Honouring is held by Cristina and Nik, through a shared commitment to deep listening, cultural respect, and connection to Country.
Cristina brings her background as an architect and educator for over 20 years, working in Indigenous projects and guidance as studio owner and for Government, since almost 10 years ago.
Nik, a proud Anaiwan Aboriginal Country man and cultural advisor, brings cultural knowledge grounded in Aboriginal family lineage and long-standing relationships with Traditional Owners across Australia.
Together, their work sits at the intersection of architecture, embodied practice, and Indigenous ways of knowing.
Honouring draws on Cristina's Sydney decade of leadership across architecture, academia, government design review and strategic guidance. Her relationships with Traditional Owners have grown through a shared appreciation of ancient ways of knowing and being.
Nik, with Aboriginal roots from Anaiwan Country and raised on Dharug Country in the Blue Mountains, used to support younger indigenous generations through music, mentorship, and community connection.
GADIGAL & DHARUG COUNTRY
Sydney NSW
Nik has spent more than twenty years walking alongside Traditional Owners as a cultural tour leader across the Top End, currently advocating for the Nayinggyl and Nardji T.O. families.
Cristina's connection began through a Country-led co-design project supporting an Aboriginal Arts Centre in Arnhem Land.
Their paths eventually crossed on Country, where they became family and, together with their daughter, were welcomed into the Kunwinjku kinship system.
KUNWINJKU COUNTRY
Kakadu National Park
& Arnhem Land NT
Honouring is grounded in family, friendship, and ongoing learning.
Nik's Anaiwan roots connect to family living on Biripi Country, where he worked as a Cultural Ranger with NSW National Parks and delivered education programs at Sea Acres Rainforest Centre.
Today, Biripi Country remains a second home, where as family they continue to deepen relationships with Country, culture, and community.
BIRIPI COUNTRY
Mid North Coast NSW
from those who’ve listened
Experience includes work with:
Organisations shown represent projects, employment, advisory roles, collaborations, or consulting experience.
every journey towards country begins with a single act of listening
If this speaks to something in you, we’d love to hear from you — whether you have a project in mind, a question, or are exploring how to bring Country more meaningfully into your work.
info@honouring.com.au
M: 0468 317 794
Aboriginal Cultural Advisor
Nik Wheatley
Nominated Architect
Cristina Aranzubia - ARB NSW 9688