Regeneration, sometimes called regenerative sustainability, is the ideas & practices for human development (all facets: social, cultural, economic, technological, environmental, etc.) to generate net-positive change with nature as the way to create a truly sustainable and resilient future. Regeneration is more than just focusing on climate change, it’s a recognition that the polycrisis/metacrisis/nested crises – simultaneously: global warming, biodiversity loss, fresh & green water overuse, nitrogen & phosphorous exceeding biogeochemical limits, deforestation, novel chemical pollutants, mental health decline, and social & economic inequality – must be addressed holistically, systemically, internally & externally, as they are all interconnected.
I came to regeneration from working on sustainability technologies for many years and seeing sustainability wasn’t enough to heal the damage already done. My belief became that the only way to a truly sustainable future is where our every action is healing to the planet, otherwise we’ll continue to be trapped a trade-space between Human Development vs. Nature, where we have 10,000 years of data (written history), and particularly in the last 150 years (advent of fossil fuels), that shows the colonizing human mindset has overwhelmingly picked human development over nature. But we do not have to be trapped in the win-lose arrangement (and if you follow the win-lose logic out completely, our self-destruction is the only ultimate ending). We have evidence from indigenous peoples worldwide to regenerative agriculture where humans can have win-win, mutually beneficial relationships with nature, and experience true abundance and deep meaning in our own lives.
Here’s a presentation I’ve shared with engineers and scientists in climate tech startups:
This website, this company, my work & time is to shift and bridge engineering to regeneration. I have no idea what they journey will look like, but I must try nonetheless as I believe regeneration is the greatest calling of our time and of humanity. I believe engineering must/will be a part of a regenerative future as tool use (and machine building) is as part of us as we are a part of nature. I share more about the journey here: Invitation to Journey
If you’re interested in learning more about regeneration:
1) Let me know! I’m happy to help. Contact Me
2) The free online classes from ETH Zurich’s Designing Resilient Regenerative Systems program are excellent: the MOOCs (Massive Open Online Classes) are a great entry to Regeneration.
Other Regeneration Thoughts
Sustainability: ‘The Transition’
Regeneration: ‘Transformation’
“There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.” -A.J. Muste
Analogously, I’ll say: There is no way to regeneration. Regeneration is the way.
Regeneration is not a product, an attribute, a ‘what’. Regeneration is a process, a mode of being/thinking/feeling, a ‘how’, a ongoing, improving & intensifying relationship with nature and each other.