How a regenerative thinking is starting to unravel in sectors and communities around the world
“The time for talk has passed. What we need today is action.”
-Jane Goodall
The innovations of the Regeneration Model presented below have been applied theoretically and practically by a broad spectrum of organisations within the charity and business sectors. 70 concepts alone were taken up and instigated in London as part of the city’s greening program, which helped London to become greener and thus secure its bid for the Olympic games in 2004:
- Regenerative tourism catalysts that induce and drive positive eco-socio-economic shifts in communities they operate, helping build resilient, self-sufficient and happy communities
- New ecologically and socially inspired and focussed companies with regeneration at the core of their business plan, resulting in new regenerative economies being created
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Enhanced wellbeing and new holistic and transformational leisure options that are good for people and the planet and are strategically positioned to address nature-climate challenges
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New greening templates with a socio-green infrastructure to induce greater cross-sector collaboration thus accelerating and maximising everyone’s effectiveness, efficiency and resource use and response to natural disasters
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New learning and training systems – such as interpretation hubs- for faster, more streamlined sharing and extrapolation of regenerative carbon zero (and negative) innovation, knowledge and practices
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A concept of creating solution-oriented society inducing an exponential growth of our potentials and benefits across all sectors for the maximum benefit of society resulting in a healthier and more resilient nature and community
- An unprecedented level of resources and nature-based solutions capable of solving multiples of seemingly disconnected problems simultaneously
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A strategic framework from which to address nature and climate polycrisis for organisations, communities and countries to better align themselves with the UN SDGs, ESG performance adopted at Paris Agreement Conference, 2015
- A new, regenerative approach for nature and climate action – the genesis of a new paradigm that is replacing the old thinking model with a regeneration-focussed mindset
I can assuredly say that the creation of this vast seminal work has been instrumental in shaping the course of climate change action to date. Envisioned in the 1990s, this regeneration model has been influencing and informing the climate action ever since. It has successfully lay the foundations of the regenerative thinking and approaches that we are seeing surfacing today. Within it, more of us can become attuned to a new community enhancement and nature-aware paradigm that this model unravels.
A vision that this joint work had brought forward, presented and proposed a broad strategy of tools and solutions. We called it the planet saving toolkit and provided an entire branch of science that underpins this new solution thinking and enacting paradigm.
This advanced regeneration model is one of the fastest – economically viable and socially pivotal – approaches to induce, stimulate and accelerate the global green transition. And a countrywide systemic greening is how this vision can manifest in communities across the globe, as the model catches on. My hope is that by 2030 – a critical timeframe for green transitions enabling nations to align themselves with the Earth’s needs for the first time – we will see many versions of similar models in operation.
Regenerative thinking – systemic greening scaling up and out ethical consumerism
This model comprises many transitional mechanisms and tools. One such tool is a green screening for companies. A form of ecological grading that is universal and helping differentiate the ‘good’ products from the ‘bad’ ones. If the scheme was widely adopted and legally binding, we would see all processes rebalance and leapfrog exponentially. Thus helping the entire sectors adapt to the highest sustainable standards.
A rating system for all companies that sits along a carbon bell curve: from the most polluting to the cleanest, with a voluntary tithing built into it. The public puts their trust by spending their dollars with companies that are top social and green performers, as their and their children’s survival depends upon it. The first time in our history we would vote with not only ballots but with millions of our wallets simply by investing our spending power with the best cleanest companies.
Regenerative climate action – forging models with nature as our climate defence ally
The maths here are simple. In no time, we would raise an unprecedented volume of funds ready to fuel ethical, green, nature-based economies with robust socio-environmental templates. And this is exactly what we require now: funding. And lots of it! The world needs $9 trillion to transition to clean energy per year by 2030, make communities more resilient, retrofit existing buildings and more. This is key if we are to avoid breaching internationally the safe 1.5 degrees Celsius, which is our collective tipping point that pivots our success with climate change. So, according to the IPCC’s data-based science, we either reverse and adapt fast or the Earth will do this for us.
By adapting to these new, higher standards of conservation, communities would be able to adjust much faster and more effectively in their green transition. In turn, this would achieve two main objectives: many more green businesses and therefore more altruistic consumerism. What’s more by all of us moving in the direction of this new regenerative mindset, we can channel the financial power of business towards financing the regeneration across the globe. Especially with a backing from the aligned, regenerative initiatives and policies.
A global regenerative mindset for peaceful and just clean energy transitions
This would serve as a solid global basis and catalyst for an immediate and decisive transition to clean energy and decarbonisation projects in every country. Let us imagine if all countries did this more or less at the same time. If they divested funding that creates and fuels wars and conflicts to fund this green transition?! With a great deal of certainty, we would see an unprecedented build-up of momentum to support us on our way towards achieving our climate goals. As we cannot start thinking about any congruent global climate action unless we have conditions of peace in every region. Peace is the only pathway that can bring populations on board as significant and active allies in this global effort.
To that end, we cannot equally expect to have peaceful communities, whose populations aren’t forced to migrate, without a sustainable and regenerative framework. As this allows them to address climate and inequality that affect the poorest whilst helping avert conflicts which climate crisis amplifies. One of the most desirable positive consequences of that would be peace and security in regions that are becoming less and less stable due to adversely changing climate. The regions that struggle environmentally would then have their own economic tools and models. By adopting such optimal modes of operating, communities can more effectively deal with environmental and social pressures due to the climate crisis.
Among many, this includes crop failures that drive peoples’ displacement and result in unsustainable migrations across borders. However, we would want to see the alignment of approaches coming from both the EU and the UN. The world needs to see them acting in synergy as partners that conscientiously and courageously support the most vulnerable countries. Tangibly assisting in solving the nature-human crisis whilst establishing conditions of peace for democratic and inclusive transitions of all economies.
A regenerative mindset, empowering our individual and collective climate decisions
Adopting a regenerative mindset allows all organisations to focus on empowering this transition across all member states by putting their weight and funding behind it. Green funding agencies and banks that invest only in eco-conscious development weighs in our carbon rebalancing globally. Ethical consumerism and optimising all systems for efficiency are the only way forward if we are to stay within the planetary limits and save the Earth’s immune system we call – climate.
This, in turn, moves us closer towards creating clean energy sectors at home. And then sharing the best practices and know-how with less developed economies so that the power of this cooperative unity moves us on all climate issues at speed. This removes a need for many of the highly destructive combative, socially divisive tactics that we are seeing today in Europe and beyond.
Regenerative climate action – humanity’s choice between Climate Action vs Climate Despair
Regenerative thinking is the right, higher consciousness, model that can tangibly counteract a model of ‘fortress Europe’ that bad, misguided politics is creating. With barbed-wire borders, refugees drowned at sea and detention camps where human life and its potential is lost every day. Surely we can and must rise up to these challenges by solving them humanly. And in the way that creates a future that is aligned with the needs of our planet so that both human and natural communities can coexist and flourish.
But, firstly, the two main root causes of social and climate degradation i.e., the environmental crisis and inequality need an urgent and focussed response. Many more recent climate speeches echo the earlier warnings voiced by Jim Henson. In his 1995 speech he urged all nations to phase out fossil fuels’ production and use. They all call for a rapid transition to clean, carbon neutral economies as a prerogative for averting ecosystems and climate collapse.
As conscious human being and voters we can no longer settle for an unacceptable lack of political and financial will to address these issues. We require answers that help us restore functional nature and good living conditions for all. Making those that lead on our behalf accountable is a good start. We can all do this with out wallets, ballots and courts. Game changing is a buzzword that circulates in climate related conversations a lot. However, the only credible game changer we can all see is the climate change with its perfect storm of destruction. Suffice to say, we can no longer support impotent systemic structures of today. Structures that have put scores of generations through such arduous decades of climate denial and inaction whilst having all the evidence and solutions at hand.
Ecoplaza as a physical space – a resource hub stockpiling our tangible and intangible assets
My unwavering belief that it is possible to alter an old paradigm for a new one to emerge is what underpins my regeneration work. An integrated theory of evolution and a collective memory of self-organising nature that science has only recently been uncovering. Interestingly, right from the start my co-visionary partner and I were subconsciously tapping into this knowledge without even realising it. The sings of progress over the last two decades have only further reinforced my knowing that we can all tap into this stream of consciousness where all higher thinking lives.
This led us to formulate many concepts that can help countries create this internet-like web of interactions but physically in our communities. A lack of major progress on climate reinforces the need for this type of societal organisational system. So that collectively we can gain a helicopter view perspective on the complex situation we are all in. Without this or a similar strategic tool, a prospect of inducing a catalyst for population wide action remains out of our reach.
How we can stop duplication and stimulate innovation by keeping tabs on what assets we have
Many of our problems are just repetitions of the same or very similar problems. Therefore, this new approach will help us shift away from a compartmentalised, detail-stuck methodology towards seeing the big picture. In a strategic move away from writing reports that have already been written somewhere else and documenting our problems for the sake of it, we seek to enact what we already know. In doing so we can actually access this higher intelligence of solving problems practically in a coordinated way. This has the potential of bringing us closer to acquiring problem-solving systems. The ones that more intelligently mimic similar on-going processes occurring in nature and match the magnitude of task at hand. And as a result, we become more efficient, collectively.
Evolving a nature-based ‘operating system’ to guide our way out of global crises
We will then have a cluster of non-virtual lifestyle centres that focus all of our social and green actions in one place for the maximum impact and benefit to the community. This is a perfect channelling of solutions and answers that exist and the ones we cannot yet to perceive. We then enact them in the world as smarter human collectives, moving in a synchronised way. The way similar to a flock of birds that uses integrative living organization for precision flying.
Rupert Sheldrake named this evolutionary advantage and asset observed in nature, morphic resonance. We can mimic these natural patterns for a faster and better alignment with the Earth’s own needs. And in the process of doing so, we could tap into intrinsic advantages of this holistic system. This offers us a strong possibility to evolve our collective human specie consciousness whilst benefiting from nature’s protection. Anything less than this will strip away this protective system, bringing about more species extinctions, and will undermine our own survival.
Bibliography
A Big Strategy: In times of Crisis. A Model to Help Regenerate The Environment, Community And Sustainable Economy. Published in 2012. Authors and innovators of this advanced methodology: Peter Hughes & Kinga Monica
Featured image: Waterfall- La Saut de la Virole, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. Photo copyright Earthvoice.
This article presenting the original award-winning concepts is the work of the Earthvoice editor, Kinga Monica. She is available for consulting on practical instigation of these concepts, sustainability, and regenerative ecotourism consulting, internationally.
To learn more on this topic and the solutions that have helped shift some gears of the climate change action to date, please follow my innovative work on Earthvoice blog and on Medium.