Reflections From Designing Regenerative Cultures
“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge. Where is the knowledge we have lost in information.”
– T.S. Eliot
For the past few weeks I have been re-reading the book Designing Regenerative Cultures by Daniel Christian Wahl. I am deeply grateful for Daniel’s gift, a rich distillation of his PhD thesis that points in the direction of a more sane, hopeful and health-promoting future. Regenerative development is a broad body of study and practice that informs much of my own thinking about and practice around social change. A fundamental recognition of the regenerative lens is that in order to live we harvest from the larger living systems (communities, ecosystems) of which we are a part in such a way that can weaken them, and can put us at risk. Regenerative thinking and practice then asks:
What might we do not simply to wreck less havoc or do less harm, but to leverage the natural connections we have with living systems to contribute to the integrity, resilience and long-term viability of people, places, and ecosystems?
Image from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, shared under provision of Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.
There are great examples of this practice in different fields, including regenerative agriculture (which seeks a healthy integration into landscapes and ecosystems and to improve soil health) and regenerative building design (also integrative and health-promoting of local community and ecosystems). And at IISC, we are asking ourselves and experimenting with ways in which “public engagement” can be an avenue for honoring and contributing to the integrity and vitality of communities. Read More
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