How can we act for a regenerative future?

It’s been a really exciting week for anyone who is passionate about the impact that climate change is having on our lives. After a year of constant progress, climate activist Greta Thunberg arrived in Rome, carrying her message of action to the Vatican. Extinction Rebellion spent a week disrupting cities all over the world, but especially in my home town London. They’ve shown that non-violent protest is hugely effective, bringing the debate about climate change onto the front pages of newspapers. We’ve had the legend that is David Attenborough making a documentary, Climate Change: The Facts.

And yet I still hear this question so often: what can we do? On one level, the answer is simple. Something. Anything. Do what moves you. Act in any way you can. The other answer is: pick your arena. Depending on your skills, background, knowledge, connections, character and of course, what you love, you could act in three major ways.

Protect and Preserve

Protecting the people and places that have been hurt or damaged. Whether that’s driving supplies across Europe to Syrian refugees, lobbying for reparation for the people who live in the pristine rainforest of Ecuador that has been left pitted with oil tar pools left behind by oil companies, raising funds to help endangered species, or supporting your local nature reserve with a bit of volunteering on Sundays. Can we count the ways? Of course not, there are endless opportunities.

This is the domain of charities, social enterprise, philanthropy, corporate sponsorship through corporate social responsibility programmes and individuals — from fund raising tea parties to beach cleans — or as icons of compassion and future thinking like deep ecologist Joanna Macy who inspired this article and who continues to inspire me. As Joanna once described them, they are ‘holding actions’.

They don’t change the global systems that have contributed to the perilous state of our environment, but they can help to keep further damage at bay. Volunteer. Fundraise. Work for a charity or social enterprise. Get involved in your organisation’s CSR effort. Set up your own. Do a day a month, a week, a year.

The argument against doing anything like this is that individual efforts don’t change things. Don’t be disheartened by anyone who says individual effort doesn’t change anything. It’s a cop out. It’s a form of denial of the challenges we face. As Mike Berners-Lee says in There’s No Planet B ask yourself the question “How can I help to create the conditions under which the world that I want to see becomes possible?”.

From Degenerative to Regenerative Systems

The seemingly monumental task of shifting the systems under which the 20th century was designed, from degenerative to regenerative systems.

• the economic and finance systems that have seen an acceleration in the polarisation of wealth since 2008, with many billionaires contributing philanthropically but more squirrelling away wealth into tax havens. The Club of Rome’s Limits To Growth, published as long ago as 1977 set out the challenges of the ‘constant growth mindset’ more than 40 years ago. Even at a very basic level, our economic systems are designed for lives that are 75 years long, and we’re moving towards 100 years as a normal lifespan. The once subconscious understanding that life would be about childhood, education, university, career and retirement, no longer stack up. As populations grow and age, state pension and healthcare is struggling to cope. Perhaps the concept of retirement itself is dead.
• the political system which is contracting into divisive binary choices, retrenching into populism and frozen in time as we have seen with many of the archaic attributes of a once valued parliamentary democracy that seems no longer fit for purpose through Brexit
• the energy system which is still dominated by fossil fuels at 83% of all earth’s energy production. Although rising rapidly, renewables still only accounts for 4% of our total energy
• the education system which is not producing people with an understanding of systems, or the qualities needed for an uncertain future such as critical thinking, curiosity, a commitment to constant learning, the ability to thrive in uncertainty and ambiguity, self-responsibility and collaboration. Above all the business education system which needs a new way to shape business beyond the theory of constant growth, is in desperate need of change. New ways of learning are emerging, different to to standard MBA’s such as Seth Godin’s AltMBA, THNK: the School of Creative Leadership and The House of Beautiful Business. Developmental approaches like The School of Lost Borders go even further.
• the social system, where almost all forms of governance from capitalism to communism seem to have failed to design a system which ‘leaves no one behind’
• the agriculture and food systems which have depleted our soils (the UN’s comprehensive report suggests from 35–60 years of ‘productive’ soil left), chopped down vital forests and sprayed out so much of our biodiversity putting delicate ecosystems at risk. Innovation is exploding in agriculture — from precision agriculture to reforestation - but it is struggling to gain ground against the global control of organisations who dominate commodities like Continental Grain, seeds like Bayer/Monsanto and food production like Tyson, Nestle, Cargill and Kraft. Regenerative agriculture is gaining ground in pockets and communites all over the world. Stories of industrial farmers converting to regenerative practices — like rancher Gabe Brown — are woven together with the growth in scientific evidence and support practices at organisations like Savory, the Roedale Institute and the permaculture movement.

• land management to take a wholly new view of who should own, manage and ultimately control land so that we take a systemic view of how land should be divided for a stable planet between people, wildlife, food and forest. Regenerative land management projects are popping up all over the world from using blockchain funding and satellite technology like Regen Network — to wholescale regeneration of bioregions through organisations like The Capital Institute. Cultural regeneration pioneer Joe Brewer is exploring partnerships to develop bioregional projects all over the world from Costa Rica.
• business systems — in the 21st century with all the problems of the Anthropocene, do we really need any business that is not focused on solving social and environmental challenges? We certainly need more to redesign their organisational structures around the circular economy at a minimum, divest carbon from their entire enterprise. Much more radical innovation is needed around the lifetime of organisations, which means investment and financing needs an overhaul, along with the shareholder model — both of which have a vice-like grip on how business operates, driven by the dogged belief in the power of constant growth.
• travel and transport systems — from airlines and shipping to cars and cycling, we need a root and branch review of not only the contribution of fossil fuels in our transport industries but of the levels of travel we will do as individuals. Air transport has doubled every decade of my life. Airports around the world are experiencing major renovation and expansion initiatives. A recent GlobalData report valued global airport construction projects at $737.3 billion for 2019, with the Asia-Pacific region accounting for $241.4 billion of that figure. China alone plans to build over 200 new airports by 2035. Sea freight is an essential enabler of the global economy but uses the worst kind of fossil fuel to power it. According to UNCTAD, world seaborne trade volumes is set to expand at a compounded annual growth rate of 3.2% between 2017 and 2022. Urban transport works best when they are designed as compact and easy to get around, with high rise centrals, intelligent attached housing, and plenty of green space for health and recreation (a simple statement). Unfortunately most of our cities have grown up over centuries. Retrofitting the design of cities like London, Istanbul or even Los Angeles, is almost impossible

The Shift in Consciousness

Many narratives suggest that shifting the level of consciousness of a high enough percentage of humanity would activate the shift in systems we need, and create more people who want to get involved in holding actions. It’s hard to disagree with that. As humans travel through the process of self-actualisation, we inevitably become more concerned with purpose, meaning and service to others.

Who plays a role here? All of us. We can all work at our own personal development. Reflective practices, contemplation, meditation, coaching, — all of these help. Developing a growth mindset that isn’t directed at growth in ‘acquisition of things’ but is one of curiosity, creativity, and constant learning has certainly helped me appreciate all I have rather than want more. Perhaps when we find acceptance in the idea that more is more dangerous to the human soul than less is painful to the human ego, we will get back in balance with nature.

Collective intelligence or consciousness plays a role too. Every generation has greater access to knowledge than the one before it. Thrivability maven Michelle Holliday describes it as “awareness of the inherent unity of life” — an understanding that we are all part of the web of life and within dynamic relationships with others — human and all other life on earth.

Regenerative Consciousness Community is a Facebook group formed by Christopher Chase and Daniel Christian Wahl author of Designing Regenerative Cultures which hosts great conversations about the importance of the shift in consciousness (do join!). We were recently exploring the acceleration of consciousness in young people, where we are observing that they can be focused on purpose, service and meaning at a much younger age than might be expected in conventional thinking on developmental psychology. Christopher, who is a university lecturer in Japan, evidenced this behaviour in several different ways:

• becoming more ecologically conscious, connecting with nature more deeply along with greater interest in indigenous wisdom
• helping others become more ecologically conscious and caring, using the arts, education and social media to share wisdom to regenerate communities both locally and globally
• becoming more creative and conscious consumers, spending money differently and choosing to grow or produce their own food, clothes etc
• becoming more active and conscious citizens, most recenlty demonstrated by Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion

If you choose to play a role in the shift in consciousness, the opportunities are just as many. From having conversations with friends and family, to hosting deeper conversations such as Charles O Malley’s Connected Conversations. Helping to create a shift towards more thoughtful, humane business by designing developmental organisations as Robert Kegan and Carol Sanforddo.

We’ve never been in greater need of leadership. Conscious leadership development is mushrooming worldwide. Our recent Connectle Conversation on Regenerative Leadership is worth listening to for the wisdom of Kenneth Mikkelsen, Gina Hayden, Ryan Gellert of Patagonia and Katie Hill of B Corporation — an organisation which puts much emphasis on conscious leadership.

Choose your space. Time is running out, but humans are always at their best when what we love — ourselves, each other, our planet, our lives — are at risk.

Further Reading

There’s No Planet B, Mike Berners-Lee

The Uninhabitable Earth, David Wallace-Wells

Active Hope, Joanna Macy and Dr Chris Johnstone

The Age of Thrivability, Michelle Holliday

Designing Regenerative Cultures, Dr Daniel Christian Wahl

Regenerative Business, Carol Sanford

Dead Zone: Where the Wild Things Were, Philip Lymbery

If you would like to explore your own organisation's potential for regenerative capacity, or innovation for a regenerative future, please get in touch for workshop or programme options.