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KEY THEME
REGENERATION
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The importance to act as nature
Regeneration seeks to be life-enhancing in that it “produces the field within which the improvement of living systems can take place” (Mang & Reed, 2012: 27). Regeneration can be supported by 'regenerative businesses', whose aim is to enhance, and thrive through, the health of social-ecological system (SES) in a co-evolutionary process (Hahn & Tampe,2021).
We want to share one of the schemes that has touched us the most in our process of regenerative development and that is also reflected in this resource box: the scheme of Adapted Regeneration by Bill Reed (2001-2007). This scheme helps us understand that we can act across a spectrum, from highly degenerative to highly regenerative, gaining in energy and complexity along the way.
"For us, this type of visualization was important because we often see things as simply sustainable or not sustainable. However, this graph introduced the idea that there are many intermediate levels between something that is truly beneficial for society and something that continues to cause degeneration. It highlights the degrees of degradation, showing how conventional practices still contribute to the deterioration of our soils, forests, and water systems—despite being legally permitted. This makes it clear that degeneration is still happening, reinforcing the need for activism to change policies and financing mechanisms in areas like forestry, agriculture, water management, and urban waste.
We also see that when entities or territories begin adopting green behaviors, they achieve a greater level of complexity and generate a bit more energy, but they still only reduce negative impacts. While reducing harm is valuable, it is not enough. We need to move to a level where we are at least neutral—where our balance between positive and negative impacts reaches zero. And for most of us, as young entrepreneurs, our goal is to leave the world better than we found it. That means moving beyond sustainability to the level of restoration, where we actively regenerate our systems.
From this perspective, everything we do—from our business strategy to our products and services—must be designed with the intention of creating added value. When our work is complete, we must ensure that not only the user benefits, but that the systems in which our solutions operate also experience improvement—across social, ecological, economic, and cultural dimensions.
It is crucial that life begins to thrive again and fulfill its role. For 3.8 billion years, life has created biomass, complexity, and conditions that support more life. This, according to Bill Reed’s framework, is the highest level of the scale—when we become truly regenerative. When we design something, we must already be thinking with the principles of living systems in mind, understanding our role within the ecosystem and recognizing what that system is trying to emerge. By supporting that emergence, we, too, are nourished by the ecosystem. At this level, we are not merely using, commanding, or controlling nature—we are living with nature, being part of it, and co-evolving with it."
Prof Gil Penha-Lopes
Podcast Bónus:
MUST READ
Regenerative Development and Design
"Mang e Haggard - Regenerative Development and Design" advocates for a new approach to design and development that prioritizes co-evolution between human systems and natural systems. The book emphasizes working from potential, not problems, focusing on place-based solutions and building the evolutionary capacity of communities. It introduces principles of regenerative design, emphasizing the interconnectedness of systems and the importance of nodal interventions to create systemic change. The authors encourage designers to adopt new measures of success that move beyond simply mitigating harm to actively creating genuine wealth and fostering co-evolving mutualism. Finally, the book stresses the importance of inner work for designers, promoting self-actualization and the ability to become systems actualizers.
Modules
By recognizing ventures as living systems embedded in dynamic ecosystems, we can cultivate guilds—collaborative networks that enhance resilience and collective intelligence. Anchoring investments in place-sourced potential ensures that solutions emerge from and are deeply attuned to local contexts, maximizing relevance and long-term viability. Co-evolving mutualism encourages relationships that go beyond transactions, fostering symbiotic growth between investors, entrepreneurs, and communities. Finally, embedding regenerative capability ensures that ventures not only sustain impact but actively restore and enhance the social, economic, and environmental systems they touch. This holistic approach aligns capital with regenerative principles, amplifying meaningful, systemic change.
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