FOREWORD ~ David Orr FOREWORD ~ Graham Leicester INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 - Living the Questions: Why change the narrative now? Questioning dangerous ideologies Facing complexity means befriending uncertainty and ambiguity Caring for Earth is caring for ourselves and our community Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world The 'why' will guide the 'what' and the 'how'Spirituality, soul and solitude in nature Sustainability as a learning journey: pilgrims and apprentices Sustainability is not enough; we need regenerative cultures! CHAPTER 2 - Why choose transformative over sustaining innovation? The Three Horizons of innovation and culture change Evaluating disruptive innovation in the age of transition Transformative innovation is about deep questioning Sensitivity to scale, uniqueness of place and local culture The transformative power of social innovation Collaborative consumption and peer-to-peer collaboration Facilitating systems innovation and culture change CHAPTER 3 - Why do we need to think and act more systemically? Believing is seeing and seeing is believing The whole is more than the sum of its parts From the 'crisis of perception' to the 'systems view of life' Interbeing How can we participate appropriately in complex systems? The IFF World System Model Learning to see nature everywhere Being a process, and seeing in relationships CHAPTER 4 - Why nurture resilience and whole-systems health? Rolling back Earth Overshoot Day Learning to live within planetary boundaries What exactly are resilience and transformative resilience? The adaptive cycle as a dynamic map for resilience thinking Panarchy: a scale-linking perspective of systemic transformation Local and regional community resilience building is going global How can we nurture transformative resilience? From control and prediction to conscious participation, foresight and anticipation CHAPTER 5 - Why take a design-based approach? Design education enables cultural transformation Design is where theory and practice meet Design follows worldview and worldview follows design Ethics and design for regenerative cultures Aesthetics and design Emergence and design Designing for positive emergence (a case study) Scale-linking, salutogenic design for resilience The resurgence of a culture of makers: re-localizing production Collective visioning and design conversations change culture CHAPTER 6 - How can we learn to better design as nature? Ecoliteracy: Learning from living systems Valuing traditional ecological knowledge and indigenous wisdom How does life create conditions conducive to life? Biologically Inspired Innovation Green chemistry and material science Biologically inspired product design Biomimetic architecture Nature's whole system optimization informs community design Living the questions together creates community Industrial ecology and symbiosis are closing the loops Ecologically informed urban and regional planning CHAPTER 7 - Why are regenerative cultures rooted in cooperation? Redesigning agriculture for food sovereignty and subsidiarity Regenerative agriculture: effective responses to climate change Learning from and mimicking healthy ecosystems Redesigning economics based on ecology Creating circular economies Towards a regenerative economy Thriving communities and the solidarity economy Shifting from quantitative to qualitative growth Valuing the commons by cooperatively sharing the gifts of life Earth Law: the enabling constraints of collective living Life's collaborative lessons transform business Co-creating regenerative enterprises Collaboration and empathy as evolutionary success stories Activism revisited: conscious participation and collective intelligence We are coming back to life and this changes everything Learning to listen deeply Inner and outer resilience CONCLUSION - Regenerative cultures are about thriving together
Daniel Christian Wahl was born in Munich in 1971 and grew up in
Germany. By the time he was 28 he had travelled in 35 different
countries on six continents. His early career was as a marine
biologist and scuba diving instructor, before he decided to focus
on sustainability and sustainable communities in 1998. Originally
trained as a biologist and zoologist at the University of Edinburgh
and the University of California, Santa Cruz, Daniel also holds an
MSc in Holistic Science (Schumacher College, 2002) and a PhD in
Natural Design (University of Dundee, 2006).
Daniel has taught capacity building workshops on a wide range of
sustainability issues to local authorities and businesses through
the UN-affiliated training centre CIFAL Scotland. Among his
consultancy clients have been the United Nations Institute of
Training and Research (UNITAR), the British Government's UK
Foresight (with Decision Integrity Ltd.), LEAD International, CLEAR
Village, and companies like Camper, Ecover (with Forum for the
Future), Lush and the tourism innovation cluster Balears.t, as well
as, various universities and charities.
He was the director of Findhorn College between 2007 and 2010,
during which time he helped to create the MSc in Sustainable
Community Design (Heriott-Watt University), co-founded the
`Learning Partnership for Creative Sustainability' and co-organized
two international Bioneers conferences in Holland and Findhorn.
Daniel has been a member of Gaia Education (since 2007) and the
International Futures Forum (since 2009). He is also a fellow of
the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures
and Commerce) and the Findhorn Foundation Fellowship.
Daniel has worked closely with Gaia Education since 2006 when he
participated in the first training of trainers for the `Ecovillage
Design Education' (EDE) programme. He has taught EDE courses in
Scotland, Thailand, and Spain. He is a co-author of all four
dimensions (social, ecological, economic, worldview) of the
curriculum for Gaia Education's online course in `Design for
Sustainability' (GEDS), and is co-developing a new programme in
`Bioregional Design Education' (BDE) for Gaia Education. He also
collaborates with the research working-group of the Global
Ecovillage Network (GEN).
Daniel lives on Majorca, and works locally and internationally as a
consultant, educator and activist. In 2012, he co-founded
`Biomimicry Iberia' and in 2015 co-organized the first
practitioners camp of the `European Biomimicry Alliance' (EBA) on
Majorca. He collaborates with the Masters of Design and Innovation
at the IED (European Institute of Design) in Madrid, has taught at
Elisava Design School in Barcelona, and co-developed the S.M.A.R.T.
UIB project of the Universidad de las Islas Baleares (Sustainable,
Multi-stakeholder, Applied, Regenerative, Transformative) where he
is helping to develop a series of programmes in transformative
innovation. Daniel has published numerous articles and academic
papers and collaborated with a number of documentary film projects.
Designing Regenerative Cultures is his first book.
"Daniel's book Designing Regenerative Cultures is a wonderful and
well-referenced primer for a new paradigm." Satish Kumar
"Clearly our ways of thinking have gotten us in some trouble--here
are concrete suggestions for some new habits of mind that could
help us climb out of our hole!";Bill McKibben, author: Eaarth -
Making a Life on a Tough New Planet; co-founder 350.org, and
Schumann Distinguished Scholar, Middlebury College
"This is an impressive, broad and forward looking book that
integrates design thinking with a diverse range of contemporary and
innovative ideas around sustainability, ecology and transformation.
Its attention to not just the problems, but also to how address
them is timely and much needed. As such the book is now one of the
main core programme texts for our MSc Sustainability at the
University of Dundee." Professor Ioan Fazey, Centre for
Environmental Change and Human Resilience, University of
Dundee.
"Daniel Wahl... has the capacity to explain complex and subtle
subjects such as systems theory, regenerative design, holistic
management, biomimicry, the circular economy, quantum theory ...
and much more, succinctly. There are so many paragraphs in this
book that I highlighted to return to and savour later on. He is
also well versed in the integral, holistic worldview and the
processes which support the birth of a new consciousness that will
enable these regenerative shifts. His book is not only a collection
of well articulated ideas, it is a litany of so many of the world's
best projects that are already in existence, balancing theory with
practice. There is an unstoppable optimism implicit in this book,
however care-worn and cynical the reader may feel." Maddy Harland
in Permaculture Magazine.
"Designing Regenerative Cultures has gained international
acknowledgement for its pragmatic approach to the subject,
reframing and questioning the current approaches to the challenges
that humankind is currently facing with deeper understanding of the
possible solutions surfacing with regenerative design." UNESCO
Global Action Programme on ESD Aug 2016
"Daniel Wahl has had an important insight that makes this book an
essential read for anyone trying to change the world. The necessary
catalyst is in the title of this book: "regenerative systems."
To quote Wahl, "Sustainability is not a fixed state to reach and
then maintain, it is a community-based learning process aimed at
increasing the health and resilience of our communities, our
bioregional economies, ecosystems, and of the planetary
life-support system as a whole."
This is the core realization of Rob Hopkins (Transition Handbook)
and David Fleming (Lean Logic) as well, but Wahl's book gets to the
assembly language programming, explaining how ecological literacy
and the social, technological, and entrepreneurial skills required
for the transition are the entry point that leads to everything
else. Arguably ecological literacy is already the foundation of
much that is new in the world of industrial design - it is called
biomimicry.
Biological and ecological design intelligence is starting to
reinvent the way we design communities, businesses, cities, and
industries. This book gets out in front of that with the larger
picture. We need to do these things, now, or we may not be here in
another century.
Wahl says, "We need to dare to envision a sustainable world, by
re-designing our food systems, transport systems, energy systems,
economic systems, and education systems, but most of all, we need
to re-envision how we collaborate and how we relate to each other
and the natural world."
Whether we have time to make this unprecedented change in our
social contract is still in doubt. Set your doubts aside for the
moment and let this book give you a sense of "... but what if?"
If we are going to get this right, it will begin here."
Reviewed by Albert Bates, Ecovillage and Permaculture Pioneer,
Right Livelihood Award Winner, and author of Climate in Crisis.
"6 Star Handbook for Saving Civilization & Earth. This book makes
the jump from 5 stars (generally I don't bother to review a book if
it is not a four or five star read) to 6 stars - my top ten percent
- because of the combination of Questions Asked, glorious color
graphics, and the total holistic nature of the book - this is
easily a PhD thesis in holistic analytics, true cost economics, and
open source everything engineering. Indeed, this book could be used
as a first-year reference across any humanities and science domain,
they would be the better for it.
It is of value to ministers of government, managers of
corporations, administrators of non-profit and educational
organizations, labor union and religious stewards, and every single
citizen planning to be alive in five years and beyond."
Reviewed by Robert David Steele on the Public Intelligence Blog and
Amazon
"Daniel Wahl has compiled a great deal of useful information in a
masterful synthesis. That alone is a significant accomplishment,
but he's given us more than that. Designing Regenerative Cultures
describes the doorway to a possible, indeed, necessary future. We
are not fated to the dystopia in prospect. We have, as he writes,
the capacity to design and to organize our societies to protect,
enhance, and celebrate life. The blueprint was there all along. The
awareness of our possibilities is growing. The art and sciences of
ecological design are flourishing. The choice, as always, is ours
and that of those who will follow."
From the Foreword by David Orr (environmentalist and Paul Sears
Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics at Oberlin College
and a James Marsh Professor at the University of Vermont).
"This book is a treasure for everyone who is looking for a guide to
more sustainable living and a roadmap for re-designing our
societies , regenerating our communities , cities and societies in
harmony with natural systems and our home planet. Author Daniel
Wahl has deep experience to share and his knowledge in this
beautiful book will help all those aspiring to be responsible
global citizens working for our common future."
Hazel Henderson, author and President, Ethical Markets Media ,
Certified B. Corporation, USA & Brazil
"Daniel Wahl's Designing Regenerative Cultures provides an
exhaustive review of current thinking on our global challenges as
well as a refreshing approach to how we can "live into the
questions" that will help us create a beautiful future. Anyone
working in sustainability or social innovation will find this book
to be a tremendously useful reference and provocative guide for
framing regenerative solutions. It is a wonderful blend of
passionate vision and practical insight."
Denise K. DeLuca, Co-Founder & Director, BCI (Biomimicry for
Creative Innovation)
"The world is converging on integration and systems thinking, and
regeneration of the world is the battle cry of any sentient being
in the 21st century. Daniel Wahl provides good insights and
inspirations on the index of possibilities -in mass scale
regeneration of nature and society."
Marcin Jakubowski, PhD, Founder & Executive Director of Open Source
Ecology.
Designing Regenerative Cultures is a wide ranging synthesis of key
knowledge to take us into a more resourceful 21st Century. The book
brings forth multiple perspectives on the ultimate challenge of our
time. This living material will help one get beyond the bread and
circus approach that the mainstream media is foisting upon us, and
thereby subtlety turning us into bloated modern Romans without a
clue on what really matters, let alone the power to create what
matters.
Shifting from a narrative of separation and scarcity, to interbeing
and abundance opens the conceptual door to the next phase of the
human enterprise.
Read and absorb this powerful treatise, and learn from the dynamic
context Daniel Wahl has created with the publication of his new
book.
Christopher Zelov conceived and produced the award winning film
'Ecological Design: Inventing the Future'. Recent projects include:
A Visit With Magnus, City 21, and Design Outlaws.
"To me as a life-long activist nourished on systems thinking and
Buddhist teachings, this is one of the most intellectually exciting
and soul stirring books I've read in years. I had the sense of
drinking it, with pleasure and surprise, not having known what I'd
so thirsted for. br>
By starting with questions and keeping to questions throughout,
Daniel engages the reader, and by example frees her from striving
for, or pretending to know, any final answers. This approach -- in
itself a rare lesson in systems epistemology - invites trust,
openness, and a restructuring of the mind.
Among the gifts for which I am especially grateful are these:
Conceptual tools for perceiving and experiencing our mutual
belonging , and especially what I've come to call the great
reciprocity at the heart of the universe. The ways Goethe, Bortoft,
Bateson, Maturana, and Varela are brought in, and key insights
mediated with economy and clarity. The abundant evidence of the
Great Turning, the manifold transition underway to a
life-sustaining culture. And, especially valuable to those of an
apocalyptic bent like myself, the 'adaptive cycle' of resilient
systems, showing that at 'the edge of chaos' comes opportunity for
the emergence of greater complexity and intelligence.
These are but a few of the ways in which this remarkable book will
enrich my thought, my teaching, and my life in this turbulent world
of ours."
Joanna Macy, environmental activist, scholar of Buddhism, general
systems theory, and deep ecology and author of World as Lover,
World as Self and numerous other books.
"This is a seriously rich source of perspective on the nature of
whole system design. The future is already here and Daniel Wahl has
synthesized the wide ranging progress in the emerging field of
`regenerating wholeness'. There is a lot of positive and effective
activity happening around the planet! Of particular note, the title
addresses "us" as a significant and often missing leverage point in
our work towards regenerative relationships: our cultural ability
to become collaborative weavers, integral to evolving a condition
of long-lasting health. This book shows the powerful potential of
how all these dimensions of wholeness are coming together."
Bill Reed, Regenesis Group
"Life on the Planet has sustained itself for billions of years by
continually regenerating itself. Our modern industrial culture has
interfered with these natural processes to the point of causing
massive extinctions of species and threatening our very survival.
This book is a valuable contribution to the important discussion of
the worldview and value system we need to redesign our businesses,
economies, and technologies - in fact, our entire culture - so as
to make them regenerative rather than destructive."
Fritjof Capra, author of The Web of Life, coauthor of The Systems
View of Life: A Unifying Vision.
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