What is it for education to be regenerative?

No matter how long ago it was for some of us, our experiences in educational settings have a huge impact on how we go on to behave in the world. The ideas we encounter, the values we form, the relationships we develop and the ideas of ourselves we create in these spaces and phases of our lives often prove to be foundational.

But schools, nurseries and universities are just as likely to reflect and perpetuate the dominant paradigm of control, separation, extraction and short-termism as any other.

In this episode we speak to educational pioneer Benjamin Freud about a school that is trying to do things differently. Benjamin is Head of Upper School at Green School Bali which is working to re-design curriculums, re-think assessments and re-imagine power dynamics to lean into an understanding of the world as alive and uncontrollable and steward learners who can truly contribute to a thriving world.

Key Links

• Green School Bali: https://www.greenschool.org/bali/
• Joanne McEachen on Contributive Learning: https://www.thelearnerfirst.com/2020/10/13/joanne-mceachen-on-contributive-learning/

Nature on the Board? Steward ownership? Employee ownership? Self-managing teams? For those seeking to establish regenerative organisations, the options in terms of how those organisations should be governed can feel overwhelming.

In this episode we dive deeper into the submerged world of governance and look at what it actually is, surface some principles of more regenerative approaches, jargon-bust a few buzzwords and look at some examples of organisations doing things differently.

My partners in this exploration are the co-founders of the aptly-named new venture, Regenerative Governance, Erica Neve and Patrick Andrews. Erica is a leader in business transformation, with a career spanning corporate transformation programs and mission-driven initiatives. She has helped global brands adopt nature-led and purpose-led business models to benefit both people and planet. Patrick (otherwise known as “The Barefoot Lawyer”) uses his decades of experience as a lawyer and governance advisor to help businesses find creative and holistic governance structures that contribute to a more just, sustainable society.

Together we have a wonderful collective geek-out on how important governance is and what it can do when approached with creativity, openness and heart.

Key Links

• Regenerative Governance: https://www.regengovernance.org/
• Google’s project Aristotle: https://psychsafety.com/googles-project-aristotle/
• Purpose Foundation: https://purpose-economy.org/en/purpose-foundation/
• Riverford: https://www.riverford.co.uk/
• Riversimple: https://www.riversimple.com/
• Subak: https://data.subak.org/
• Wasafiri: https://wasafirihub.com/
• Advice Process Playbook from Equal Experts: https://playbooks.equalexperts.com/advice-process
• Think like a Mother by Michelle Holliday: https://michelleholliday.com/think-like-a-mother-or-why-stakeholder-capitalism-is-a-dangerous-concept/

What might it look like for the financing and other fundamental structures underpinning our organisations to truly help them create conditions for life's thriving?

Dr. Melanie Rieback is CEO/Co-founder of Radically Open Security, the world's first not-for-profit computer security company, and the "Post Growth" startup incubator Nonprofit Ventures. She is also a former Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the Free University of Amsterdam and was named "Most Innovative IT Leader of the Netherlands" by CIO Magazine (TIM Award) in 2017, and one of the "9 Most Innovative Women in the European Union" (EU Women Innovators Prize) in 2019.

Melanie talks to us here, not only about the non-extractive financing and ownership structures she has experimented with in her own organisation, but about the cultures and structures within the financial industry that often lead it to be extractive and the increasingly political nature of financing. We touch on the importance of collaborating with unexpected allies, letting go of control, opening up to uncertainty, embracing creativity and acting from empathy and love.

If there was ever a conversation to demonstrate the power, breadth and beauty possible in financing, it is this one. Enjoy.

Key Links

• Radically Open Security: https://www.radicallyopensecurity.com/
• Post-Growth Entrepreneurship Incubator: https://nonprofit.ventures/
• Online free version of Melanie's post-growth entrepreneurship course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApINAX7XEqc&list=PL14vcCXv7XVONAwzNv0ApYwZ5iepLzz3S&index=1
• Purpose Foundation where you can learn more about steward ownership: https://purpose-economy.org/en/
• NLnet Foundation: https://nlnet.nl/
• Snowball Impact Investment: https://www.snowballimpactinvestment.com/
• Purpose Ventures: https://purpose-economy.org/en/ventures/
• The book I couldn't remember!: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24097668-alternatives-to-capitalism
• The petition that Melanie and others started to get a steward ownership model debated in the Dutch Parliament: https://www.stewardownershiprechtsvorm.nl/articles/english

We are so lucky in this episode to be joined by Annette Dhami from Dark Matter Labs. Annette leads the Beyond the Rules initiative which explores the organising and governance practices needed for an economy designed for life. Its work is in the rewriting, reinvention and reimagining of the rules, norms and laws that hold us in the current system.

In this episode we will dive deep into the incredible power of contracts and contracting processes for establishing the boundaries of what is possible together. She offers practical tips on what to include in contracts and how to approach the process to create conditions for regenerative, life-giving relationships and work.

Key Links

• Dark Matter Labs: https://darkmatterlabs.org/
• Beyond the Rules: https://darkmatterlabs.notion.site/Beyond-the-Rules-19e692bf98f54b44971ca34700e246fd
• Re-Imagining Pay Portal: https://darkmatterlabs.notion.site/Reimagining-Pay-40a3a4c7795d407db4b733c64f47ba47
• Employment Contract Portal: https://darkmatterlabs.notion.site/Contract-ing-Between-the-Rules-Employment-contracts-a6a967f1f78f4f3f9aef4c1ab6f8cc9a
• Funding and Partnership Agreement Portal: https://darkmatterlabs.notion.site/Funding-Partnership-Agreements-a108ad3354774c0f9f9094966bff36a7
• Angela Tang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelatanguk/
• Bates Wells: https://bateswells.co.uk/
• RAD HR: https://radhr.org/

How can we approach organisational evolutions and endings regeneratively? In this episode I speak with the amazing Iris Andrews about New Constellations and their decision to enter a "chrysalis phase" of evolution.

Our approaches to change and transition, particularly in Western industrialised cultures, are often fraut with emotions like fear, shame, guilt and anxiety. And yet, change and transition is one of the only constants in life. In this episode Iris generously shares with us the thoughtful, loving and nature-inspired process that New Constallations is going though as part of its own evolution and allows us to deduce some key practices and design principles for cultivating a greater readiness for transition in our own organisations.

Key Links

New Constellations: https://newconstellations.co/

New Constellations' blog announcing their decision to chrysalis: https://newconstellations.substack.com/p/celebrating-five-years-and-preparing

Lily Piachaud from New Constellations' blog on Reimagining Organisations: https://newconstellations.substack.com/p/reimagining-organisations

The Wheel of the Year: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_the_Year

So often the conversation around regenerative organisations centers on corporations, and with good reason. Corporations are incredibly powerful and often very destructive forces in our world. But all types of organisation need to evolve to become more regenerative, and this certainly includes some of the most powerful organisations in our society - national governments.

In this episode I speak with Jane Davidson, the architect of the Welsh Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. This world-leading piece of legislation commits the Welsh government to putting the wellbeing of future generations at the heart of everthing it does. It is a beautiful example of what it could look like for governments to embody more of the practices and values of regeneration and it is a source of inspiration and hope for me and many others.

We explore the impacts the Act has had, the key features that have enabled it to be successful, the 5 ways of working that embed the spirit of the act into everyday practice and the challenges she and others encountered bringing it to life.

Key Links

• Jane Davidson: https://janedavidson.wales/
• The Wellbeing of Future Generations Act: https://www.futuregenerations.wales/about-us/future-generations-act/
• Net Zero 2035 work: https://netzero2035.wales/
• Donella Meadows and The Limits to Growth: https://donellameadows.org/archives/a-synopsis-limits-to-growth-the-30-year-update/

The third in this series of episodes where we explore what it means for organisations to be regenerative by considering different aspects of their practice and activity.

In this episode we embrace the trunk and examine what it means for the internal world of an organisation, what it feels like and how it works INSIDE, to be more regenerative.

We consider three different layers to this area: the heartwood which represents the deep values and culture of an organisation; the sapwood, representing all of the organisation's practices, policies and processes; and finally the bark or the actual physical spaces where the organisation does its work.

For each of these areas we explore what it would look like for them to be more supportive of the greater thriving of life. Let's get started.

This epsiode does exactly what it says on the tin. Me and Kate Simpson, the Director of the Systemcraft Institute at Wasafiri, have a full-on geek-out about the ins and outs of self-management.

Having more self-managing, adaptive teams and structures is one of the key characteristics people most often mention when they talk about becoming a more regenerative organisation. However this area is often confusing and filled with complex theories and myths. In this discussion Kate lays out the very practical methods and practices that Wasifiri uses to get the optimum benefits of this more distributed, dynamic form of organising and offers us a huge set of tools and guidance for bringing this into our own organisations.

Key Links

Wasafiri: https://wasafirihub.com/

Systemcraft Institute: https://wasafirihub.com/systemcraft-institute/

Systemcraft Essentials: https://systemcraft.wasafirihub.com/plans/251613

Join the Systemcraft community! https://systemcraft.wasafirihub.com/about

We didn't talk about these explicitly but for those wishing to dive deeper into some of the key theories and bodies of work behind self-management should investigate Holocracy https://www.holacracy.org/ and Sociocracy https://sociocracy30.org/

The nursing example Kate mentions: https://www.buurtzorg.com/ and you can learn more here: https://reinventingorganizationswiki.com/en/cases/buurtzorg/

Antonio Machado's poem "Traveler, your footprints" https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/58815/traveler-your-footprints