3 Talking Points : A Regenerative Future For All
1. A New Chapter for Humanity
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and its predecessor the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have aimed to sustain and improve human life on this planet through various means such as reducing poverty, health and sanitation while also promoting innovation and clean energy. While these goals and the subsequent funding have helped improve the lives of many, it has done little to change the status quo on environmental challenges.
Development is the use of resources to improve the well-being of society. The definition of sustainable development has long focused on preventing destruction or undermining the support systems needed for future growth. While this has somewhat stopped what formerly in the west was traditional and extremely damaging practices, it hasn’t done enough to prevent full-scale ecosystem collapse. As such, we have produced more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses in the 35 years since the Brundtland Report than the thousands of years prior.
The sustainable development model aims for higher economic yield and minute increases to GDP or other economic models as a sign for development. Therefore businesses and governments are not under any obligation to protect the government for net economic gain.
2. Targeting net+
Regenerative development, similar to sustainable development, looks to improve society’s well-being; however it also looks at ways of building Earth’s capacity for future growth. While sustainable development seeks net zero impact on the environment, regenerative development aims for net positive and aims to add more to the environment than is used.
Regeneration focuses on self-sufficiency, using what’s available without depleting the resources. Resource derives its meaning from sources that do not deplete when you extract from them since they recharge through natural processes. The goal of development should be such that we only consume what’s necessary without exhausting the original source.
3. How we seek to apply it in Nepal
The models we use shape the way we see the world and our reality. Using mechanistic models for problems has led the world to mechanistic solutions — solutions that fail when one of the cogs in the machine fails. As more rural populations migrate to cities, urban regions increase in consumption and become increasingly insufficient in fulfilling basic consumption demands of resources such as food, water and shelter.
Due to its geographical, historical and economic status, Nepal is extremely susceptible to disasters. The rapid and uncontrolled growth of urban areas are putting more at risk from earthquakes and the regularity of natural disasters such as glacial lake outburst floods are likely to rise due to global climate change. Our current development processes and mindsets continue to deteriorate overall resilience to disaster.
At almond, we are building a platform for actors driven by regenerative design principles. We build ventures that we believe will increase the capacity for the next generation partnering with companies and organisations whose values are in line with ours. We develop communal design capacity in order to build economic, social and environmental resilience. We believe that the needs of our collective future will be built and fulfilled by designers. We believe that vision drives action and most importantly we envision a regenerative future for all.
