Beyond sustainability — the case for regenerative approaches to our future
Seeking a sustainable future should not be an aspiration. It is an obligation to those who came before us, and a responsibility we hold for generations to come. However amidst the world’s profound progress our trajectory is unsustainable and damage has been done. There is much to address and redress. If we are to secure a sustainable future for people, places and our planet — as is the aim of the Global Goals — we need to move beyond ‘sustainability’ in our current actions, to more regenerative approaches. To achieve a ‘sustainable future for all’ we need to do more than minimising harm. We need to restore and create.
It is absolutely within our powers to build a thriving economy that puts social, environmental and cultural regeneration at its core. Indeed, if we are to achieve the SDGs, we will need to.
As Sustainability Week at Griffith University kicks off for 2020, we celebrate all activities that embed the SDGs into our teaching, thinking and action — and we also call for an innovation agenda that strives for regeneration and net-positive impact.
What are regenerative approaches?
Regenerative approaches involve the question, ‘how do we develop futures that are not only sustainable, but that are generative’ — that not only seek to ‘do no harm’ but that intentionally aim to create positive impact, whether that be from an environmental, economic, social or cultural perspective.
Indeed, regenerative approaches seek to integrate these perspectives and develop a systemic approach to how people, places and planet can thrive into the future. In other words:
“Instead of focusing on social and environmental health using traditional reductionist logic to “solve problems,” it aims directly at building healthy human networks as the objective, drawing on universal principles and patterns, with “sustainability” becoming an outcome, a natural byproduct of systemic health”. (Fullerton, 2015;p.12).
Regenerative approaches seek to generate well-being by design rather than
‘fixing’ problems due to extractive or exploitative practices. The figure below demonstrates the ‘sliding scale’ from conventional behaviour to regenerative.
In economic terms this points to ‘impact economies, or what Kate Raworth (2017) has called ‘doughnut economics’ recognising the environmental ceiling and the social foundations that grow safe and sustainable economies.
Innovating our way towards regeneration
We’ve proposed a mission-oriented approach to innovation, centred around seven domains of action. Each of the domains could be used to guide missions in support of any of the Global Goals.
We’re thrilled to see the Roadmap being used both locally and across the globe to stimulate thinking around experiments towards regenerative recovery — you can delve deeper into the Roadmap here.
We also continue the conversation throughout the rest of our transformational learning experiences. From Undergraduate courses exploring social entrepreneurship and innovation to community-based partnerships making impact-focussed courses accessible to many.
We welcome the opportunity to partner with groups and individuals also passionate about learning how to pursue improved outcomes for people, place and planet. If that’s you, you can reach us here yc@griffith.edu.au.
