Into 2024
looking ahead to a regeneratively positive and nourishing new year ...
Wishing all subscribers and readers a regeneratively successful and rewarding new year.
In this newsletter:
New year resolutions and the rhythms of Nature
Kick Start 2024 with our Living Future Europe Regenerative +Agile Masterclass
Sustainability forecast for 2024 for Thinkers 360
Regen Notes and Zoom Regenerative into 2024Although our custom is to think anew and set resolutions on the 1st of January it is worth reflecting on the natural cycle that renews in the spring. As mentioned in the lovely Resurgence newsletter, this is an invitation to play and experiment with holding back on New Year resolutions.
Perhaps the rhythms of Nature call us to give up New Year resolutions so that in the depths of Winter, when Nature is still mostly asleep, we don’t demand, push or force outward change and growth in ourselves and in our lives. After all, resolutions often fail, perhaps because they are not supported by the energies of the Earth but are instead made prematurely when the energies are at their lowest.
If we hold back on making resolutions and choose to align with the energies of Nature in this way, we may still feel a tug from our always-on, linear, progress-driven world. That might present itself as an impatience in us to have those resolutions and plans as the New Year approaches or to begin working on new projects and ideas. That’s natural – this is counter-cultural work. But when we commit to living in greater harmony with the Earth, we are beginning to step out of the old paradigm and shape an alternative, regenerative culture!
Regenerative, nature-positive and interconnected.
In December 2023 I was honoured to be invited by Thinkers360 to provide a sustainability forecast for 2024 alongside other great sustainability minds …
Looking forward into 2024 and beyond the future is regenerative, nature-positive and interconnected.
As we question how the climate and ecological crisis has of late become predominantly a carbon agenda and in turn has become, for many, a blinkered, net-zero agenda:
We are seeing high-level imperative messaging and actions to align climate agendas with nature-positive agendas (for example, the biodiversity global framework endorsed at COP28 through the joint statement on climate nature and people)
We can see the shift towards interconnected and integrated systems, driven through ESG, where the headline vision is moving beyond only reducing organisational or project impacts to pursuing a real positive impact across interconnected environmental and social aspects.
Increasingly we see nature or nature representation at board level (in built environment design, cosmetics and banking sectors) through chief nature officers (CNO) or directors responsible for nature, acting as the nature-positive conscience for organisational visions and decisions.
We can see a shift away from sustainability as being predominantly an ‘outer’ technical and standard checklist towards a ‘who we are’ as individuals from an inner regenerative development perspective.
A shift from the climate ambition represented in numbers and data to a climate vulnerability expressed in feelings and connections
However, we do need to see the shift to more informed climate literacy and ecology awareness as a core mandatory curriculum subject for schools, universities and businesses alike.
The full set of predictions, with more 2024 foresight from Tom Raftery, Helen Yu, John Friedman, Peggy Smedley, Michael Gale, Dr Jane Thomason, David Kish, Sean C. Melancon (SCM), Joe Sprangel, Manuel Ancizu and Uganeeswary Suparmaniam can be read here
Kick Start a Regenerative 2024
We have extended the early bird registration for our Regenerative and Agile Masterclass to the 10th of January with final registration: on 31 January 2024
One of the areas where we at Living Future Europe believe faster and more effective progress is needed is education and communication. On one hand, we need to raise the awareness and skills of new generations of practitioners to make living buildings real. On the other hand, we need to communicate constantly in an invigorating way that regenerative buildings, products, companies, and communities are vital, technically feasible, ecologically robust, and economically viable
Starting on 5th February until May 2024 much like previous years, will focus on education as a powerful tool in affecting progress towards regenerative. This year we would like to push the boundaries even further. Our goal with this edition is to build on the past edition’s success, and address the ‘why’, the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of living buildings, products, and communities.
Where: blended (online and in-person events at NOI Techpark, Bolzano) Duration: 10 weeks. Places: 20 available. Language: English.
… and to find out whether this masterclass is for you, why not register and come along to our free Masterclass Intro Session on the 9th January (4pm UK)
Regen Notes and Zoom Regenerative
I am compiling a summary of Regen Notes and the wonderful Zoom Regeneratives from 2023.
As a heads up one of the most popular Regen Notes was around the language we use when speaking of nature - you may like to revisit Ki, Kin, Kinship - Speaking of Nature
Humility, Empathy, Being Good Ancestors, Addressing the Unborn, Health, Feel-Good Factors, Unseen Biodiversity, Regenerative Community ...We had many inspiring Zoom Regeneratives in 2023 around the theme of nature connectedness and the one that has resonated and stuck in my thinking over the winter break was our December zoom with Veronika Petrova at Ramboll
Liminal Spaces represent the threshold between the familiar and the emerging, symbolising the transitional phase where traditional practice meets regenerative thinking. They signify a departure from conventional approaches toward a transformative mindset focused on holistic regeneration.
Zoom Regenerative 2024 will explore liminal spaces - a concept that has fascinated me for many years. How do we hold, deal with, live with, and work with the spaces between seemingly polar opposites - pushing for regenerative concepts in a world of sustainability business as usual, seeking potentials and possibilities in a world trapped in problem-solving, talk of love and storytelling in a world of data and KPI metrics.