Listening to the Earth Rotate
Birdsong, Mosses, Air, Climate Anxiety, Wellbeing Design and Regenerative Social Housing.
Welcome to Regen/ Notes
Regen Notes is the newsletter of regenerative gleanings, news, stories and more, with a sideways focus on the built environment, connecting spaces between dots, sharing ideas, themes and individuals that invigorate and inspire …
The 1st of May, Beltaine, marked International Dawn Chorus Day and a celebration of the dawn sound of nature. I arose early and enjoyed a pre dawn walk over our local fell, which, in the half light, moving slowly, listening not looking, I was treated to a wall of bird song.
Connecting with place and nature, becoming nature-positive, is increasingly a regenerative driver. Birds and birdsong can be seen as important natural aspects in anchoring us to place and time. As one commentator said on the BBC live dawn chorus radio broadcast - "as we hear the same species start their dawn song at different times in different places, triggered by light levels, we are listening to the earth rotate”'.
The Great Indoors
Playing nature sounds indoors is noted as a biophilic simple and affordable step to aid our reconnection with nature, supporting health and well-being in the Welcome to the Great Indoors article as part of Grist's Outdoor Issue.
In the same article, Erin Rovalo ILFI, shares her nature connection story, how "indoor spaces can emulate the cedar tree she treasured — a place of beauty, refuge, and serenity”.
“I remember in that moment really feeling like nature can almost be like a room or like a building ... Here I am 30 years later trying to make buildings more like nature.”
Ancient Green.
Emergence magazine has been running a series of Earth day related posts and podcasts, including a wonderful new piece, Ancient Green by Robin Wall Kimmerer, exploring how mosses, ancient beings who transformed the world, can teach us strategies for persisting amid a changing climate.
Mosses, I think, are like time made visible, they create a kind of botanical forgetting. Shoot by tiny shoot, the past is obscured in green.
If time is a circle, as the Indigenous worldview presumes, the knowledge we need is already within the circle; we just have to remember it to find it again and let it teach us.
Mosses were the first plants to blanket the Earth. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are also the last.
Reported in Positive News, Dutch startup Respyre, is pioneering the use of ‘bioreceptive’ concrete, to allow for the growth of moss on concrete surfaces. “With rhizoids instead of roots, moss is non-invasive to building facades and given its dense leaf system, is of potentially great benefit to urban environments, Moss absorbs CO2, converting to oxygen whilst absorbing and removing other pollutants from water and air; boosts biodiversity by providing habitat on otherwise bare concrete surfaces; and retains water and cools via evapotranspiration and by shielding the surface from sunlight.
Air.
Cleaning our air is an important aspect of moving towards a regenerative future, yet for which there is no one problem our solution, but a complex understanding of systems and living systems that degenerate or regenerate our air quality. Virtually every home in the UK is subjected to air pollution above World Health Organization guidelines, according to the most detailed map of dirty air to date. The Guardian
You can check your address at addresspollution.org
Climate Anxiety.
Checking the air we breath at our home place may trigger more eco or climate anxiety, with a feeling there is little we as individuals can do about climate and ecological crisis. Ahead of UK Mental Health Week, it is worth recalling that just doing a little, and doing a little with others, can be good for our local environments, the planet and ourselves. And if the whole world did just a little more then we would move in the right direction. Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe puts ‘talking about climate change' as one of the most important actions that we can all take.
Our monthly Zoom Regenerative sessions, in part, help with eco-anxiety.
The Regenerative Playbook
A considered and insightful review from Giles Crosse
The Regenerative Playbook recommends asking questions, learning about the interdependencies of the living world and the corporate world, while nurturing the potential of humans and communities to be sources of healthier mindsets and healthier businesses.
‘We have the opportunity to reverse climate and ecological collapse, to ground our buildings, products, cities and businesses, to thrive and coevolve with the living systems upon which we depend, to see human and natural health restored to flourishing states.’ closes the Playbook.
A vision worth the deepest of consideration.
Regen/ in May …
Zoom Regenerative 17th May
Echelon Regenerative Social Housing Programme launch 27th May
Eco-conscious Wallpaper.
Zoom Regenerative continues its journey of raising awareness, joining the dots and celebrating the regenerative journeys of individuals on the 17th of May featuring Interior Designer and Author Rachel Fowler.
All of Rachel Fowler’s designs have a story behind them. Her first collection reflects her love of the Far East, particularly Japan and its cultural heritage. All designs are beautifully hand-drawn and hand-painted in the United Kingdom, made to order, minimising wastage.
We are pleased that Rachel will bring us on her journey from when she originally identified the need in the market for low and no toxic materials, and how she came to design and bring to market her product. For all those interested in how and when to specify healthful materials, and how to buy them, how to recycle them, we look forward to welcoming you on the evening.
Designing for the wellbeing of people and planet - Details and Registration here
Regenerative Social Housing
In the UK Social Housing Sector, serious about sustainability and making meaningful changes? There is no doubting that we’re facing a climate emergency and in order to achieve impactful change we need to make the shift from degenerative to regenerative thinking.
We are delighted to be supporting Echelon Consulting in delivering a 2022 programme exploring regenerative principles within the social housing sector.
Chaired by Luke Driscoll, Director of Asset Management at the Hyde Group, the regenerative sustainability subgroup, delivered through our best practice club AMIP, will bring together organisations to move environmental, social and sustainability approaches beyond business as usual to a regenerative approach that delivers real value and benefit.
The online launch event is at 9.30am on 27th May where you can find out more about the programme and how you can make meaningful changes. Email regenerativesustainability@echelonconsultancy.co.uk for more information.