What is a Regenerator?
“The good news is, all the knowledge needed for humans to participate in earth regeneration exists.”
For me, a regenerator is a person who’s working to reclaim a balanced way for humans to live on the planet.
It’s a person who recognizes that as a species, we’ve degraded so many of our ecosystems and impoverished so many of our communities that we’re entering (or arguably in) a period of collapse. It’s a person who believes that despite this, we can restore conditions for life (human and otherwise) to thrive by consciously assisting the planet’s regenerative capacity.
With that said, I have to admit it’s a working definition. As you might suspect, it’s also something of a personal mission statement. The intention behind this website is to share what I learn about the growing regeneration movement and find others who want to get involved.
Where’s this coming from?
I’ve spent the last 15 years writing about the environment, corporate sustainability and clean energy technology. If you’re interested, you can learn about my professional work here. But in short, I’ve come to realize that it’s not enough to simply be “sustainable,” balancing the needs of the environment, society and the economy. Perhaps it’s enough to set the bar for business in this manner. But as a species, we must do more.
We have to stop waiting for business and government to lead. Instead, we must take actions for ourselves, underneath our feet, in the places where we live, with the people in our communities.
Nine planetary boundaries graphic from Stockholm Resiliency Centre, Stockholm University.
We’ve gone too far down the path of environmental degradation to gradually ease into a state of balance. Everyone knows about climate change these days. But I think most people don’t realize that climate change is just one of four impact categories that earth scientists say have moved beyond the boundary of “safe” for continuing human existence. (See the image for more details.)
The good news is, all the knowledge needed for humans to participate in regeneration exists. With intentional study, planning and action, we can align our regional economies with the regeneration of land and water’s productive capacities.
I want to thank Joe Brewer for sharing his comprehensive vision of how this work can be done. In January 2020, he offered that vision as the seed for an international Earth Regenerators study group. Open to anyone, the group has more than 2,200 members at the time of this writing and is beginning to self organize. I’ll continue to lean on that group to learn and share information, projects and connections on this site and in the regenerators community based in Athens, Georgia and throughout the southeastern U.S. bioregion (Dixon).
I’ll end this first post by inviting you to read Joe’s book here, or watch the first webinar in which he introduces key ideas. Also, if you want to receive updates on the projects unfolding on this site, please sign up for the email list below.
