Towards Regenerative Design

Professor Carole Collet, University of the Arts London: Central Saint Martins

Finn Harries, Director of Earthrise Studio

Introduction

In this short paper we want to reflect on how the creative sector can support a transition towards flourishing regenerative cultures . Design must shift from an anthropocentric discipline organised around linear economies, to become a more holistic practice that embraces living systems and circular economies, in order to restore the declining health of our climate, biodiversity and communities.

We often define design by what it delivers: a product, a service, a garment, a habitat, a system. What happens when the design output becomes a means to regenerate our planetary health? Can fashion design help replenish our soils? Can architecture actively restore local biodiversity and sequester carbon? How can we transition to a regenerative design model that shapes a thriving culture where multi-species co-habit on a healthy planet?

This radical transition is urgent. The scientific evidence is clear: in the quest for perpetual economic growth, we have begun to destabilise critical planetary systems and, in the process, created profound social inequalities and injustice. The recent UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report reads as a “code red for humanity”, outlining our current trajectory towards more than three degrees of warming - over double the agreed safe average. While the “Living Planet Report 2022 “ by WWF revealed a 69% decline in wildlife populations between 1970 and 2018. It is clear designers must work not only to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also to actively restore ecosystem health in order to mitigate the worst impacts of the environmental crisis.

So where and how can design act?

Since the Brundtland Report outlining the definition of “sustainable development” was published by the U.N in 1987, the creative sector has increasingly adopted sustainable principles. However, these widely differ from one creative discipline to the next, with very mixed results. The environmental narrative has evolved from “green design” to “responsible”, “zero waste”, “carbon neutral”, or more broadly sustainable design, with principles largely focused on limiting or reducing ecological damages. Fundamentally, these approaches fail to challenge the current linear global economic model at the heart of our environmental crisis and are therefore not fit to address our current planetary emergency.

The latest focus on circular design has helped introduce a step-change, where we recognise the finite dimensions of our planet and adopt nature-inspired circular systems. With circular design, material flows are redeployed, waste becomes a new resource, and toxic processes are eliminated, thus achieving a passive regeneration (by not extracting new materials or polluting natural resources).

With regenerative design (by default also circular), the focus - and starting point - is the positive and restorative impact of the biosphere and communities. Regenerative design is a holistic design process, often place-based, that supports conditions conducive to life. By incorporating principles of deep ecology and living systems thinking, regenerative practice can offer design propositions that provide for human communities whilst restoring ecosystems and climate. Instead of perpetuating an anthropocentric mindset which leads to the depletion of our underlying life-support systems, we adopt bio-centric tenets: “regenerative design goes beyond sustainable and circular design principles to actively promote a multi-species approach in which humans and non-humans co-habit holistically.”

How do we transition to a regenerative design mindset?

Key Insights:

Ask different questions:

The Royal Society for the Arts (RSA) defines regenerative design as both a mindset and a new paradigm . Adopting this mindset means we need to review and evolve our design tools and methodologies. One of the first actions we can take is to reframe the starting point of the design process by asking questions of a different kind. If you are an architect, ask yourself: can my building improve the ecosystem around it? If you are a product designer, ask yourself: can my product help replenish the very materials it is made from? One key tenet is to give back to nature more than we take – so consider how you can design for reciprocity and for the benefit of other species. The key challenge is to embed this regenerative approach as the foundation for the design brief, not as a parallel or additional process.

Engage with living systems thinking

We live in highly complex interconnected ecosystems, organised in ecological cascades where every living being (including humans) has a role to play, from predator to decomposer. When these systems are out of balance, because they have been disrupted by the way we extract a material for instance, or by rejecting toxic pollutants in soil and water, then they are at risk of collapse. It is this way of thinking – remembering that everything is interconnected- that we need to practice and apply. We cannot interfere with one part of a system without considering the impact on the system as a whole. By adding, subtracting or replacing an element of the system we risk disrupting the whole ecosystem, even if we try to have a positive impact. This means that designers cannot act alone. We need to develop a network of stakeholders with relevant expertise in ecology and community building in order to be able to engage with living systems thinking and incorporate levels of eco-social complexity in the design process. Adopting living systems thinking in design means we need to consider the act of design as part of the web of life and think in terms of relationships and patterns as opposed to problem solving, novelty materials or innovative products. We also need to integrate multi-species thinking in our design process and question the values and impacts of our design proposals on other species who are part of the same web of life as us humans. This also includes adopting an intersectional dimension in our design approach to consider issues such as gender, cultural geographies and empathy towards all life forms.

Consider time and finance as key challenges

How do we build the true value of ecosystem functions into a product? How do we convince a client to invest in a regenerative approach? Whilst we might understand the urgent need to adopt a regenerative design practice, two key elements are needed: time and finance. Time to build a network of experts, to review our tools and processes and to think about how we can reframe our design practice at an individual or company level. Time to assess the beneficial impacts of our design propositions. This can take decades to be effective, especially when related to replenishing biodiversity. New courses to facilitate better training are emerging, whether academic or short professional staff development sessions, and the next generation of designers will be better equipped . However, for established designers, it is a matter of slowly building the expertise. Sometimes it is as much a matter of un-learning, as incorporating new knowledge.

The cost of the transition needs to be supported by wider economic and legislative frameworks. The Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL) offers a pertinent new model that considers how we can thrive on this planet, and is beginning to be adopted by cities. Science based target initiatives help develop clear targets and goals which can be built within a company’s business plan. However one of the key challenges is that we have become used to operating in an economic system that does not include the value of the services of nature (such as pollination) in the final product. This will remain a key challenge until we can agree a new nature-positive international financial accounting system. “The worlds of ‘nature’ and ‘finance’ need to be better connected” and the tools and methodologies to incorporate the value of natural capital in our global finances remains an on-going topic for discussion in the UN annual Conference of the Parties (COP).

Flat House: a case-study.

One example of a project that demonstrates a regenerative approach to design is Flat House on Margent Farm in Cambridgeshire in the UK. This architectural project attempts to address both the energy consumed and the carbon emitted during the construction process. In doing so, the solution proposed by the design team goes even further by supporting ecological and economic regeneration on-site through the use of a novel material and production process.

Flat House was built (in part) from the plants growing around it. The structure uses the fibrous hemp plant, both inside its timber framed walls for insulation and rigidity, and on its facade in the form of resin-based panels. To produce the material needed, the client cultivated 20 acres of hemp production directly on-site. This not only provided a local source of organic building material but a series of additional benefits. Hemp can be grown without the use of herbicides, pesticides or fungicides and has the capacity to bioremediate the soil by accumulating heavy metals in its tissues as it grows. It also sequesters a significant amount of carbon dioxide. According to the European Industrial Hemp Association one hectare of industrial hemp can absorb 15 tonnes of CO2. By growing hemp and using it in construction, the client was able to support the health of the soil on-site at the same time as reducing the embodied carbon of the building. The name Margent Farm references the “margins” around the hemp fields which are used to cultivate wild grass, flowers, hedges and fruit trees - creating a diverse ecosystem that supports local ecology.

Additionally, the research and innovation that came out of the design process created new sources of economic income for the client. Early on in the project the architect worked in collaboration with Cambridge University to develop a corrugated panel made from hemp and resin as cladding for the structure.

Flat House Photography by Oskar Proctor

This panel is now part of a set of products derived from hemp fibre and hemp oil that are sold by Margent Farm, helping them sustain their operations into the future. Finally, while the design project specifically investigated the embodied energy of the building through local material production, the operational energy has also been addressed through the installation of a biomass boiler, domestic wind turbine and on-site array of solar panels, keeping the overall carbon footprint of the building to a minimum throughout its life time.

Whilst this paper provides a very short introduction to regenerative design, we include a recommended bibliography below as well as key tips to begin your journey towards a holistic design practice conducive to life.

Top tips for designers

1. Use collaborative design as a means to weave knowledge across a range of socio-ecological expertise. Incorporate an ecologist and an anthropologist at the design briefing stage.

2. Design for reciprocity (what do you take from nature and what do you give back?) and with multi-species in mind.

3. Research and understand the value of local and indigenous knowledge as well as other ways of knowing and living.

4. Consider embodied knowledge by having conversations/design sessions in the place, not in the studio. Re-connect with the natural world and understand the impact of your design on other species and ecosystems.

5. Understand regenerative design is a journey and a practice. Take one step at a time - create the breadcrumb trail and stay with complexity.

6. Keep informed and develop a network of stakeholders invested in a regenerative future.

Further reading and resources

Bertalanffy, L. von. (2009). “General system theory: Foundations, development, applications.”(Rev. ed., 17. paperback print). Braziller.

Busby, P., Richter, M., & Driedger, M. (2011). “Towards a New Relationship with Nature: Research and Regenerative Design in Architecture.” Architectural Design, 81(6), 92–99.

Capra, Frijol; Luigi Luisi, Pierre. (2016). “The Systems View of Life. A Unifying Vision.” Cambridge University Press.

Clegg, P. (2012). “A practitioner’s view of the ‘Regenerative Paradigm’.” Building Research & Information, 40(3), 365–368.

Cole, R. J. (2012). “Transitioning From Green to Regenerative Design.” Building Research & Information, 40(1), 39–53.

Cole, R. J., Busby, P., Guenther, R., Briney, L., Blaviesciunaite, A., & Alencar, T. (2012). “A Regenerative Design Framework: Setting New Aspirations and Initiating New Discussions.” Building Research & Information, 40(1), 95–111.

Cole, R. J., Oliver, A., & Robinson, J. (2013). “Regenerative Design, Socio-ecological Systems and Co-evolution.” Building Research & Information, 41(2), 237–247. https://doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2013.747 130

Design Council. (2021a). “Beyond Net Zero—A Systemic Design Approach.” Design

Council. designcouncil.org.uk

Design Council. (2021b). “System-shifting Design: An Emerging Practice Explored.” Design Council. designcouncil.org.uk

Ichioka, S. Pawlyn, M. (2022). Flourish. “Design Paradigms for our Planetary Emergency.” Triarchy Press.

Fuller, R. Buckminster. (1969). “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth.” Carbondale.

Hawken, P. (2021). “Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation.”(First edition). Penguin Books.

Hutchins, G., Storm, L. (2019). “Regenerative Leadership.”Wordzworth Publishing.

Lyle, J. T. (1994). “Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development.” Wiley.

Mang, P., & Haggard, B. (2016). “Regenerative Development and Design: A Framework for Evolving Sustainability.” Wiley.

McHarg, I. L. (1992). “Design with Nature” (25th anniversary ed). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Meadows, Donella, H. ( 2017). “Thinking in Systems. A Primer.” Chelsea Green Publishing Co.

Raworth, K. (2017). “Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-century Economist.” Random House Business Books.

Reed, Bill. (2007) “Shifting From ‘Sustainability’ to Regeneration”, Building Research & Information, 35:6, 674-680,

Sanford, C. (2017). “The Regenerative Business: Redesign Work, Cultivate Human Potential, and Achieve Extraordinary Outcomes.” Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

Wall Kimmerer, Robin. (2013). “Braiding Sweetgrass. Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants.” Penguin Books.

Wahl, D. C. (2016). “Designing Regenerative Cultures.” Triarchy Press.

Watson, J., & Davis, W. (2020). “Lo-TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism.” Taschen.