What are Regenerative Cultures?
Biodiversity, solar energy, and holistic health - how are they connected?
Dear ReWilder,ย
โIn the new histories and politics that we must form, we must share space with the ghostly contours of a stone, the radioactivity of a fingerprint, the eggs of a horseshoe crab, a wild bat pollinator, an absent wildflower in a meadow, a lichen on a tombstone, a tomato growing in an abandoned car tire. It is these shared spaces that relentlessly trouble the narratives of Progress, and urge us to radically imagine worlds that are possible because they are already here.โ - Anna Tsing, Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet
The solutions to the current state of the world are multifaceted and intersectional. When we talk about ecological restoration, more and more it is becoming apparent that we canโt look at these issues in isolation. Ecological restoration requires actors from all sectors of society, in all fields of expertise, to play their part. Moreso, in the context of Africa and the global south, ecological restoration requires socio-economic development, holistic health intervention, community involvement, job creation and poverty alleviation.
Regenerative Cultures are cultures that encourage the ongoing renewal and restoration of natural resources; that consider the wide scale and enduring implications of practices and systems on human and non-human communities; and promote justice, equitability, compassion and cooperation in order to create the conditions for more resilience, diversity and flourishing for all.
โCreating regenerative systems is not simply a technical, economic, ecological or social shift: it has to go hand-in-hand with an underlying shift in the way we think about ourselves, our relationships with each other and with life as a whole.โ - Daniel C. Wahl
As we look beyond our current exploitative relationship with the natural environment, ReWild is curious to understand and find ways in which our organisation, and our solutionaries, can cultivate regenerative systems.ย Buckminster Fuller explains that, โTo change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.โย
Biodiversity Partners Program | Participants and Teachers videosย
This year, ReWild had the opportunity to engage with 30 biodiversity learners around Southern Africa who are actively incorporating biodiversity into their startups, projects, and place of employment. These transdisciplinary learners were part of the Biodiversity Partners Program (BiPP). The program aims to use accelerator models to scale impactful projects and create a community of change makers. BiPP uses nature-based learning methods to deploy pro-nature projects in various sectors and a common culture on biodiversity and ecological transition.ย
In the context of the global south, our response to climate change and biodiversity loss needs to be holistic; taking a systems approach to wicked problems means looking at ecological systems as coupled socio-ecological systems. When solving for the climate crisis or biodiversity loss, it is imperative to look at all systems: socio-economic development, community, holistic health and wellness, agri-food systems, renewable energy, job creation; these systems (and more) link together in an intricate web of holistic response to a deeply entangled problem.ย
The point then, is that we cannot sustain current systems if we want transformational change. Sustaining is not enough, we need to regenerate. This regeneration speaks to social, cultural, economic and ecological systems:ย
โA regenerative human culture is healthy, resilient and adaptable; it cares for the planet and it cares for life in the awareness that this is the most effective way to create a thriving future for all of humanity. The concept of resilience is closely related to health, as it describes the ability to recover basic vital functions and bounce back from any kind of temporary breakdown or crisis.โ - Daniel C. Wahl
BBC StoryWorks | A Holistic Approach to Healthcare - Malawi
ReWild recently had the opportunity to go to Malawi for BBC StoryWorks to tell the story of two brothers living with Type 1 Diabetes. The story highlights a holistic approach to healthcare that speaks to the importance of community support, nourishing food, subsistence farming, and healthcare that cares for individual patientsโ needs within a holistic system of healthcare. This programme is with the support of Helmsley Charitable Trust, with Type-1 Diabetes in rural settings being one of their key focus areas.ย
The programme wants to encourage people living with Type 1 Diabetes to still have an absolutely normal life. Given the support, Yamakani and Manuel are now able to play soccer with their friends, go to school, and help their mom with household chores.ย
โAiming to design for systemic health may not save us from unexpected side-effects and uncertainty, but it offers a trial and error path towards a regenerative culture. To make this ethical imperative operational we need a salutogenic (health generating) intention behind all design, technology and planning: We need to design for human, ecosystems and planetary health.โ - Daniel C. Wahl
Masalina, single mother of four, with two of them living with Type 1 Diabetes. You canโt see it, but underneath her shawl, her pink t-shirt reads โGirls can do it betterโ, which was completely fitting for the powerhouse of a woman she is. Her challenges are very much present, but she is filled with an enormous amount of strength to love and care for her family. An absolute pure example of selflessness. What a hero.ย
BBC StoryWorks | Humanising Energyย - Tanzania
ReWild also recently had the opportunity to visit Kasulu in Tanzania for BBC StoryWorks to tell the story of Jaza Energy; a solar energy company that rents out batteries to customers. These batteries run small businesses and homes, and are returned when they are empty, charged up again using energy from the sun at a local hub, and then redistributed. Not only is Jaza Energy providing clean and accessible energy to people living in rural areas, but they are a woman-run company, employing over 150 women and providing jobs and women empowerment in areas with high unemployment and poverty.ย
Jaza Energy is a perfect example of solving multiple problems at once. In the African context, it is these innovative and purpose-driven initiatives that provide hope for a brighter future.ย
โA new cultural narrative is emerging, capable of birthing and informing a truly regenerative human culture. We do not yet know all the details of how exactly this culture will manifest, nor do we know all the details of how we might get from the current โworld in crisisโ situation to that thriving future of a regenerative culture. Yet aspects of this future are already with us.โ - Daniel C. Wahl
For further information by thinkers such as Gregory Bateson, Brian Goodwin, Fritjof Capra and Daniel C Wahl who speak to the emerging field of holistic science and growing regenerative cultures, see these references below for great holiday reads:
News from ReWild Africa ๐พ
ReWild is gearing up for 2022 and will be heading to the Okavango Delta and Kenya in January - get in touch with us if you need your story told.
At ReWild, we are our people, and Sam Chevalier is officially a Climate Leader for the African Climate Reality Project!
Alistair and Mattea recently sat down with David Stent from the Climate Council to chat about rewilding and nature-based solutions. Take a look here!
Wishing all ReWilders a relaxing and happy festive season and we look forward to making magic together in 2022!ย
Wild regards,
Team ReWild Africa