Regenerative Community Design
Innovations for the Emerging Generation
Create innovations for sustainable societies
Presently, we are experiencing a culture in crisis, the sixth mass extinction, land degradation, and widespread social, economic, and political crises. To respond to this need, we look to an emerging generation of leaders who are cultivating an understanding of the urgency to refresh, regenerate, and renew our community practices and processes – a generation of leaders who understands the inherent interconnection of the human realm with the natural world.
This Regenerative Community Design Leadership Intensive looks to bridge the gap between theory and practice, equipping participants with both technical design skills as well as a deep understanding of various theories and practices behind designing whole, healthy communities rooted in nature. Through an exploration of various systems of economics and governance, biomimicry and natural design practices, land stewardship, and social justice models, this training provides a holistic view on how to move our communities towards deeper sustainability and resilience.
The nine day session will weave together three major threads of regenerative community design. These include bioregional community solutions, alternative social models, and a guest workshop with 350VT on leadership for social change. The nine day session will culminate with 350VT’s weekend leadership training focusing on climate justice, racial justice, theory of change, campaign building and planning, facilitation skills, and the power of personal narrative.
The six day session will focus on integrating these aspects of community through collaborative, applied design through a place-based group project for the Metta Earth Community as well as an individual design project. Students will leave with ability to envision and strategize innovative solutions for their own communities, whether urban, rural, or suburban.
Selected Readings
Metta Earth Yoga: Contemplative Ecological Practices for a Sustainable Future by Russell Comstock
Quantum Community ~ The Archetype of Communion & Community, An Interdisciplinary Inquiry by Gillian Kapteyn Comstock
Kripalu Yoga: A Guide to Practice on and Off the Mat by Richard Faulds
Ecovillage Living: Restoring the Earth and Her People by Hildur Jackson
Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate: At Work in the Wild and Cultivated World by Wendy Johnson
Moving Like a Gardener by Deb Soule
Radical Simplicity by Jim Merkel
The World We Have: A Buddhist Approach to Peace and Ecology by Thich Nhat Hanh
Radical Ecology by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Soul of Nature: Visions of a Living Earth by Michael Tobias
The Way of Council by Jack Zimmerman
9 Day Session: Regenerative Community Design Theories and Practices
This session provides the essential design elements of community, both in the realms of experimental project and also local initiatives. We will interplay between these two dynamics of fringe, utopian, frontier, intentional community and integrated solutions in mainstream culture. We will utilize a holistic approach to the primary aspects of human settlements including food, shelter, clothing, transportation, education, and economics.
Cultural Worldviews for Sustainability
Observing Nature’s Design: Chaos and Creativity
Visions, Missions, & Covenants: Refreshing Social Structures
Land Stewardship Models: Ecovillage, Community Land Trusts, & Co-housing
Transition Towns and Bioregional Innovations
Design Practicum in Regenerative Community Design
Sharing Leadership Intentions, Next Steps, Feedback
Communal Lifeway Practices For Ecological Sustainability
As a culture, all of our modern conveniences have created a schism between our daily practices that sustain us and the natural world. The afternoon session will provide hands-on instruction of knowledge and skills to rekindle a healing daily existence with the earth. This Regenerative Community Design daily study is particularly focused on daily lifeways that create a healed relationship with earth. We apply environmental resilience to survival by looking closely at land use and food systems in order to have a healthy relationship with our food sources, processing techniques, and storage systems.
Food Preservation in the Village
Tea Gathering & Tea Ceremony
Community Supported Herbalism
Cooperative Gardening
Communities of Culture: Dairy, Kefir, Yogurt, & Cheese
Fiber and Craft Guilds
Animals, Carbon Farming, and Herd Behavior
Core Processes of Community Building
With the understanding of the theories and practices to help create regenerative communities, understanding leadership and communication processes, along with theories of oppression provide important tools in working with this complicated interface of the environment and society. These skills will help provide participants with the necessary tools to catalyze change and help communicate and fulfill their visions in an effective way. In addition, forms of activism enrich the possible dimensions for the expression of change.
Creating Sanctuary
Co-Listening, NVC, and Conscious Communication
Unconscious Communication
Leadership Models
Activism Models: Way of Council
350VT Leadership Training
This session will culminate with a weekend long training run by 350VT facilitators on climate change leadership.
Climate Justice
Racial Justice
Theory of Change
Campaign Building
Facilitation and Skill Building
Self Development and Personal Narrative
6 Day Session: Leadership Visions & Applied Design
This aspect of the intensive is an opportunity to bring the design process to life, envisioning regenerative models for communities in our own lives. We will focus on applied leadership through mentoring and designing and will culminate our work exploring our intentions for our own communities with a sharing of our visions and design. Each day centers on a primary aspect of community design and is woven throughout the day, beginning with an application of that focus to the Metta Earth Community Design in the morning, continuing this application with participant’s personal design in the afternoon, with design time, sharing, and reflection in the evening.