Adopting Regenerative Systems
The universe is the vast inter-becoming of energy and matter in an unfolding series of nested systems. There is an abundance of systems, all interrelated, that serve different functions in the form and flow of matter and energy. Understanding the universe is thus understanding these systems, what parts are composed of, and how they relate with one another.
Systems can take on three different modes:
Degenerative
Generative
Regenerative
Degenerative Systems
A system becomes degenerative when it consumes more energy and matter than it can generate, thus degenerating, destroying, degrading, or decomposing. Degeneration isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it is necessary for the transformation of energy and matter to become everything that it becomes; matter and energy can neither be created nor destroyed, so it must be broken apart and recycled for creation, growth, and formation to occur.
Examples of degenerative systems:
Our current economic system, a linear, materials economy, is degenerative, as it is destroying more than it can regenerate. Its exploitative impacts on the environment, atmosphere, biodiversity and people are causing us to enter into vast, catastrophic systemic failure that threatens all life on Earth as we know it. We need to transition to a circular economy with zero non-compostable waste, renewable energy and biomaterials, green planning and technology, ecological restoration, regenerative agriculture, holistic land management, and cultural and community restoration and resiliency if we want to see a beautiful future for ourselves and generations to come.
In a life cycle, the degenerative phase is the aging, dying and decomposition process as we are consuming more energy and matter than we can generate, therefore we don’t have the energy and resources to properly regenerate, and we eventually give our energy and matter back to the universe to become other things.
In an individual’s day to day life, if they are using more energy and resources than they can generate, they are probably struggling to make ends meet, in debt, making choices between food and electricity, spending in a way that isn’t fully supported by their income, operating in a way that is causing them to be burnt out and mentally or physically unwell, or their lifestyle is causing negative externalities on the people, communities, or ecosystem around them, causing more destruction than generation.
Generative Systems
A system is generative when it consumes as much energy and matter as it generates, thus maintaining a neutrality or balance of inflows and outflows/consumption and regeneration. The only issue with a generative system is that because it doesn’t have a surplus to work with to use in the face of inevitable change, it can quickly become a degenerative system because it does not have the stores of energy and matter necessary to adapt, and ends up using more energy and matter than it can generate in order to do so.
Examples of generative systems:
Sustainability is a generative concept. For something to be sustainable, it is maintained by balancing destructiveness with an offset of some kind to make up for the damage. For example, it would be sustainable to plant as many trees as needed to offset carbon emissions from fossil fuels, but at some point, rapid development will make it so that trees can’t be planted or grown fast enough to mitigate climate change. Therefore, we need to replace destructive practices with regenerative ones so that offsetting damage isn’t necessary.
The adult phase of the human life cycle is generative, as the body produces enough energy and matter to maintain stasis and regenerate wounds and injuries as needed, but it is no longer growing nor has an abundance of energy and matter to pull from as it did when it was younger.
An individual’s day to day life is generative when it is generating just enough of what it needs to keep going but not enough to be resilient to change or to switch gears quickly. Not thriving, not in dire straits, but just getting by enough to survive.
Regenerative Systems
A system is regenerative when it generates more energy and matter than it consumes/destroys. This makes it so that it is harmonious with everything else, it is life-improving with positive externalities, it is restorative to itself and the systems around it, and it is resilient, having the surplus energy to iterate, innovate, adapt, grow and change by intention or in response to a major shift around it.
An ecosystem is regenerative when energy and matter flows and forms within it so abundantly and harmoniously that there is zero waste, an over-abundance of energy and matter causing life-improving growth and mutualistic benefit for the flourishing of all inhabitants.
A human life is regenerative during the phase of growth from a fertilized egg to a young adult, where the body is producing more matter and energy than it consumes so that it can grow and regenerate quickly, especially when adaptation to change or healing from injury is needed.
An individual’s day to day life is regenerative when they are accessing more energy and matter than they need to consume. The most important part of this being that they are accessing this energy and matter in a way that is self-replenishing, restorative and improving of not only their own well-being, but of the well-being of their community and ecosystem.
Evaluating Systems
To understand whether a system is degenerative, generative, or regenerative, I’ve created this regenerative system audit that can be applied to any system:
Since systems are created to perform specific functions, you begin the audit by identifying what the function of the system is, based on what need, desire, outcome or value it is fulfilling.
You then answer the following questions about the current system in place for the purpose of that fulfillment:
Source/Method: what is being done and where is the energy/matter coming from in order to fulfill this?
Expense: how much energy/how many resources is expended to fulfill this in this way/from this source?
Externalities: what subsequent (and possibly unintended) impacts, influences and consequences does this source or method of fulfillment causing?
Efficacy/Type of System: how effective is this source/method in fulfillment? Is it regenerative, generative or degenerative considering the full scope of its impact?
Alignment: how well does this source fulfill ALL of your personal needs, desires, and values? (If looking at a community or organizational system, the needs, desires and values of the community or organization instead)
Alternatives: what are some other sources/methods that could be utilized for fulfillment that may be more regenerative and aligned?
The preliminary step, of course, is identifying what the needs, desires and values of the stakeholder(s) are.
As an individual, this looks like doing some reflection or exploration on what you need, want, and value in life.
As a community, organization or ecosystem, this looks like doing some research on what the needs, desires and values of all parties are.
Flow tracking is another great tool in evaluating what mode a system is in.
Energy flow tracking - identify the temporary or consistent generators of energy, and track where the energy they are producing is being expended on. If the flow of energy isn’t a net positive, that means there are flow leaks and it is likely a degenerative system. For an individual, this looks like the activities or presences in one’s life that give them energy, and then tracking where that energy is flowing into. Similarly, if the energy flow isn’t restoring itself or over-abundant, it is likely a degenerative system. Identify the touch points where there is energy leakage and work on creating a circular energy system where the energy being produced is expended on producing more energy in a regenerative manner.
Resources/materials flow tracking - apply the same logic to the inflow and outflow of materials and resources. If a material/resource is compostable and/or being effectively reused, those materials and resources would be regenerative. If they are wasted, polluted, non-compostable, unreusable or difficult to regenerate, those materials and resources would be degenerative. Using biomaterials and creating a circular economy design for the whole product life cycle (production, distribution, reaquisition/decomposition, reproduction/redistrubution) For an individual, one would compare the resources needed to be produced in order to obtain the resources needed to be consumed and attempt to make that a circular system with surplus, I.e. to produce food with net positive results, it would be more regenerative to use permaculture agroforestry than to keep having to find a way to make money to purchase food produced in destructive and exploitative ways.
In conclusion, regenerative systems thinking is integral in designing and executing need/desire/value fulfillment in ways that are restorative, self-perpetuating, resilient, and net-positive for the well-being of individuals, communities, cultures, and ecosystems. Transitioning to regenerative systems is something anyone can do with awareness and intentionality, and it’s absolutely needed if we are going to make this world a better place for generations to come and heal all the damage we have done through the use of outdated degenerative systems.
