Driving Australia’s Regenerative Economy: The Role of Regen Labs
From left to right - Phil Freeman, Dave Booth, Uncle Eric Richards, Dr Dimity Podger, Matthew Wright-Simon. Image supplied by The Ground We Walk On
By Daniel Simons
Article Summary
- In 2020, WWF-Australia and Regen Studios launched a groundbreaking initiative to rebuild Australia post-bushfires and COVID-19 by envisioning a regenerative economy through storytelling, community engagement, and funding support.
- The project included a national listening tour, the film Regenerating Australia (set in 2029), community workshops, and a $2 million fund to back regenerative projects, fostering networks and practical action across regions.
- Evolving from this success, Regen Labs was founded in 2023 to continue supporting regenerative enterprises with programs like the Regen Economy Activator Program, capability-building, financing solutions, and partnerships promoting ecological, social, and cultural restoration.
In 2020, after the Black Summer bushfires torched an area the size of the UK and COVID-19 disrupted life across the country, WWF-Australia and Regen Studios — the team behind the visionary documentary 2040 — joined forces to tackle two urgent, world-shaping questions:
How could the need to recover be used as a chance to build back better? And, what would Australia look and feel like in 2030 if we successfully transitioned to an inclusive and regenerative economy?
Those questions sparked a world-first, multi-platform initiative that combined storytelling, deep listening, local engagement, and catalytic funding.
It began with a four-month national listening campaign that captured the hopes and ideas of more than a thousand Australians: First Nations leaders, bushfire survivors, farmers, business owners, and young people.
Their visions became the foundation for Regenerating Australia, a 17-minute speculative news bulletin from 2029, directed by Damon Gameau, that brought to life a thriving future powered by renewables, guided by Indigenous wisdom, and rooted in care for both Country and community.
But the film was just the beginning. A national tour united communities in screenings and workshops that sparked ideas and seeded ambition.
Local Learning Labs provided practical tools and design support for locally driven regenerative projects, and a $2 million Innovate to Regenerate fund ensured these ideas and many other solutions emerging in regional communities weren’t just left on the whiteboard, they were backed, built, and brought to life.
Each piece of the project fuelled the next. Storytelling led to action, action built networks, and networks drove systems-level transformation.
The initiative was so successful that it motivated members of the team behind it to launch an entirely new organisation to continue the work.
In 2023, Innovate to Regenerate lead Reece Proudfoot and team member Dr Dimity Podger, alongside Phil Freeman, also a WWF-Australia alumni, and Lucy Sundberg, co-founded Regen Labs, a purpose-built venture with a mission to grow Australia’s regenerative economy from the ground up.
Today, Regen Labs partners with communities, governments and funders to support the “regen-preneurs” who are restoring ecosystems, strengthening local resilience, and building businesses rooted in care, equity and regeneration.
We sat down with Dr Dimity Podger, co-founder and Director of Regenerative Enterprise Programs, to talk about how Regen Labs is laying the groundwork for a regenerative future.
Dr Dimity Podger. Photo by Olivia Parsonson
Regen Labs plays a vital role in helping to nurture and support the regenerative economy in Australia, can you tell us a bit more about how the organisation came into being?
In 2020, in the wake of the devastating bushfires, Reece and the team with WWF-Australia began to ask themselves how we could encourage Australians to think not just about recovery, but about regeneration.
The team didn’t want to simply spend earmarked funding on bushfire recovery, we wanted to go deeper, to support enterprises and initiatives working to restore ecological, social, and cultural systems through the way their work was designed.
That intention became the foundation for WWF’s broader theory of change: to engage millions of Australians in a shared vision of a regenerative future where both communities and the planet could thrive.
We would do that through storytelling and participation, starting with the Regenerating Australia film, followed by national tours and community screenings, and then deeper engagement through workshops and learning labs that helped transform ideas into tangible solutions and enterprises.
I led WWF’s regenerative communities portfolio, and was closely involved in two of those key engagement tools. One was the Our Community Vision Workshop, a dynamic, creative process, designed by Alice Howard-Vyse and Claire Marshall for WWF, that wrapped around the film and gave people a space to come together, imagine a better future, and connect with others in their community who were thinking along the same lines.
Over six months, I had the opportunity to mentor over 30 communities to lead their own workshops. The second was the Local Learning Labs, which we, including project manager Carli Leimbach and myself, co-designed with Michelle Miller, Ash Alluri and Sam Rye from TACSI, alongside local partners and Traditional Custodians, and ran in three regional locations.
These immersive two-and-a-half-day labs brought regenerative enterprises and local partners together to begin moving from ideas into action.
Alongside that work, we also ran the Innovate to Regenerate Challenge that resulted in 150 initiative applications, shortlisted to 80 initiatives, curated by mentors and the team, supported by community manager Annie Yan, and ultimately resulting in $2 million seed funding supporting 26 regenerative initiatives across the country.
The Challenge also involved Reece and my colleague Anorah Johns building out the Impactio Platform to host the challenge, and partnering with Accenture Song to design and test an intensive Venture Studio for three of the regenerative enterprises.
When the WWF program concluded in June 2023, it was clear that the work wasn’t finished.
My then-manager Reece Proudfoot, who is now my co-founder, along with Phil Freeman, who had provided guidance on the challenge, and Lucy Sundberg, involved in the Venture Studio, decided to carry the mission forward by founding Regen Labs.
We had seen firsthand how many of these enterprises still needed support, particularly when it came to accessing the right kind of finance, and capability-building to grow and scale.
We had also begun to understand the importance of local system catalysts, network weavers, and knowledge brokers, those people on the ground holding the social infrastructure that helps regenerative economies take root.
It felt like we were only just getting started, and Regen Labs was created to continue and deepen that work.
Dr Dimity Podger facilitating mapping session at Regen Labs' Co-design session. Image supplied by The Ground We Walk On
Can you tell us a little bit more about that work? How do you support regenerative businesses? What projects are you running at the moment?
We are working on a few things at the moment. One of the things I’m most excited about is a program we’ve launched in South Australia called the Regen Economy Activator Program, or ‘REAP’.
It’s a 9-week program designed to bring together 12 enterprises or leaders who want to collaborate for greater viability and impact across social, economic, culture and ecological outcomes. Our aim is to help them grow their capabilities, revenue and impact.
The program supports enterprises to build a strong foundation in regenerative business, map local opportunities for collaboration, foster wellbeing and inclusive workplace practices, and strengthen their impact storytelling to grow and scale.
I’m working closely with Regen Labs’ Associate Matthew Wright-Simon, who is Place Convenor and facilitator for the program. We’re also excited to have completed a feasibility study, led by our finance lead Phil Freeman, for a Regen Community Investment Fund to launch alongside the program.
It’s a great example of how Regen Labs works in a place to provide the right support to a group of enterprises that can collaborate in shifting their economy, and then also help to provide the right finance, through financial infrastructure for that same place to support those enterprises with what they need.
The fund has two parts.
First, a Readiness Fund, which provides capability grants to help enterprises build the skills and foundations they need to succeed. This fund is already up and running and directly supports the Regen Economy Activator Program, and is open for donations. Second, Regen Labs is working to establish a loan facility to provide values-aligned, catalytic finance for these enterprises as they grow and scale.
The Readiness Fund is really about collaborative philanthropy. It allows philanthropic organisations, local organisations, and government partners to pool their funding to support the development of a group of enterprises. By working together, they can have a much bigger impact than funding individually.
We’re really pleased to have the Fay Fuller Foundation, English Family Foundation, Mount Barker District Council, Beyond Bank, and the Stephen Pfeiffer Foundation supporting the Readiness Fund for our program in South Australia.
We also have our ’WEAVE’ Regen Economy Systems lab, which is a 12- month place-based innovation collaboration learning community commissioned by Social Enterprise Australia, as part of the Australian Government’s Social Enterprise Development Initiative. Our learning partners include Regen Melbourne, Ready Communities, as well as place partners Regenerating Hills and Coasts SA, the Northern Rivers Food System Coalition, WinZero and the Homegrown Economy in Southern Highlands, and Yinhawanghka Aboriginal Corporation in WA.
The aim is to learn from experiments and initiatives we are undertaking to learn what social enterprises need to lead the transition to a regenerative economy. We will be sharing our learnings across business model innovation, finance innovation and social infrastructure innovation.
We're also learning a great deal about business model innovation through a project Reece is leading for government agency Adapt NSW at the moment around business transformation in the face of climate change.
The team is exploring business model archetypes, transformation strategies and ways that enterprises can be supported.
On top of that we also host webinars and events and run an “Orchard Exchange”, which is an important (and fun) peer learning circle for regenerative enterprises.
Regen Labs' Co-design session for a Regen Community Investment Fund. Image supplied by The Ground We Walk On
Between the Innovate to Regenerate Challenge and the programs Regen Labs runs now, you’ve worked with some incredible regenerative enterprises, are there any you’d like to tell us a bit more about?
There are so many fantastic organisations.
One of the ones we really love is Mycelia Energy Collective. They’re a community-led regenerative enterprise focused on increasing access to affordable renewable energy, particularly for low-income and vulnerable households.
What's interesting is that while most energy companies want to sell more energy, Mycelia wants to help people reduce their energy consumption. They support households with energy efficiency upgrades and work with local partners.
Part of their model is a community benefit sharing fund, so a portion of the revenue goes back into the fund to continue supporting more upgrades.
I also love Hi Neighbour which is an enterprise that was founded by Yael Stone, who was an actor on Orange is the New Black.
Hi Neighbour is based in Illawarra, which is traditionally a mining town. They were set up to help accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy in a way that helps to ensure a just transition.
Hi Neighbour has a really interesting business model where they fund solar systems for large businesses, then, instead of paying a bank interest on a loan, the business pays Hi Neighbour, which is a charity, and that repayment goes towards scholarships for people wanting to retrain and gain the skills needed for the transition to renewables.
One of their most recent scholarship rounds was First Power, sponsored by Buckeroo (via their energy system), to increase access to First Nations peoples to careers in renewables.
Kitchen Farm Adelaide Hills, venue for Regen Labs' Co-design session. Image supplied by Regen Labs
What role does storytelling play in building a regenerative future?
We’re really passionate about helping enterprises communicate the multi-dimensional benefits they create. A lot of the time, regenerative enterprises are contributing back to the commons by creating social, cultural, and ecological impact.
But that’s not always obvious. It’s not necessarily visible to investors or funders, or even to communities sometimes. So what we try to do is make those contributions more visible.
We use different frameworks to help with that. One that we really like is the 8 Capitals model. It helps articulate the different types of value being created. Things like natural, social, cultural, financial, human, spiritual, and political capital. It’s a way to help us notice all the value that’s being generated by an enterprise, not just the financial bottom line.
We have also used the Power Shift framework, which looks at where and how the impact is happening. It helps make those more subtle shifts visible. Like when an enterprise starts to change how a local council thinks about who they should be partnering with or what counts as economic development.
We’ve recently worked with Mycelia Energy Collective, to really highlight the impact they’re having across all the different stakeholders they work with so they can speak to each group in a way that’s relevant and meaningful.
Mycelia Energy Collective also uses something called the Most Significant Change method as part of their evaluation approach, which has been really valuable.
It helps understand, from people within their network, what the most significant change has been for them, what impact it’s had, and how that flows on, and then try to communicate that in storytelling.
I recently learned that Give Where You Live, a community foundation in Geelong, used this approach with all of their stakeholders.
What role does, or can, the government play in helping to accelerate the transition to a regenerative economy?
I can speak from our experience with work we did at WWF, which has continued in the Adelaide Hills and southern coasts region of South Australia with Regen Labs.
This involved building on really important relationships developed over many years by local place convenor Matthew Wright-Simon (now an Associate with Regen Labs in addition to his consultancy).
These relationships included local councils, the local chapter of the federal government agency Regional Development Australia, as well as state agencies. What's been quite powerful is having council representatives and state agencies directly in the room with regenerative enterprises.
If you can imagine a group of 30 people: about 20 enterprises, 3 deputy mayors, community organisations, as well as local and state government, NGOs, and not-for-profits, all in a room together, thinking about how they can support regeneration and regenerative enterprises in a mutually supportive environment.
It's quite exciting and inspiring to work with government staff members in that way; they are community members too. When you have enterprises with particular needs for their next stage of development in the same room as government agencies with resources, access is made much easier.
The flow of information is quicker, the pathway can be made much smoother, enterprises can maintain momentum, and governments can also sense-check how they understand the needs and challenges of their community.
We had government agencies sharing their view about challenges and needs within the region, and enterprises in the room who are addressing those same challenges. This means enterprises can learn more about how they can be more impactful, whilst also accessing government resources like business coaching or understanding what particular policies they need to be aware of.
The information flow becomes really seamless because everybody's in the same room, and they establish trusting relationships that they can follow up on after gatherings like these immersive local learning labs.
Image of Message Stick created by Dave Booth, Imbala. Photo by Luke Simon
Regenerative principles are highly intertwined with indigenous knowledge and wisdom. Do you incorporate this into your practice?
Yes we do. One of the design principles we try to apply and live by is to foreground First Nations wisdom and aspirations. In practice this involves partnering and co-designing with Traditional Custodians and cultural advisors.
For example, for the Regenerative Economy Activator Program (REAP) in the Adelaide Hills and Coasts region, and during the co-design process for the Regen Community Investment Fund, we consulted with Dave Booth, cultural advisor for the Peramangk people, and through long term trusting relationships in the place, are looking forward to welcoming Aboriginal-led enterprise leaders to the REAP.
Whilst at WWF, we learned a lot during the co-design process in developing the program for the Gippsland Local Learning Lab. It was co-designed with Cheryl Drayton, a Kurnai elder, who our local partners Gippsland Social Enterprise Collective had a strong relationship with. Cheryl was involved in thinking through what the program needed to do and provided guidance on our activities.
When we were implementing it, she led a beautiful Welcome to Country and a walk on her own country. She was with us for the full two and a half days.
As enterprises were thinking about their businesses and their impacts, they were also able to reflect with her about what was responsive to the needs of the place, and how they could create innovative business models to regenerate the ecological system and provide meaningful employment for Aboriginal young people.
Ultimately, Regen Labs seeks ways to contribute to First Nations aspirations through the work we do in local places and with Aboriginal-led enterprises.
For people wanting to dive deeper into regenerative business, what are your go-to resources and key pieces of advice?
There's so much to share and folks are very welcome to visit our website to access resources like the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report on enabling conditions for place-based community-led regeneration. There's a webinar there as well.
If you're an enterprise, funder, government agency, or community organisation, sign up to our newsletter. For enterprises, you'll hear about our Orchard Exchange, which is our peer learning experience for regenerative enterprises.
You can access presentations by leading regenerative entrepreneurs, Andrea Lane, Director of FLOAT, and Flick Jacobs, CEO of The Common Ground Project. For funders and government agencies, you'll also get updates about what we're learning through our feasibility study for the fund and the Regen Economy Activator Program.
We will be sharing some of our findings on Understorey, which is a great website coordinated by Social Enterprise Australia.
I'd also strongly recommend Carol Sanford's work on regenerative business and her book, The Regenerative Life.
For a key piece of advice about helping to build the regenerative economy? I'd point to what Carol Sanford talks about: this is not a hero's journey, it's a non-heroic journey. “It is slow, steady, cumulative, and powerful, like water shaping rock.” It's something that you persist at, in an adaptive and responsive way, and you do it with others, because water droplets don't make change on their own - together they can shape the future.