Is Regenerative the New Sustainable?
This story is presented by Transitions Film Festival.
As humanity edges towards irreversible tipping points, it’s become clear that our old ways of thinking are not fit-for-purpose.
Transitions Film Festival director Daniel Simons explains a shift in approach from sustainable to regenerative and shares how regenerative practices can have a dramatic net-positive impact on the planet.
We've known for a long time that the entanglement between economic growth and planetary destruction puts us on a path towards crisis and collapse unless we change our ways. We tried, but it failed. We need a new story.
The concept of sustainability came to prominence through the 1987 Our Common Future report by the United Nations, which defined sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
It went on to be associated with harm minimisation concepts such as recycling, carbon and ecological footprinting, triple bottom line accounting and pledges for net-zero emissions. It has been clung to by some as the remedy for all our woes, used to alleviate consumer guilt and employed by some corporations to gain favour via greenwashing.
If you’ve watched David Attenborough’s recent documentary Breaking Boundaries, you probably know that we are already over or close to breaching many of the nine planetary boundaries being anxiously monitored by scientists around the globe. It means that doing no harm is no longer going to cut it.
Biodiversity loss, water scarcity, chemical and plastic pollution and ocean degradation are already inflicting more harm than our planet can tolerate. The UN has stated that urgent and transformational change is needed for any chance at a safe future. It’s not enough to slow down or even stop the damage. We need to reverse the harm that has been done and start healing what has already been broken before we cross irreversible thresholds.
According to the Royal Society for the Arts, the period from 1760 to 1987 marked the era of extraction where we depleted, deforested and degraded without reflection. From 1987 to 2020 our aspirations were focused on sustainability where we sought to do less harm to the planet, and embraced the mantra of reduce, reuse, recycle. Our new ambition is regeneration where we learn from the earth’s living systems and focus on rethinking, restoring and replenishing.
The concepts of regeneration have been around for decades – first articulated by the Rodale Institute in the 1980s and highlighted in Allan Savory’s TED Talk in 2013. Regeneration is again going viral thanks to wild enthusiasm from business, arts and environmental communities across the planet.
Two of the world’s leading champions of regenerative thinking are Paul Hawken, author of Drawdown and ReGeneration, and Daman Gameau, director of the documentary 2040. They describe regenerative thinking as “putting life and connection at the centre of all decisions, governance and actions” and “prioritising life and connection over capital”.
Focusing on more than preserving the planet for future generations, regenerative thinking weaves justice, climate, economic equality and human dignity into its core logic and places an increased emphasis on systemic thinking, democratic decision making, and place-based solutions inspired by Indigenous wisdom and dialogue.
With a focus on community, inclusion, replenishment and thrivability, regenerative thinking also strives for mass appeal, even for those who don’t acknowledge or want to confront our ecological predicament.
Paul Hawken claims that a planetary-scale adoption of regenerative practices can end the climate crisis in one generation. His new book and platform ReGeneration houses the world’s largest listing of solutions to the climate crisis as well as instructions on how to implement them.
The ideas he outlines have been embraced globally with PepsiCo, General Mills and even Walmart making pledges to incorporate regenerative practices into their enormous supply chains.
Damon Gameau teamed up with WWF to launch a $2 million fund to support and scale regenerative projects across Australia. Last year, Regen Melbourne and Regen Sydney launched, bringing together communities that are accelerating the uptake of regenerative thinking ideas in the urban context. Even Woolworths is flirting with these new ideas. They've set up Seedlab Australia to help regen producers become retail ready.
"We need to reverse the harm that has been done and start healing what has already been broken before we cross irreversible thresholds."
"Through regenerative agriculture, farmers are able to have a dramatic net-positive impact on the planet."
Some of the best examples of regenerative thinking in practice can be found in regenerative agriculture and aquaculture. In regenerative agriculture, farmers nurture the land and restore health to the soil. Focusing on more than just emission reductions, regenerative agriculture aims to increase biodiversity, improve soil quality and drastically improve water usage and management. By using methods like no-till farming, organic annual cropping, agroecology, agroforestry, usage of compost and biochar and animal cropping, farmers are able to have a dramatic net-positive impact on the planet.
In regenerative aquaculture, farming is used to grow food for sustenance while also drawing down carbon from the atmosphere. Drawdown from aquaculture is broadly referred to as ‘blue carbon’ which has given rise to a ‘blue economy’ that encompasses seaweed farms and other ocean restoration and preservation projects.
The recent feature documentary To Which We Belong showcases inspirational examples of regenerative agriculture that are blooming all across the planet.
In Nebraska, Kieth Berns and his brother transitioned from conventional farming to regenerative agriculture on their 2,500 acre farm. They found that adding cover crops dramatically increased the fertility and water retention of their soil but they found it hard to find the seeds of the cover crops. They created Green Cover Seed, a cover crop seed business that now has over 8,000 customers.
In New Haven, Green Wave uses polyculture farming to grow a mix of seaweeds and shellfish. The process uses zero inputs, sequesters carbon, and rebuilds reef ecosystems, making it arguably the most sustainable form of food production on the planet.
In Kenya, the Enonkishu Conservancy uses sustainable rangeland management that aims to build community, celebrate and nurture the local Maasai heritage and traditional values, while also generating profit and rejuvenating the land.
To Which We Belong is screening as part of The Transitions Film Festival this February and March.
The Transitions Film Festival showcases features and documentaries about the trends and innovations shaping our lives and the solutions to society’s greatest challenges.
To watch To Which We Belong and view the full line-up of world-changing films visit www.transitionsfilmfestival.com.