"When we talk about regenerative design, it is the intentional application of knowledge and tools to create possibilities by making use of the regeneration that is inherent in all living systems. Regenerative design is collaborative and co-creative. It is a dance with life. More deeply still, it is a dance of life."
Joe Brewer
The 7-Generation GTB glocal (local connected to global) initiative is about people and place – social regeneration (generations in community) and ecological regeneration (community in bioregion). There are a lot of exciting and important circles of activity forming through which you can connect, create, change. How would you like to be involved?
Organizations and spirited citizens of all ages across the Greater Tkaronto Bioregion (GTB) are coming together to nurture a Tree of Life for ecopsychosocial wellbeing – people, community, and planet.
The 7-Generation GTB Circles of Activity are like drops of water nourishing that tree. They're distinct yet interconnected, rippling out their impact into a meaningful whole. Get involved in the 7-Generation GTB Circles of Activity that interest you.
What 7-Generation GTB looks like in the real world is creating a parallel ecosystem of community structures and processes – #ChangeTheStory of how we live with each other on a changing planet. We need a whole bunch of people doing a whole bunch of strategically interrelated things to make that happen.
Explore the 7-Generation GTB Circles of Activity you're interested in (choose as many as you like), and e-mail us your choices:
Sensemaker Circle
This circle is for you if you enjoy storytelling, listening and learning about real people and real life, personal reflection, and helping people share their stories.
This is a core social regeneration circle. If we can individually and collectively make some good sense in this uncertain time, we can act in ways that make sense. Become a citizen sensemaker to share your own stories and collect stories from others in your community. You'll learn Warm Data practices for new ways of understanding our world. We especially invite young people and older adults to be Citizen HJPs – historian-journalist-philosophers connecting stories across the past, present, and future.
Land Circle
This circle is for you if you work on the land, are interested in regenerative land practices, or are doing stewardship work in communities.
Drawing on earth systems science, a bioregion is the smallest actionable scale reflecting bigger planetary processes. So the real work is "scale-linking" from a given plot of land into the bioregion. Everything done on a farm or in a forest should reflect and connect into the bioregional scale for meaningful long-term impact. We're bringing together all kinds of public and private landscapes – from Rouge National Urban Park and York Region Forests to community gardens – for both regeneration and embodied learning. This includes looking at food and water security. This work will eventually evolve into a local Portfolio of Projects, supported over the long term by a Bioregional Foundation.
Municipal Circle
This circle is for you if you work at a town, city, or region in the GTB.
A bioregional learning and strategy circle for municipal and regional staff in the GTB. You'll have access to resources and research, as well as sharing across municipalities/regions.
Conservation Authority Circle
This circle is for you if you work at a Conservation Authority in the GTB.
A bioregional learning and strategy circle for GTB Conservation Authority staff. You'll have access to resources and research, as well as sharing across Conservation Authorities.
Health/Healing Circle
This circle is for you if you are a healthcare professional, a caring soul, or someone interested in healthy communities.
We exist in relationship – with our own bodies, each other, and the living planet. We can't be healthy unless all these relationships are healthy. People of all ages are experiencing loneliness, trauma, ecoanxiety. Working with healthcare professionals, we're using social prescribing as a way to meaningfully and holistically connect people into relationships with each other and the place we live for ecopsychosocial wellbeing. We're also exploring intergenerational and collective healing practices, moving the bigger discussion from "What's the matter with you?" to "What matters to you?"
Neighbours Circle
This circle is for you if you're interested in community building, growing more connections with your own neighbours, building retrofits, and managing common assets for broad benefit.
How do we create more connected communities for all ages? In an individualized culture, we've lost many relational skills. Before community, we need to (re)learn how to be "in communing." This involves learning more about what "commons" we share and about Prosocial behaviours. It also looks at creating Hub Houses in your neighbourhood for everyday social support in trust networks, information sharing on retrofits (e.g. heat pumps, solar) and regeneration, and also a localized emergency network (e.g. a home with solar power helps neighbours charge up during an electrical outage).
Economic Circle
This circle is for you if you're interested in regenerative economies, right livelihoods, local currencies, ReFi, as well as commons governance.
The "eco" in ecopsychosocial stands for both ecology and economy – in Indigenous ways of thinking, the two are actually one in the same. This is about illuminating and mobilizing different kinds of value, including ecological and social capital. This will help lay the foundation for a Bioregional Foundation as an umbrella structure and an impact fund in the GTB to support regenerative work.
Indigenous Circle
This circle is for you if you're interested in Indigenous worldviews and knowledge; we'll be intentionally and respectfully inviting in a variety of Indigenous voices for deep learning.
For Indigenous peoples, everything rests on right relationships and community is based on relational thinking. Together with various Indigenous collaborators, we are weaving together Western and Indigenous ways of knowing and being to try to find a "third way" forward in a time of uncertainty and transformation. How can we heal our relationships with each other and the Earth?
Wisdom Circle
This circle is for people of all ages who strive for wisdom, enjoy reflection and are curious, want to bring more meaning into their own lives, and who want to ensure the underlying values of the 7-Generation GTB work remain clear and grounded.
As each of us goes through our journey of life – from being elders-in-training to elderhood to ancestorhood – how can we bring meaning and wisdom to everything we do? Ecological thinker E.O. Wilson once commented, "We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom." Indigenous ways of coming to know, as practiced by Elders, is the pursuit of "wisdom-in-action" – the goal is becoming wiser in living properly in the world. Ancient philosophy required a collective effort and mutual support. Wisdom isn't just for wise people, philosophers, and psychologists – it's for all people and for the future of the world. Wisdom brings together experience, ability to think, and emotional maturity to make good decisions at an individual and societal level.
Bioregional Learning Circle
This circle is for you if you're interested in new approaches to education and lifelong learning, if you're a student who wants to be an EcoLeader and earn scholarships, if you're an older adult interested in being an Elder-in-Residence for a local school and receive an annual stipend, and if you're a school interested in exploring new resources and opportunities for ecopsychosocial learning for students and teachers.
This big-picture learning circle connects social and ecological regeneration across all seven themes through the creation of a
Communication Circle
This circle is for you if you enjoy writing, speaking, being creative, and engaging with people of all ages and backgrounds.
Help spread the word about the timely and vital work of 7-Generation GTB by being an Ambassador. Write opinion pieces, post on social media, speak at events, and reach out into your network of friends and acquaintances.
7-Generation GTB Summit Planning Circle
This circle is for organizers.
The whole tree will be nourished by a 7-Generation GTB Summit in January, 2024. Joe Brewer plans to return to the GTB. We'll have virtual sessions as well as a day-long, in-person event. If you're motivated, organized, connected and creative, this circle welcomes your skills.
Many drops of water make a mighty river. Please help spread the word about all of these opportunities to connect, create, change through
E-mail us with your list of the Circles of Activity you want to explore. If you have expertise or interest in something that's not covered in one of the above Circles of Activity but that you think would be valuable to 7-Generation GTB, let us know.
Check out upcoming events. Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter below – and we always appreciate donations to help support this vital community work.