What is it for education to be regenerative?

No matter how long ago it was for some of us, our experiences in educational settings have a huge impact on how we go on to behave in the world. The ideas we encounter, the values we form, the relationships we develop and the ideas of ourselves we create in these spaces and phases of our lives often prove to be foundational.

But schools, nurseries and universities are just as likely to reflect and perpetuate the dominant paradigm of control, separation, extraction and short-termism as any other.

In this episode we speak to educational pioneer Benjamin Freud about a school that is trying to do things differently. Benjamin is Head of Upper School at Green School Bali which is working to re-design curriculums, re-think assessments and re-imagine power dynamics to lean into an understanding of the world as alive and uncontrollable and steward learners who can truly contribute to a thriving world.

Key Links

• Green School Bali: https://www.greenschool.org/bali/
• Joanne McEachen on Contributive Learning: https://www.thelearnerfirst.com/2020/10/13/joanne-mceachen-on-contributive-learning/

Nature on the Board? Steward ownership? Employee ownership? Self-managing teams? For those seeking to establish regenerative organisations, the options in terms of how those organisations should be governed can feel overwhelming.

In this episode we dive deeper into the submerged world of governance and look at what it actually is, surface some principles of more regenerative approaches, jargon-bust a few buzzwords and look at some examples of organisations doing things differently.

My partners in this exploration are the co-founders of the aptly-named new venture, Regenerative Governance, Erica Neve and Patrick Andrews. Erica is a leader in business transformation, with a career spanning corporate transformation programs and mission-driven initiatives. She has helped global brands adopt nature-led and purpose-led business models to benefit both people and planet. Patrick (otherwise known as “The Barefoot Lawyer”) uses his decades of experience as a lawyer and governance advisor to help businesses find creative and holistic governance structures that contribute to a more just, sustainable society.

Together we have a wonderful collective geek-out on how important governance is and what it can do when approached with creativity, openness and heart.

Key Links

• Regenerative Governance: https://www.regengovernance.org/
• Google’s project Aristotle: https://psychsafety.com/googles-project-aristotle/
• Purpose Foundation: https://purpose-economy.org/en/purpose-foundation/
• Riverford: https://www.riverford.co.uk/
• Riversimple: https://www.riversimple.com/
• Subak: https://data.subak.org/
• Wasafiri: https://wasafirihub.com/
• Advice Process Playbook from Equal Experts: https://playbooks.equalexperts.com/advice-process
• Think like a Mother by Michelle Holliday: https://michelleholliday.com/think-like-a-mother-or-why-stakeholder-capitalism-is-a-dangerous-concept/

What might it look like for the financing and other fundamental structures underpinning our organisations to truly help them create conditions for life's thriving?

Dr. Melanie Rieback is CEO/Co-founder of Radically Open Security, the world's first not-for-profit computer security company, and the "Post Growth" startup incubator Nonprofit Ventures. She is also a former Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the Free University of Amsterdam and was named "Most Innovative IT Leader of the Netherlands" by CIO Magazine (TIM Award) in 2017, and one of the "9 Most Innovative Women in the European Union" (EU Women Innovators Prize) in 2019.

Melanie talks to us here, not only about the non-extractive financing and ownership structures she has experimented with in her own organisation, but about the cultures and structures within the financial industry that often lead it to be extractive and the increasingly political nature of financing. We touch on the importance of collaborating with unexpected allies, letting go of control, opening up to uncertainty, embracing creativity and acting from empathy and love.

If there was ever a conversation to demonstrate the power, breadth and beauty possible in financing, it is this one. Enjoy.

Key Links

• Radically Open Security: https://www.radicallyopensecurity.com/
• Post-Growth Entrepreneurship Incubator: https://nonprofit.ventures/
• Online free version of Melanie's post-growth entrepreneurship course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApINAX7XEqc&list=PL14vcCXv7XVONAwzNv0ApYwZ5iepLzz3S&index=1
• Purpose Foundation where you can learn more about steward ownership: https://purpose-economy.org/en/
• NLnet Foundation: https://nlnet.nl/
• Snowball Impact Investment: https://www.snowballimpactinvestment.com/
• Purpose Ventures: https://purpose-economy.org/en/ventures/
• The book I couldn't remember!: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24097668-alternatives-to-capitalism
• The petition that Melanie and others started to get a steward ownership model debated in the Dutch Parliament: https://www.stewardownershiprechtsvorm.nl/articles/english