Implement - Build It Green

Regenerative Communities Program

We believe the people most suited to make a place better are the people of that place — who hold deep relationships of care and connection to both the history and the potential. Those folks might be long-time residents or recent but passionate transplants, and may have enthusiasm, energy and hope to make positive change but need support from others — trained professionals, organizers, funders, local government officials — to see their hopes for what the places they call home could be. We saw the potential to connect deeply rooted efforts in communities across California to each other, providing a scaffold of support to build their capacity to realize their efforts to help their communities thrive.

This program grew out of an effort sparked by members of our Innovators Network. At our 2022 Gathering, we identified the potential for rural communities to be testbeds of innovation, particularly those facing the challenges, and opportunities, of rebuilding after major devastation. In this case, one member came from the town of Greenville which was severely damaged in the Dixie Fire July to October 2021.

From our work in Greenville, we realized there was huge potential to support other communities doing this kind of work — helping bridge the gap from where they were to what could be. In particular, helping them learn the mindsets and approaches that would help their aspirations take real root to grow into more regenerative communities.

2024 Learning Cohort

In 2024 we are offering our first Learning Cohort. Over a six month period, cohort members attend monthly sessions with one another to learn about regenerative practices and principles, build their capacity to affect needed on-the-ground change, learn practical tools and frameworks to more deeply engage their communities, and connect to others on similar journeys. All of these lessons will be applied to specific projects cohort participants are grappling with, so they can be immediately applied to real world work.

We also offer coaching to teams in regional areas, to work through specific needs for their individual contexts and help them apply what we learn in our group sessions to their work. We strive to be regenerative in the design of the program itself, thinking about the needs of individuals, the group, and the larger change we’re seeking to affect. To support this, we gather feedback after every engagement and incorporate that into the next round of design.

RCP Program Reading List

Tools for Systems Thinkers: The 6 Fundamental Concepts of Systems Thinking

This is a brief blog post on Medium that outlines concepts of systems thinking in graphic terms. For those who appreciate visual depictions of conceptual ideas.

On Radical Imagination and Moving Towards Life | On Being conversation with adrienne maree brown

This is a brief blog post on Medium that outlines concepts of systems thinking in graphic terms. For those who appreciate visual depictions of conceptual ideas.

Regenerative Futures: Eight Principles for Thinking and Practice

A more academic, yet still practical overview from the Journal of Futures Studies, outlining core principles to inform regenerative practice

Building a Regenerative Future

A brief post on Medium from Daniel Christian Wahl, author of Designing Regenerative Cultures, centering the climate crisis as an example of where regenerative thinking and practice can support broader transformation

Can Our Cities Be More Regenerative and Natural? A Conversation with Urbanist Sarah Ichioka (author of Flourish)

A rich conversation and longer interview (with a video index to jump around to different “chapters”) exploring the regenerative and equity concepts raised in the book Flourish

An Evolutionary Road Map for Belonging and Co-Liberation

An article outlining the importance of belonging and collective liberation (a cornerstone of regeneration, equity and collaboration) in our cultural and community practice

Human Factors in Regenerative Networks

A brief and helpful outline of collaborative principles and practices for network-oriented and community-driven action

Designing, Constructing, and Evolving Sustainable Buildings and Communities to Regenerate Life | ANSI Standards DRAFT

A draft standards guide outlining the imperative and practice for regenerative approaches to building and community design. With an excellent section explaining regenerative practice and some example case studies (Section 1B)

East Bay Small Development Incubator

To address California’s housing affordability crisis, our state must build millions of new homes over the next several years. A large share of these homes will come from large housing developments producing dozens, hundreds, and in some cases even thousands of units. However, state policies, as well as many local plans and aspirations, recognize that the development and rehabilitation of small-scale residential projects (such as townhomes, small-plexes, and ADUs) within existing cities will be essential to mitigating the housing crisis. What’s more, these small-scale projects are capable of addressing climate change (by placing homes near transit, shops, and services) and contributing to the vitality of communities.

The program fosters entrepreneurship and supports new small businesses, provides skill-building for a diverse workforce, and creates opportunities in the housing development field to many who have been unable to enter the field before. Small-scale development has a unique potential to nurture people, communities, and nature.

To realize this potential, a thriving small-scale development industry has to be created. The East Bay Small Development Incubator engages small, independent developers, government officials, and others from the residential development ecosystem (suppliers, financiers, etc.) to build the skills and relationships that will enable the industry to thrive and play its role in nurturing the kind of future which so many Californians strive.

Infrastructure for Equitable Housing Development Program

Infrastructure across California needs repair; water and wastewater alone need 50 billion dollars in funding to maintain basic functioning. California also needs to build 3.5 million homes in the next 10 years. These two issues are directly related. Affordable housing development where water infrastructure is in the worst condition is likely the place where new housing is least likely to “pencil out,” due to the costs of improvements, as well as the additional time and uncertainty infrastructure upgrades might require.

BIG and PRE Collective conducted research that confirmed this pressing issue. We recognized the pivotal role developers, public officials and funders have in supporting place-based, community-led, and community-centered work to address this challenge. We are exploring how to develop public-private partnerships to proactively plan for, improve and develop infrastructure to enable critical housing development, especially in historically and currently underinvested communities.

We are building relationships with communities, like the City of Sacramento, and in partnership with work in our other programs, like the Regenerative Communities Program (see above) to prepare them for this work. BIG is leading capability development, community preparation and coordination activities, and PRE Collective is looking at innovative ways to get existing infrastructure spending more effectively directed towards community-centered and driven infrastructure development, rather than traditional utility-scale development that doesn’t consider the regenerative and equity opportunities.