Five years ago there was very little discussion of regenerative approaches other than in the world of agriculture.
Since then the movement has gathered considerable pace with numerous companies defining regenerative missions and growing numbers of designers striving to go beyond conventional sustainability by broadening their perspectives into a paradigm of regenerative design.
The debate within the construction industry is still at an early stage and it will benefit from a plurality of voices. Oliver Broadbent’s and James Norman’s book The regenerative structural engineer is therefore a welcome addition that will help spread the design conversation.
The authors have done the general reader a great service by digesting a huge amount of material – particularly on systems thinking - and synthesising it into a coherent case. They also offer something distinct from the other key texts such as Designing Regenerative Cultures by Daniel Christian Wahl, and Regenerative Development and Design by Pamela Mang and Ben Haggard.
Broadbent and Norman use a surprisingly successful metaphor to describe Donella Meadows' ideas of leverage points and a number of other important ideas such as Bill Sharpe’s ‘Three Horizons’. They make a thought-provoking and, as far as I’m aware, original observation, that sustainability never developed to a level that would merit the term ‘paradigm’ in Meadows’ terminology. It operated wholly within an economic paradigm of endless growth and this goes a long way towards explaining why it has not had the truly transformative effect that we require if we are to address the planetary emergency.
The first part of the book introduces regenerative design, describes how the construction industry currently works and establishes new goals for the sector to work towards. The central goal described for regenerative design is “for human and living systems to survive, thrive and co-evolve”.
Part 2, titled ‘Creating the transition’ explores how to move from theory into action with tangible steps to build the shift towards widespread adoption of regenerative practices. This includes a set of principles which demonstrate a thorough grasp of Donella Meadows’ work and provides a useful guide for any engineer who’s keen to embark on this journey:
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“The first principle, aiming higher in the system, prompts us to see each project as a catalyst for wider systemic change.
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The second principle, aim to re-establish connection, requires us to redefine the site boundary, to connect the design with the community and its ecosystem, and to establish a long-term relationship with the place and people we are working with.
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The third principle, building symbiosis, encourages us to reimagine our supply of resources, creating mutually beneficial relationships and unlocking community capacity.
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Lastly, enhancing the capacity to self-organise encourages us to tune in empathetically to the existing patterns of the dynamic and evolving system in the place we are designing. “
The book is illustrated with excellent case studies where structural engineers have played a pivotal role in aiming higher in the system to create new business enterprises. Broadbent and Norman steadily build the case, with useful recaps and summaries, for how and why structural engineers should raise their ambitions and expand their agency to play a more active role on construction projects.
Part 3 looks to the future by exploring ‘How can we create and sustain regenerative practice?’ and by offering glimpses of how the year 2050 could look if structural engineers were to comprehensively adopt the thinking that the authors espouse.
I sense that some readers may resist the agency expansion that the authors advocate but, in my view, it’s a noble aim.
The most enjoyable part of the design process is often the early stages when boundaries between disciplines dissolve and it’s to be welcomed when the structural engineer suggests ideas that might normally be part of, say, the landscape architects role and vice versa. Actively looking for ways to expand positive influence is also a critical part of the transition we need. I commend the authors for engaging with this challenge so effectively.
One of the book’s concluding points is that “For regenerative design to be a success, for us to see real reductions in harm and greater flourishing we need a seismic shift in the way we approach design, this won’t happen because a few individuals do it, whilst the rest of us continue in the existing paradigm, it will only happen if we all (or at least a good proportion of us) do it.”
Some academics, such as Erica Chenoweth, have made an evidence-based case for how social shifts are very likely to occur when 3.5% or more of the population get actively involved.
It’s therefore conceivable that it would only take a similar proportion of the profession to read The regenerative structural engineer in order to bring about the kind of systems change that Broadbent and Norman eloquently champion.
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Michael Pawlyn is an architect, speaker and co-author with Sarah Ichioka of Flourish: Design Paradigms for Our Planetary Emergency. He jointly initiated ‘Architects Declare a Climate & Biodiversity Emergency’ with Steve Tompkins.