Where We Are Going with Learning Journey to Regenerate Bioregions
Now that we have completed the first three webinars of our learning journey to regenerate bioregions, we would like to share more information about where we go from here.
From the beginning, Penny and I have envisioned the full six months of this learning journey as having two phases — each lasting for three months. The first phase is more theoretical. Together we need to create shared language, take the time to be sure that when we use words like bioregional learning centerwe are talking about the same thing. And when we create frameworks for collaboration at the bioregional scale that they share common elements.
This is why we started with a kick-off webinar that introduces the learning journey as a whole, followed by a second webinar that gives An Introduction to Bioregional Learning Centers, and the third webinar exploring What is Bioregional Learning? so that we all get on the same page about basic concepts.
Now we are ready to share the topics for our next three webinars that will bring us to the completion of the first 3-month phase of the learning journey:
Bioregional Information Commons :: Explore how collective intelligence can arise at the bioregional scale through information and mapping processes.
Funding Ecosystems :: Lay out how to create a collaborative funding ecosystem for entire landscapes that enable regeneration to be coordinated.
Bioregional Governance :: Clarify how bioregional learning and collaborative funding give rise to key governance systems at the scale of the bioregion or landscape system.
The fourth webinar (on Bioregional Information Commons) will take place next week on April 30th. This will be the beginning of our 3-part series that reveals how bioregional learning ecosystems embody elements of information and mapping, collaborative funding, and territorial governance.
Second Half of the Learning Journey
The second half of the learning journey will move into a Design + Build Phase where we apply what we have learned from the first six webinars to our own bioregional contexts.
Our priority during the first three months is to create the clarity and coherence of a shared context among the participants in the learning journey so that we can explore the practical applications of these concepts in the real world where they are urgently needed. This means taking the time to map our own landscapes and actively weave local actors into collaborative funding, governance, and learning ecosystems.
To help us do this, Brandon Letsinger has generously offered to host a series of bioregional mapping sessions that will take place throughout the month of May. All members of the Design School are invited to attend them. Together we will map our bioregions, create learning strategies, and begin weaving into being the funding and governance ecosystems that we will need.
Brief Note: Brandon’s mapping sessions will be posted soon in the Bioregional Mapping space that Penny just re-opened here in the Design School. Feel free to look at previous mapping work sessions that are recorded there if you’d like to jump ahead.
As you can see, this is no ordinary online course. Our purpose together is to create shared contexts, work with similar frameworks, and practice on the ground where it matters most. Please let us know if you have any questions about where the learning journey is going from here.
