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The module covers the philosophy and principles of regenerative design, which aims to improve the health and resilience of a system over time. The design of a regenerative system requires an understanding of the complexity and interconnectedness of natural ecosystems, which can be harnessed to create positive feedback loops and strengthen the system. The principles of systems thinking, synergy, and resilience guide the design process, which involves careful observation and analysis of patterns to create predictable outcomes. The success of a regenerative system can be measured by its ability to resist destabilization and return to a steady state, as indicated by factors such as soil carbon, nutrient density, and species diversity.
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Learning Outcomes:
- Understanding the philosophy and principles of regenerative design and how they can be applied to create functional, healthy, and resilient outcomes.
- Knowledge of patterns found in natural ecosystems and how they can be harnessed to create positive feedback loops and strengthen the regenerative system.
- Ability to analyze patterns and use principles to guide the design process, resulting in predictable outcomes that can be refined and improved over time.
- Understanding of how regenerative farming can be used to create self-regulating, diverse, and productive ecosystems that work in harmony with nature.
- Knowledge of how to create healthy outcomes by fostering beneficial processes, reducing external control, achieving cycles/flows of nutrients and materials, and sustaining and enhancing the fertility and life-supporting ability of the production medium.
- Understanding of the importance of biodiversity in ecosystems and how it can be harnessed to create stable, resilient systems that are resistant to destabilization.
- Knowledge of trophic cascades and how they describe the impact a species has throughout its ecosystem, which can be used to inform decision-making in regenerative farming design.
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Patterns:
The regenerative design philosophy aims to create functional, healthy, and resilient outcomes while conserving energy use. One fundamental aspect of this is understanding natural patterns, including those found in climate, topography, orientation to the sun and wind, land use, social/political/economic factors, soil, ecosystem patterns, and form patterns.
The main goal of applying patterns in landscape design is to harmonize with natural processes by designing farming systems where the interaction of multiple species slows the loss of energy leaving that system and allows it to be used more effectively. This process guides the assembly of natural systems, which develop into complex, self-regulating assemblies of life that result in the longest storage of energy passing through an ecosystem before it is lost again.
Ultimately, regenerative design seeks to organize food-producing systems in harmony with nature, utilizing the mathematical beauty of fractals and the patterns found in the natural world to create self-regulating, diverse, and productive ecosystems.
The main goal of applying patterns in landscape design is to harmonize with natural processes by designing farming systems where the interaction of multiple species slows the loss of energy leaving that system and allows it to be used more effectively. This process guides the assembly of natural systems, which develop into complex, self-regulating assemblies of life that result in the longest storage of energy passing through an ecosystem before it is lost again.
Ultimately, regenerative design seeks to organize food-producing systems in harmony with nature, utilizing the mathematical beauty of fractals and the patterns found in the natural world to create self-regulating, diverse, and productive ecosystems.
Principles:
Principles can guide and orchestrate an approach to designing a system by analysing patterns within outcomes. They provide a predictable guide to expected outcomes based on prior results and can be refined and simplified over time to provide benchmarks for replicating those predictable outcomes. Adopting principles helps crystallize ideas, allows for better identification of patterns, and leads to improved outcomes. Principles have been applied to various contexts such as life decisions, running a business, or designing a landscape.
There is a hierarchical system from values to vision to principles to actions. Values provide direction, vision provides focus on what, where, and why to apply those values, and principles give direction on how to execute that vision.
Regenerative farming is an example of applying principles to sustainable landscape design and are organised around themes such as fostering beneficial processes, reducing external control, achieving cycles/flows of nutrients and materials, and sustaining and enhancing the fertility and life-supporting ability of the production medium.
There is a hierarchical system from values to vision to principles to actions. Values provide direction, vision provides focus on what, where, and why to apply those values, and principles give direction on how to execute that vision.
Regenerative farming is an example of applying principles to sustainable landscape design and are organised around themes such as fostering beneficial processes, reducing external control, achieving cycles/flows of nutrients and materials, and sustaining and enhancing the fertility and life-supporting ability of the production medium.
Healthy Ecosystems:
An ecosystem is a distinct habitat where living things (plants and animals) interact with each other and the non-living environment. These interactions involve competition for resources, predation, and modification of the habitat. A healthy organic farm functions in a similar way to a natural ecosystem with complex interactions between the plants and animals on the farm. The main difference is that natural species are substituted with those that have agricultural use or support agricultural production.
Ecosystems can be of different sizes and can be marine, aquatic, or terrestrial. Broad categories of terrestrial ecosystems are called biomes. In ecosystems, both matter and energy are conserved, with energy flowing through the system and matter being recycled. Ecosystems with higher biodiversity tend to be more stable with greater resistance and resilience in the face of disturbances.
Adaptations help organisms survive and thrive in their ecosystems. A niche is used in ecological biology to define an organism's role in an ecosystem. The survival of any individual organism in an ecosystem depends on how matter and energy flow through the system and through the body of the organism.
Trophic cascades describe the impact a species has throughout its ecosystem. These are most evident when a species is either removed or introduced to an area, resulting in a noticeable change in the ecosystem.
Ecosystems can be of different sizes and can be marine, aquatic, or terrestrial. Broad categories of terrestrial ecosystems are called biomes. In ecosystems, both matter and energy are conserved, with energy flowing through the system and matter being recycled. Ecosystems with higher biodiversity tend to be more stable with greater resistance and resilience in the face of disturbances.
Adaptations help organisms survive and thrive in their ecosystems. A niche is used in ecological biology to define an organism's role in an ecosystem. The survival of any individual organism in an ecosystem depends on how matter and energy flow through the system and through the body of the organism.
Trophic cascades describe the impact a species has throughout its ecosystem. These are most evident when a species is either removed or introduced to an area, resulting in a noticeable change in the ecosystem.