This report is the result of extensive research, initiated by the Bioregional Weaving Labs (BWL) Collective, a growing coalition of 25+ system changing social innovators that are building bridges to address the urgent climate and biodiversity crises. We are not just collaborating, but we are weaving our teams and resources together to form a single team of teams with a shared vision and mission.
We consist of socio-environmental entrepreneurs that design and implement Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and of facilitators like Ashoka, Commonland, Presencing Institute and Drawdown Europe Research Association who create the right enabling conditions for NBS to take hold and scale.
Weaving is the practice of interconnecting people, projects and places to each other and to a shared purpose; fostering collaborations for systemic impact; facilitating collective learning; and embodying the change we wish to see. Together we developed the concept of Bioregional Weaving Labs.
The organisations part of our collective are leading large scale landscape restoration projects around the globe, initiated and led by hundreds of impactful socio-environmental entrepreneurs, supported by scientists from all over the world, and engaging with thousands of people and communities who are shifting the social field from ego-system to eco-system awareness. These projects show us the potential of solutions that are designed to help people and planet thrive together; what we call Nature-based Solutions (NbS).
What our research has made clear is that, too often, the stakeholders involved in NbS work in fragmented silos, put ego before eco, and are not ensuring that transformation processes are truly inclusive and well governed. In addition, women, youth, minority groups, and vulnerable communities are among the most affected by climate change and biodiversity loss, but their voices are usually not well represented in the design and implementation of NbS. Therefore, we must move away from traditional leadership towards collective eco-system leadership, and to cocreate inclusive, holistic, and integrated approaches instead of fragmented ones.
This report presents our analysis of the systemic barriers that prevent just, inclusive, and participatory NbS from mainstreaming. This analysis forms the basis for a strategy how to collectively organise for systemic change, to create enabling conditions for NbS to spread faster and catalyse a widespread transition to a regenerative future.
How is this report written:
- Part 1 is reviewing the state of the world to understand exactly how we are crossing planetary boundaries, and what are the main drivers behind it.
- Part 2 explores the concept of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and analyses the systemic barriers that prevent them from mainstreaming.
- Part 3 dives deeper into the work of the socio-environmental entrepreneurs of our BWL Collective, to explore the role of social innovation in ensuring a rights-based, inclusive, and participatory design and implementation of NbS. We also analyse how their approaches are contributing to shape a new regenerative, economic architecture.
- Part 4 presents our collective strategy to organise for collective impact via ‘Bioregional Weaving Labs’, to remove systemic barriers and ensure NbS can be implemented on a large scale, at speed.
- Finally, the Annex provides a glossary of terms and a broader explanation of each of the researched NbS models.