Following insights from our previous work on the Future of Conservation, Unearthodox chose to explore the concept of "regeneration" for a three-year period (2024-2026). Through this exploration, we seek to understand whether and how regeneration can enable conservation in more impactful, inclusive and equitable ways. We launched this new initiative with a one-year reframing phase, aiming to dig deeper into the concept's multiple dimensions and challenges, and identify systemic blockers to regenerative futures.
Our Innovation team held 45 exploratory calls with visionary voices from around the world on the topic of regeneration. At Unearthodox, exploratory calls are a well-tested tool that help unearth diverse perspectives, refine the critical questions needed to tackle systemic challenges, and foster unexpected connections.
By engaging a wide range of voices, we are able to create a web of usable insights and relationships that amplify our mission and shape our future activities.
A call for creative content, Voices of Regeneration, invited creators worldwide to explore the meaning, feeling and spark of regeneration. Anchored in Unearthodox’s values of diversity, equity and inclusive co-creation, our intention was to use alternative, less restrictive forms of expression.
The call invited submissions both in the form of traditional written pieces as well as a wider range of creative forms such as illustration, photography, video, sculpture and painting.
In the second half of 2024, we began co-creating an Anthology of Regenerative Futures with 11 researcher-authors from around the world – representing countries such as India, Brazil, the UK, the Netherlands, the US, Kenya, Argentina and Spain.
Each brought unique expertise, cultural perspectives and ways of thinking to the work, rooted not only in their individual experiences but also in the collective wisdom of their communities.
In late 2024, we held the Regenerative Futures retreat, a convening that marked a significant milestone in our flagship programme.
Over five days in November, we gathered 40 changemakers – academics, artists, scientists, NGOs, lawyers and community leaders – to reimagine futures where all forms of life flourish together.
In September 2024, we formed an Advisory Group of 11 experts to support our Innovation team over the three-year programme. Their insights strengthen the Regenerative Futures programme, bridging local and global contexts and helping to drive meaningful change.
We ended the year with a reflection period to prepare for ideation in 2025, identifying innovative ideas to support and develop in the coming years.
The retreat embodied our commitment to fostering unexpected connections and new collaborations by creating an inclusive, safe space where new ideas could emerge. This approach is core to our theory of change. The programme included a facilitation of the Three Horizons (3H) Framework, mapping bold pathways toward 2050 and a future where justice, interdependence and innovation replace extraction, exploitation and inequality.
The event contributed to broader developments, helping foster stronger connections among global changemakers, offering practical tools to guide systemic transformation, and encouraging participants to question established structures with greater assurance.
This retreat reinforced Unearthodox’s role as a catalyst for transformative change, ensuring participants returned empowered to create tangible, real-world impact.
“I have longed for spaces and community where the search for answers falls away, and we can hold the tension of being in the questions, let the contraction of protection soften, and make space for something yet unknown to emerge.” Marika Heinrichs, Wildbody
Our Exploratory Calls build trust, raise awareness of Unearthodox, and ensure that our approach remains inclusive, co-creative and deeply aligned with the complex systems we aim to transform. Calls were held with stakeholders from Yukon Territory (CA) to Cameroon, France, India, the Philippines and beyond, spanning sectors from academia and NGOs to government, independent researchers and the private sector.
Together, we uncovered understandings of regeneration, barriers and enablers that shape this evolving field, and pathways towards regenerative futures. We also engaged a qualitative analyst to highlight key themes, definitions and early signals for where regeneration might lead us next.
The call for creative content received an enthusiastic response with a total of 340 entries representing 73 nationalities, one third from the Global South. Nine jurors evaluated and awarded top honours to four entries and a smaller prize to 12 more for their power to move the jury. The call resulted in the publication of Cycles of Hope, showcasing a collection of the submitted works, curated to guide the reader on a process of creative regeneration.
“Building towards regeneration, we start adapting from today sustainable practices and collaborative strategies that prioritise the health of our natural environment, well-being of people, and the long-term prosperity of future generations.” Myra Colis
As Myra and so many other participants pointed out, we need not restart everything anew; we just need to recognise and build on the good and regenerative things that already exist around us.
The Anthology of Regenerative Futures reflects a deeper ambition: to surface plural and diverse ways of knowing, bridging modern, systems-oriented approaches with Indigenous, ancestral and alternative perspectives.
Rather than offering a definitive account, this work invites readers into an ongoing exploration. The Anthology gathers original contributions from a range of researchers, each framed to honour its context and intention. It challenges binary thinking, embraces emergence, and proposes regeneration as a space for co-creation, dialogue and innovation. It aims to provoke, inspire and ultimately help translate expanded understanding into meaningful action.
The retreat embodied our commitment to fostering unexpected connections and new collaborations by creating an inclusive, safe space where new ideas could emerge. This approach is core to our theory of change. The programme included a facilitation of the Three Horizons (3H) Framework, mapping bold pathways towards 2050 and a future where justice, interdependence and innovation replace extraction, exploitation and inequality.
The event contributed to broader developments, helping foster stronger connections among global changemakers, offering practical tools to guide systemic transformation, and encouraging participants to question established structures with greater assurance.
This retreat reinforced Unearthodox’s role as a catalyst for transformative change, ensuring participants returned empowered to create tangible, real-world impact.
“I have longed for spaces and community where the search for answers falls away, and we can hold the tension of being in the questions, let the contraction of protection soften, and make space for something yet unknown to emerge.” Marika Heinrichs, Wildbody
