A Year of Momentum for Impact: Unearthodox Annual Report 2025
Unearthodox has launched its Annual Report 2025, highlighting a year of deepening collaboration, creative exploration and bold experimentation in support of regenerative futures for people and nature.
"2025 was a year of momentum for Unearthodox and those we serve. Things started to move on their own energy, toward their own creation. Introductions and convening resulted in connections and partnerships, and started to move into action. Innovators surfaced and grew via incubation, offerings of knowledge and insights nurtured and shared, and re-shared. And, importantly, when we think of momentum, we think of this traditional definition of moving forward, an energy to go forward. This energy was definitely there." - Melanie Ryan, CEO of Unearthodox
Structured around its three pathways to change – Connect, Reimagine and Innovate – the report reflects how Unearthodox is bringing together diverse communities, challenging dominant narratives and supporting new forms of social innovation to address complex environmental and societal challenges.
Connect: weaving relational ecosystems
In 2025, Unearthodox intentionally focused on fostering unexpected connections across disciplines, sectors, and worldviews, bringing together Indigenous leaders and AI researchers, biomimicry educators and legal innovators, systems investors and community practitioners, among others. These curated spaces were designed to cultivate trust, curiosity, and collaborative inquiry, moving beyond transactional relationships.
Reimagine: redefining what is possible
In 2025, Unearthodox invested deeply in narrative transformation, reframing regeneration as relational, justice-centred, and plural – working from the conviction that before systems can change, imagination must expand. Across our programmes, a clear pattern emerged: regenerative narratives are gaining traction, with more conservation actors engaging with systems thinking and approaches that move beyond extraction toward renewal.
Innovate: turning ideas into action
In 2025, Unearthodox incubated the first cohort of its Exploration Co-Lab, supporting seven systems innovators with seed funding, branding and storytelling support, legal and financial guidance, leadership coaching, and access to trusted networks. The year also saw the launch of two major open calls. The Sparks of Regeneration global call attracted 576 submissions from 88 countries, and the Edges of Possibility open call drew 501 applications from 92 countries. Eight initiatives from the Sparks of Regeneration process will enter collective incubation in early 2026.
Together, these interconnected pathways demonstrate Unearthodox’s commitment to nurturing transformative change through collaboration, creativity and inclusive innovation. The Annual Report 2025 offers insight into an organisation continuing to evolve its role as a catalyst for regeneration, equity and long-term systems transformation.
At the beginning of April, Unearthodox marked an important moment of transition within its Board, saying farewell to two valued members while welcoming new leadership.
After more than 13 years of engagement, ten of which with the Luc Hoffmann Institute, Lynda Manssonhas stepped down from the Unearthodox Board.
Throughout her time with the organisation, Lynda has been a steadfast supporter, a thoughtful leader, and an inspiring presence. From the early days of Unearthodox, she played a key role in helping shape its direction and identity within the conservation landscape. Her guidance has helped shape not only what Unearthodox does, but how it does it: with curiosity, courage, and a commitment to meaningful change. We are deeply grateful for Lynda’s vision, generosity, and enduring belief in doing things differently.
We also extend our sincere thanks to Didier Nsanzineza, whose three year term is also coming to an end. Didier brought invaluable legal insight during the setup phase of Unearthodox, alongside a deeply inquisitive mind that strengthened discussions and decision-making. His thoughtful engagement, perspective, and dedication have been instrumental to the organisation’s development. We are grateful for his contributions.
“I am very proud to count Lynda and Didier as dedicated colleagues and friends. Their belief in Unearthodox, and constructive, calm, and consistent contributions have been foundational to the organisation, and continue to guide our work. Thank you. At the same time I’m delighted to welcome Kristian and David. They’re already showing to be inquisitive, sincere, and ambitious. We wish them a warm welcome on the Unearthodox journey.” Frederic Hoffmann, Chair of the Board
Kristian brings extensive experience in business and conservation leadership, including his work at the World Economic Forum and as CEO of Fauna & Flora International. His ability to bridge global systems and environmental priorities will be invaluable as Unearthodox continues to evolve.
David brings deep expertise in innovation, narrative, and organisation-building. Through the Storyboard Collective and as a seasoned venture capitalist, he offers a thoughtful and unique perspective on shaping ideas, scaling impact, and supporting transformative initiatives.
“All our Board members are part of the legacy of Unearthodox that we are creating together, crafting a world beyond extraction. I can not thank Lynda and Didier enough for their dedication and contributions, and I welcome Kristian and David. Right now we need all the energy and leadership we can find to build a vibrant planet and our Board keeps us focussed on this direction through their diverse backgrounds and support.” Melanie Ryan, CEO of Unearthodox
As we look ahead, Unearthodox remains committed to convening diverse voices, fostering bold ideas, and driving meaningful change.
Introducing the Anthology of Regenerative Futures
What does regeneration really mean, and who gets to define it?
Today, Unearthodox launches the Anthology of Regenerative Futures, a woven collection of voices, stories and lived experiences exploring regeneration as something relational, embodied and pluralistic, rather than a single definition.
Exploring the roots and evolution of regeneration
Shaped by conversations with more than 500 voices spanning diverse landscapes of lives, disciplines and traditions, the Anthology emerged from Unearthodox’s three year Regenerative Futures programme. What started out as a report on the ‘state of knowledge’ around regeneration, evolved into a collective exploration, with perspectives brought to life through the collaboration of many heads, hearts and hands. Our sincere thanks go to everyone who contributed to the creation of the Anthology for lending their time and wisdom so generously.
Exploring the Anthology
Structured around four compass points, the Anthology offers multiple entries for exploration: North for decolonisation and justice, East for rationality and systems, South for embodiment and practice, and West for plurality. Readers are invited to navigate these directions intuitively, based on their role or what calls to them most.
Regeneration is cyclical and open-ended
The process of creating the Anthology was neither simple nor linear. It required deep reflection, and a willingness to sit with discomfort as well as possibility. As Anca Damerell reflects in the foreword, “I hadn’t yet understood that regeneration doesn’t just require new methods — it asks for a new self.” This Anthology reflects this journey.
The work honours the reality that regeneration is never finished. There is always more to learn, peel away and honour as we work towards equitable and regenerative futures for all life on Earth.
Sparks of Regeneration: Introducing the Eight Initiatives Joining Our Incubation Journey in 2026
We are delighted to introduce the eight initiatives selected to join the Sparks of Regeneration incubation journey in 2026. Beginning in January, these initiatives, rooted in different places, cultures, and perspectives, will collectively explore regenerative futures not as a single path forward but as many life-affirming experiments unfolding together.
The Sparks of Regeneration Call for entries was not designed as a competition to find “winners”. Instead, it was an intentional, value-led process to form a cohort that embodies diversity and complementarity. The selected ideas represent diverse geographies, lived experiences, ways of knowing, and approaches to regeneration.
We are excited about the opportunity to support these eight initiatives through the incubation process. In the coming year, we will be sharing their work, stories, and learnings as their journey unfolds.
An extraordinary response to our global call
The response to the open call was extraordinary, and the selection process was both rigorous and challenging.
We received 576 completed applications, reflecting an incredible breadth of energy and imagination. Submissions came from people in 80 countries, representing 107 nationalities, with substantial gender diversity and broad representation across backgrounds. Submissions were rooted most strongly in Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Central & Southern Asia, creating a vibrant and colourful mosaic of perspectives and possibilities.
“I really enjoyed seeing and reading such optimism in the regeneration field. It was inspiring to imagine what the world could look like if each of these ideas were fully actualized. I was also moved by the creativity expressed across the proposals” - Phoebe, juror, Sparks of Regeneration
A care-centred selection process
An inspiring group of experts with global experience in regenerative practice, biomimicry, land rights, sustainability finance, transdisciplinary research, sustainable innovation, and healing-centred systems design guided the selection process.
Our jurors shared how profoundly moved they were by the breadth and depth of the applications. We are grateful for the care and mindfulness they brought to the process.
To everyone who applied: Thank you! Each submission reflected deep commitment and hope for regenerative futures, and we honour the time, thought and heart that went into every idea shared.
The Incubation journey ahead
Beginning in January 2026, the eight initiatives will participate in an eight-month incubation programme. Alongside a grant of CHF 10,000 and access to a shared pool of CHF 50,000 in non-financial support, the cohort will be supported by an experienced group of facilitators, designers, and strategic thinkers. This cohort-based journey is supported by an extraordinary group of facilitators, designers, and strategic thinkers who bring deep experience in systems change, community building, and transformative learning. Together, they will guide the cohort through an incubation journey rooted in care, rigour, and regenerative practice. A process that will help deepen understanding, test assumptions, and learn with and from one another through shared inquiry, practice, and exchange.
Reframing for Regeneration: Unearthodox annual report 2024
Unearthodox has published its Annual Report 2024, reflecting a pivotal year in which new ideas, partnerships and experiments began to take root across its growing innovation portfolio.
“2024 was a year of slowly bringing to life the three pillars of our portfolio with those who have resisted being defined or victimised by our current systems. Those who exercise their agency in powerful ways and who push us to think again. Those ready to innovate in unusual and sometimes provocative ways.” Melanie Ryan, CEO of Unearthodox
Throughout the year, Unearthodox deepened its commitment to reframing regeneration as a practice grounded in equity, diverse knowledge systems and long-term systems change. Key highlights include the launch of the Innovation Portfolio Strategy 2024-2026, with significant progress made across all three new programmes: the flagship Regenerative Futures programme, the transformative Exploration Co-Lab and the more forward-thinking Creative Futures for Nature.
We continued to test unconventional approaches through projects such as Sci-Fi, AI and the Futures for Nature, the global Voices of Regeneration call, and an in-person retreat, which brought together artists, thinkers and practitioners from around the world to co-imagine more equitable futures for nature, including people.
“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, participant at the Regenerative Futures retreat
Internally, Unearthodox advanced its Monitoring, evaluation, learning and change (MELC) framework and deepened its work on justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) across all programmes.
If 2023 was a year of laying foundations, then 2024 was the year where those foundations started to support real, tangible growth – new ideas, collaborations and experiments that stretch beyond sustainability toward regeneration, equity and justice.
As Unearthodox looks ahead, it aims to expand this momentum, continuing to support bold ideas, nurture collaborative communities and create the conditions for transformative change.
Exploration Co-Lab 2026 Cohort: Edges of Possibility
The Edges of Possibility Open Call is now closed.
Thank you to everyone who applied to Edges of Possibility, the second cohort of the Exploration Co-Lab. We sincerely appreciate the time, thought, and care that went into every entry.
What’s Next?
We’ve begun reviewing the incredible submissions we received, and we’re truly inspired by the transformative ideas so many of you are developing. Our diverse panel of jurors, each bringing unique expertise and perspectives, will help us select the finalists.
If you are shortlisted, we will contact you in mid-December with an invitation to an informal meeting with the Exploration Co-Lab team. All applicants will be informed of the status of their application before the end of January.
We look forward to publicly announcing the seven selected members of the Edges of Possibility programme in January 2026.
Are you working on today’s nature-society challenges, while also reimagining the systems that caused them?
Join us for a 12-month journey that supports visionaries whose work doesn’t always fit into neat boxes, and more often than not, falls through the cracks. Edges of Possibility, the second cohort of the Exploration Co-Lab by Unearthodox, is a new model of support that encourages radical thinking and risk-taking, and offers deep allyship for innovators whose work flows across conventional boundaries.
About the Edges of Possibility Open Call
Innovation is often associated with segmented approaches, speed, measurability, and scale. But the societal challenges we face are systemic, not isolated, and we know that systemic transformation demands slow, relational, and deeply contextual work. It requires new patterns of attention, through people willing to hold the questions differently. It requires experimentation at the edges of change, defining and redefining what is possible.
This type of work often falls outside of traditional support systems. And the consequence is significant: transformative innovations often remain invisible or under-resourced when they are most needed.
This open call addresses this directly.
We have created a space that supports ideas capable of radically changing the way we care for nature, including people, and we are looking for the bold leaders, the edge-walkers, the systems thinkers, who possess the capacity to navigate complexity. If you are challenging systemic barriers to conservation and exploring what could make our existing systems more just and regenerative, we invite you to apply for our 2026 Exploration Co-Lab: Edges of Possibility.
Edges of Possibility Open Call Timeline
What we offer
Grant funding: CHF 10,000 to help move your idea into action.
Access to a shared pool of up to CHF 60,000 in non-financial but tailored support, including:
Peer learning and shared exploration: uncovering new pathways for radical transformation.
Individualised coaching and expert guidance.
Strategic positioning for yourself and your idea.
Defining and measuring success.
Systems and futures thinking.
12-month journey:Beginning in January 2026, join a cohort of innovators in an online environment dedicated to systemic transformation, connection, and wellbeing.
Visibility and amplification: Your work will be showcased through Unearthodox’s communication channels, helping to expand your reach and impact.
Community and collaboration: We practice deep allyship and will connect you with a global network of systems innovators, mentors, and network weavers.
Who is this call for?
This programme is designed for those who are curious, courageous, and deeply relational. Individuals who value participation, trust, and empathy, who think critically and creatively about the nature-society challenges of today and tomorrow, and who co-create new pathways for systemic change. This call is for you if:
You are an innovator with an early-stage idea already in motion at the intersection of environmental and societal change, who is likely navigating uncertainty or actively shaping your direction.
You are seeking a space for radical experimentation, interdisciplinary collaboration, a decolonised innovation ecosystem, and an environment where care (not profit) is the currency.
You are in an active phase of ideation, research or experimentation, and you want to explore new ways of measuring change and success, and will benefit from customised support.
If this sounds like you, even if your journey has been quiet, messy, internal, or nonlinear until now, we invite you to apply.
We especially welcome underrepresented voices from the global majority and historically excluded communities. Edges of Possibility embraces diversity across age, gender identity, location, and background. The programme is conducted in English and open to all who share a commitment to reimagining systems for a just, vibrant, and regenerative future.
We Invite You To Consider:
What future is your idea helping us to push towards? And away from?
How does it encourage people to see, act, connect, or live in new ways?
How does it challenge current systems and norms, to help all life on Earth thrive together?
What conditions might this transformative work need in order to flourish?
What deeper purpose connects you and others working in this space, on this type of problem?
This Programme Is Not Designed For:
Projects that focus only on surface-level symptoms.
Projects that prioritise speed, growth, or profit above purpose.
People who seek individual support without interest in participating in collective learning.
Projects or approaches that reinforce dominant or extractive systems.
You can also view the full Terms & Conditions of the Open Call here.
For any other questions, please contact colab@unearthodox.org.
Related research: Rethinking Innovation with the Post Growth Institute
Real change doesn’t arrive neatly packaged. It emerges through deep relationships, long-term commitment, and the courage to hold space for the unknown. Rather than asking, ‘what’s the next big idea?’, we ask generatively: ‘what kind of ecosystem makes lasting change possible?’ We explored this in our recent report with the Post-Growth Institute, “Nurturing Innovation: Weaving containers with care and courage for collective change”.
The 2026 Exploration Co-Lab benefits from Unearthodox core funding and additional support from the Mercator Foundation Switzerland. We sincerely thank our supporters and invite new partners to join us.
For partnership opportunities, please contact sofia.papadakaki@unearthodox.org.
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