Megan Greig, Associate at Elliott Wood explores how regenerative design shifts mindsets, valuing systems thinking, local materials and community-driven circular solutions.

The journey towards regenerative design requires us to shed old habits and embrace new ways of thinking. It means moving from being solely designers to stewards of materials, buildings, communities and ecosystems.

The webinar demonstrated that this transition is already underway, with projects showing how our built environment can help repair ecological damage while creating places that enable human and non-human life to flourish together.

At the heart of regenerative design is systems thinking, understanding the complex web of relationships that make up our built and natural environments. David Cheshire from AECOM referenced Donella Meadows' work on leverage points, which identifies places to intervene in a system for maximum impact.

For those new to systems thinking, the Systems Bookcase published by Oliver Broadbent and James Norman offers an accessible introduction. This resource helps built environment professionals understand how to apply systems thinking to create more holistic, resilient solutions.

Rather than focusing on individual building performance, regenerative design asks us to consider how our interventions might strengthen rather than deplete broader ecosystems, communities, and supply chains.

David said, "Let's banish the concept of waste. There's nothing wasteful. There's no waste. It's only nutrients."

Material Cultures and their collaborators are transforming overlooked materials like cactus fibre, pine bark and straw. Their London exhibition showcases furniture made from waste textiles and an innovative plaster derived from paper industry byproducts. These pioneers demonstrate how local "waste" materials can become valuable resources when approached with creativity and technical knowledge.

Regenerative design shifts our mindset from 'What do I want?' to 'What do I have available?'. At Elliott Wood, we worked on The Arbour project, a development of 10 new homes in Walthamstow. The project demonstrated that materials previously thought of as ‘waste’ can have a new life. This included repurposing steel plates to form new structural connections and compressing the excavated soil to form 35,000 party wall bricks.

This circular approach isn't just environmentally sound; it's increasingly economically wise. Bioregional materials and circular systems can diversify supply chains and shield our economies from global volatility.

A deep understanding of place at the start of a project can identify locally abundant skills and materials.

Tom Gibson's presentation on the Colchester Garden community illustrated how extensive stakeholder engagement informed a master plan that respected existing ecological features while creating new opportunities for community connection.

Shreya Aneja from White Arkitekter described their approach to the Velindre Cancer Centre in Wales, where despite healthcare constraints, they incorporated natural materials including timber and hempcrete. This not only benefitted patients but also helped establish supply chains for these materials.

Louisa Bowles from Hawkins\Brown raised an important question: Is it possible to declare a project fully regenerative? What constitutes "regenerative enough"?

It seems unlikely that at the end of construction, any team could definitively say, "This project creates a system of positive feedback loops that simultaneously improves all social, ecological and financial outcomes." As Amelia Lennon summarised, "We can't solve every problem individually, so it's about seeing what you can actually do."

Hawkins\Brown's pragmatic approach includes creating accessible resources for the wider industry, such as their regenerative overlay for the RIBA Plan of Work. This provides designers with a familiar framework for embedding regenerative principles at different design stages.

As designers, we have agency to challenge current systems through goals, mindsets and policy. Regenerative design demonstrates how we can view buildings as catalysts for community prosperity.

We don't need to transform everything at once. Start by finding one opportunity within your project's constraints where you can make a difference. Look beyond the red line boundary to understand the systems you're working within. And remember, we're not just creating static objects; we're impacting places and communities that will continue to evolve long after we've moved on.