BIOREGIONAL FUNDING

We are in ecological and cultural overshoot. Can money grow in trees? Says economist John Fullerton, "I know that the current economy is driven by finance and if the economic premise of our entire global economy is in conflict with the laws of physics, we have a serious problem."

At the most basic level, economics should be concerned with two things: 1) stewarding resources to meet the needs of and create value for all life, and 2) a system of coordination for human activity. Our current global economic system doesn't speak effectively to either and is, in fact, fundamentally unsustainable.

7-Generation GTB is growing a metaphorical Tree of Life through social and ecological regeneration for ecopsychosocial wellbeing.

What that looks like on the ground is creating parallel structures and processes.

The three key structures are a Bioregional Learning Center (which catalyzes and informs bioregional activities and creates coherence), a Portfolio of Projects (featuring fundable landscape regeneration opportunities), and a Bioregional Foundation (which stewards a Bioregional Funding Ecosystem to support local regenerative projects).

The Bioregional Funding Ecosystem helps us clarify what we value and stewards funding to support our bioregional values. It enables regenerative projects and mobilizes resources.

Innovative funding structures for regeneration are emerging globally, and the GTB can be one of the leaders in creating this kind of funding. For example, global regeneration leader Joe Brewer, with whom we're working on Bioregional Earth, writes about his involvement in a special gathering of territorial foundations from different parts of Colombia to create a Bioregional Regeneration Fund for the Northern Andes.

We're compiling a portfolio of regenerative projects as inspiration and as part of a new GTB Bioregional Funding Ecosystem we're creating. People need to see regenerative projects of all sizes and types, and we need to collectively work together to value and fund projects across the bioregion. The portfolio brings together fragmented, decontextualized projects to enable a holistic evaluation of needs and priorities, and multiply effort through synergies.

With the interest of both local and international funders, some exciting possibilities are emerging.