Sacred design

Imagine a field. 

You are standing in the middle of a field. 

All around you are stalks of corn. Deep green, eye-high plants in every direction. Soft tassles hang from ears of corn on each plant, swishing gently in the wind.

The ground beneath you is hard, brown-grey. The rise and fall of the rows are like waves, up and down, up and down. 

Notable is what you do not see: no bugs, no birds, no weeds. Just stalk after stalk of corn, so dense you can hardly walk through. 

A tractor planted this corn. Each seed placed in the dirt was identical, property of a multinational corporation and modified genetically. Herbicide and fertilizer is sprayed routinely along the rows. 

This corn will be harvested by machines. It will be processed and packed by machines. It will be turned into feed for factory-farmed animals or high-fructose corn syrup for junk food.

It will not nourish. It will not be stored for seed for future plantings, because each seed includes a "terminator gene" to ensure that next year, new seeds need to be purchased from that same multinational company. 

If a plague or natural disaster comes to this field, it will be demolished. It has no resistance or resilience to adversity. 

Over the years, the density of the planting will diminish. The size and shine of the corn will wane. Yield will decrease. The roots will shrink. The soil will harden. 

Life will die. 

This is degeneration. 

In farming, as in any and all systems, the way something is designed determines the outcome it will have. 

In an industrial/mechanistic paradigm, life is a machine. Think about the idea of the "clockwork universe" - that laws determine all movements of our vast planetary system. In this paradigm, nature is predictable - and controllable. Humanity is separate - and superior. Natural resources exist for our benefit - and profit. This mentality has pervaded much of Western/Northern thinking since the so-called Enlightenment in Europe in the 17th Century. It continues to influence dominant economic, social, political and agricultural systems. It is imbued in capitalism, extractivism, racism and colonialism. And it is the blueprint for the design of government, business, organizations and even sometimes family.

This paradigm is degenerate and it degenerates. It is corrupt and it corrupts. 

Think back to the field of genetically-modified industrially-planted corn. By treating both the plant and the field as parts of a machine, to produce profit, the principles of life are lost - as are all the features and strengths of a natural, living system. 

This same example applies to the organization where you are working or the relationships you are cultivating. If in your job, you are expected to carry out a pre-determined, predictable task over and over, at some point changing conditions, additional variables, or just simple human exhaustion will take over. If you treat your child as a machine to be programmed with behaviors and actions to your liking, they will not be living into their full potential as a wholistic human being.

With a shift in perspective, comes a shift from degeneration to regeneration. From decay to life. From machine to living systems. 

Living systems design, or regenerative design, proposes applying principles of living systems to social systems. Posited on the belief that design is intentional, this approach integrates systems theory with organizational development with ancestral wisdom with scientific query. It is developed from a deep observation of nature and inclusive consideration of many lineages of wisdom traditions. 

Viewing life from a systems perspective, life is complex, organized, holistic, self-maintaining and self-generating. Life creates the conditions for life. 

Applied to institutions and organizations, then, living systems design is about shifting towards more interconnected, diverse and evolving functions and structures. The focus is on creating the conditions for health, instead of determining the outcome by any means necessary. Designing for optimal health unleashed unrealized potential in all contributors to the system. This will result in more resilient, healthy, and thriving organizations -- and therefore with more productive and abundante outcomes! 

This approach also touches on questions of equity and inclusive. The design process is necessarily participatory. Democracy, not hierarchy prevails. Everyone is taken into account for their unique contribution. Communication is open and decentralized. Growth is seen as cyclical, not linear and not exponential. Work happens in nodes, circles within circles, instead of a supply chain.  

This shift requires a change in mentality, attitudes and habits, as much as structures and patterns. It is an ongoing, evolving process of biomimicry - imitating the genius of nature in social structures. It is a recognition of the profound wisdom of earth-based traditions. It is a practice of respect and reverence for Mother Nature. 

In this way, I think regenerative design principles are sacred principles. In showing deep respect, appreciation, and apprenticeship to the teachings of nature, we are honoring the sacred in creation. We are using, as a starting point, the model and blueprint of nature. We position ourselves as part of and in relationship to, all life everywhere. And we design with the purpose of regenerating life: exalting and encouraging life to thrive, in all its diverse forms. 

Now, imagine a field. 

You are standing in the middle of a field. 

All around you are stalks of corn. Deep green, eye-high plants are the skyscrapers of a diverse panorama of leaves, stalks, and vines. Soft tassles hang from ears of corn on each plant, swishing gently in the wind. 

The ground beneath you is muddy and brown. You are in a gully and on both sides, the ground swells up, covered in broad leaves and soft yellow blooms. These are squash, protecting the soil and enjoying the shade from sister corn. Stems shoot up next to the corn: beans wrapping delightfully around the thick, strong stalks. They add nitrogen to the soil for the thirsty corn. 

Photo: https://elpatindelola.weebly.com/la-nueva-milpa-verata.html

Worms crawl, ladybugs dance and bees buzz around the plants.

Hands planted this corn - and squash and beans. The three sisters or millpa, is an ancient tradition from the Americas. Each seed placed in the dirt with care and intention, likely a prayer of gratitude to Mother Earth, a petition for abundance and bounty. The seeds saved and selected over generations, representing a few of the hundreds of varieties of corn, that come in a rainbow of colors. Herbicide and fertilizer are not chemical - weed and pest control and growth stimulation are integrated into the system with companion planting and helpful insects. Everyone has a role.

This corn will be harvested with reverence by human hands. Maybe older hands who have seen many harvests along with little hands who are touching the soft silk and bumpy rind and hairy pods for the first time. This corn will be eaten off the cob, ground into flour, and fermented into drinks. 

It will nourish. By eating it, it will nourish the health of people and by growing it, it will nourish the earth. The seeds will be selected and saved in glass jars to ensure that next year, this family and community have another bountiful harvest. 

Photo: http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/content/59-indigenous-corn-varieties-risk-monsanto-eyes-mexico

 

If a plague or natural disaster comes to this field, it will surely wreak havoc. But because resistence and resiliency is built into biodiversity, some crops will be sacrificed while others remain staunch.

Over the years, the diversity of the planting will expand. The size and shine of the corn will magnify. Yield will increase. The roots will deepend. The soil will grow supple.

Life will thrive. 

This is regeneration.

 

***

This post is inspired by the course Foundations of Regenerative Organizations by nRhythm. 

Living systems theory based on Fritjof Capra et.al., The Systems View of Life. 

Many other resources and contributions to regenerative design ideas can by found on nRhythm's resources page. 

To read more about agroecology as an alternative to industrial farming practices, see: Agroecology Fund and La Via Campesina.