Architects, planners, and designers are being urged to transform the built environment by learning from nature.
Regenerative Design: Towards living in harmony with nature gives built environment professionals the practical steps they can take to break away from this ‘take, make, waste’ cycle and instead begin to reverse ecological damage and regenerate planetary and social health.
The report shows the urgent need for a shift towards regenerative design – a holistic approach where humans don’t just reduce the damage done to nature but actively work to restore and replenish it. It aims to inspire action by showing the ways designers around the world are already implementing these principles: from a building in Harare, Zimbabwe, which is designed like a termite mound to stay cool without air conditioning; to a facility in Saudi Arabia using algae and animals to clean wastewater.
It also demonstrates how legislation can help rediscover the principles Indigenous and traditional communities have followed for millennia. For example, the Whanganui River in New Zealand receiving legal recognition as a living entity, allowing action to be taken in court against those that harm it.
The authors warn there is a massive challenge to reach the scale of change that is needed for the built environment industry to halt and reverse its negative impact on nature, restore the damage done, and deliver positive outcomes for people and the planet.