Bioregional Guilds are communities of practice that support the regeneration of Cascadia. They connect people with shared interests across the Cascadia bioregion. Guilds are experiments in developing a cultural system for decentralized network building that aims to clarify shared purpose and cultivate common pool resources and public goods (described generally as “prosocial values”). A stewardship team supports the coherence and capacity of a guild and promotes these prosocial values.
A Bioregional guild forms around a topic and skills important for Landscape Hubs and regenerative practitioners and communities. Each Guild serves as a welcoming space for those who want to learn about a specific topic. It connects people across landscapes at the scale of the entire bioregion. The guild takes responsibility for creating resources, classes, tools, and general discussion space on that topic for the Regenerate Cascadia community. It also curates topic-specific events, resources, and directories, which it makes available to the Cascadia Community. They also manage a budget, can fundraise and receive grants, and can have staff.
A Bioregional Guild is a 501(c)3 program of Regenerate Cascadia. They receive the full benefits of being a part of the nonprofit umbrella of Regenerate Cascadia, can receive tax-exempt donations, grants, and insurance liability, represent that program to the general public, and must follow the agreements and policies laid out in these documents. They must also follow the reporting requirements if they receive or spend funds. The purpose of a Guild is to come in service to and amplify and support work happening in the landscape. Guilds are comprised of Regenerate Cascadia Stewards.
Every bioregional guild needs a team to cultivate the conditions for the guild to thrive. The goal of this team is not to control the guild or anticipate all outcomes but to cultivate and hold carefully a shared purpose and vision. Every Regenerate Guild, Hub, BLC, Project or Circle needs a stewardship team to help provide the administrative backbone and take responsibility and accountability for the group’s functions. The goal of this team is not to control decisions or outcomes but to ensure alignment with the overall mission and vision, maintain regular reporting needs, and serve the group’s needs.
Similar topics can be nested under other topics as part of the same Guild; these are called “Circles” or “Projects” (i.e., “Seeds” may be nested under “Permaculture”) if the Guild Stewards feel like it is a good fit and also manage projects (i.e., the Cascadia Seed Guild may steward an “Emergency Resilience Seed Bank”), and budgets. Nested topics and projects will always have autonomy over their work and budget. Still, they can join as part of broader Guild activities to welcome new members, direct people to ways to get active, provide onboarding and support, and create a comprehensive Guild budget that accurately reflects the needs and costs of the Guild Circles and Projects.
A manifestation of a thriving guild is the emergence of projects. Projects happen when guild members form different coherent groups to work together to build our shared resource base. These projects may or may not receive direct support through guild mechanisms, but working together can create more value than individually. The guild can support project teams through mentoring, sharing resources, and facilitating coalitions. We anticipate the following mechanisms by which the guild supports our shared work.
We anticipate developing systems of reciprocity, where projects that benefit from a guild, in turn, support guild processes, creating a feedback loop that increases common pool resources.
Independent Projects that apply for and receive fiscal sponsorship under Regenerate Cascadia can also be nested under relevant guilds, providing onboarding and a supportive and welcoming environment for new members just learning about or getting involved.
A Regenerate Cascadia Seed Group is created when you have your first Regenerate Cascadia meetup. It can last for as many meetings as necessary until the group has grown, desires to grow, and becomes organized enough to become a Regenerate Cascadia Hub.
If you are just getting started, let us know in the application.
We’d love to share an announcement and find people to help get your group off the ground.
After an initial onboarding session, you will be provided a link to the online application and invited to apply.
If you would like to start a hub or guild and have 3 more people who can serve as “Stewards” for the group, apply to start a Hub.
Is Inactive for more than three months.
The leadership team decides to dissolve the group.
If the RC Admin Team or Board of Directors feels the activities harm Regenerate Cascadia or put other projects or groups at risk.
Upon dissolution, the group’s assets will be archived and held for six months, and as long as the group is in good standing, it can be restarted at any time.
Bioregional Guilds are communities of practice that support the regeneration of Cascadia. They connect people with shared interests across the Cascadia bioregion. Guilds are experiments in developing a cultural system for decentralized network building that aims to clarify shared purpose and cultivate common pool resources and public goods (described generally as “prosocial values”). A stewardship team supports the coherence and capacity of a guild and promotes these prosocial values.
A Bioregional guild forms around a topic and skills important for Landscape Hubs and regenerative practitioners and communities. Each Guild serves as a welcoming space for those who want to learn about a specific topic. It connects people across landscapes at the scale of the entire bioregion. The guild takes responsibility for creating resources, classes, tools, and general discussion space on that topic for the Regenerate Cascadia community. It also curates topic-specific events, resources, and directories, which it makes available to the Cascadia Community. They also manage a budget, can fundraise and receive grants, and can have staff.
A Bioregional Guild is a 501(c)3 program of Regenerate Cascadia. They receive the full benefits of being a part of the nonprofit umbrella of Regenerate Cascadia, can receive tax-exempt donations, grants, and insurance liability, represent that program to the general public, and must follow the agreements and policies laid out in these documents. They must also follow the reporting requirements if they receive or spend funds. The purpose of a Guild is to come in service to and amplify and support work happening in the landscape. Guilds are comprised of Regenerate Cascadia Stewards.
If you are interested in Fiscal Sponsorship for your group or project, we invite you to join us for a board meeting, a staff meeting, or a one-on-one Zoom call with Clare, Brandon, or our program officer – to introduce yourself and the project – and get to know us a bit better as well.
After receiving your document, we will be in touch with you within a week for further review. When ready, your application will be reviewed by our staff and board of directories and the final step will be signing a Memo of Understanding between your project and Regenerate Cascadia.
Before starting this process, people should know that applications can take up to 2 months to approve and must be approved by our board of directors. However, the more familiar we are with your project and the more able we talk through things, the faster the process will be. We thank you ahead of time for your understanding. When you submit, we’ll follow up within the week and can also talk with you a bit more about your schedule.
Before submitting, we highly recommend discussing this application and budget with a Regenerate Cascadia team member. We’re here to answer any questions, and we would love to help you run through your application or budget.
For questions or assistance, contact:
cascadia@deptofbioregion.org
Year 1: Funding A Bioregional Regeneration Strategy: 2024 Sensemaking In The Landscape
Much of what Regenerate Cascadia is trying to do does not currently exist, and we recognize that we don’t have the capacity yet to support what is needed in the landscapes or happening on the ground. Because of this, we are using the remainder of 2024 to work with Regenerate Cascadia Stewards, who have stepped forward to help us sense what is needed to design a Bioregional Regeneration Strategy for those interested in potentially growing:
This includes developing a shared vision, mission, and purpose, identifying core design challenges, principles, values, and a theory of change that can guide our work. This information will all be brought together as part of Regenerate Cascadia’s first-year “Bioregional Regeneration Strategy,” which will help inform our priorities, needs, and funding requests in the future. We also hope it will serve as a basis for similar efforts by groups in the field.
Regenerate Cascadia is allocating a series of micro-grants to potential groups to hire process facilitators (who may be members of that group) to work with those Stewards to anchor the following processes to create a document that will make up a part of our Bioregional Regeneration Strategy and be used to guide our future fundraising requests.
Regenerate Cascadia is creating a funding ecosystem so that groups can receive funding immediately and begin to grow our governance as a group and organization.
Outside of this, Hubs, Guilds, and Projects maintain their own budgets, payroll, and staff.
We believe the people living in a place are the best suited to take the lead on issues affecting that area. Through our work, we connect projects, organizations and groups together, and work to strengthen each by providing services such as outreach, website support, fundraising, legal support, and anything else we can do to empower their success.
We sponsor and support any work that builds greater understandings of bioregions, promote place appropriate technologies and policies, provide direct funding for community projects, and support the creation of centers to determine the carrying capacities and regenerative frameworks for each watershed and bioregion we live in.
No matter what, if your work aligns with ours, we would love to:
If you would like sponsorship, we also can help by:
Is Inactive for more than three months.
The leadership team decides to dissolve the group.
If the RC Admin Team or Board of Directors feels the activities harm Regenerate Cascadia or put other projects or groups at risk.
Upon dissolution, the group’s assets will be archived and held for six months, and as long as the group is in good standing, it can be restarted at any time.
Please advise Regenerate Cascadia ASAP of any upcoming project events or milestones. The more notice we receive, the more visibility we can lend to your awesome project achievements.
Inside the United States:
Regenerate Cascadia is building an integrated website, network, and platform for regenerative projects and communities within the Cascadia bioregion. This includes:
The digital platform includes a structural framework (see Figure 1) that prioritizes on-the-ground, community-led work within a landscape while thoughtfully aggregating place-based work into larger coordination structures.
Please confirm you want to block this member.
You will no longer be able to:
Please note: This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.
