We are in ecological and cultural overshoot. How can we create financial structures and interconnected, holistic systems to support the vital bioregional regeneration work required? The Bioregional Regenerative Finance Forum took place Friday, September 27, 2024 from 9am-1pm at the Kortright Centre, in the Greater Tkaronto Bioregion (GTB). It was co-hosted by the Legacy Project (Core Team for 7-Generation GTB) and the Design School for Regenerating Earth. It marked the launch of the Earth Regeneration Fund, and was the capstone event for a week-long gathering of bioregional organizers that included Brandon Letsinger from Cascadia, Keetue Winters, and Chez Lily from the Forests of the Northeast, Will Masters from the Ogalla aquifer, Joe Brewer, Natalie and Penny Heiple from the Northern Andes and Barichara, Bill Baue and Jennifer Dhyana from R3.0, Tyler Wakefield from BioFi, and Sydney Griffith from the Kinship Earth Flow Fund.
The forum dialogue was at the intersection of finance and whole-systems work – social and ecological regeneration for ecopsychosocial wellbeing to #ChangeTheStory. We can only do this complex work by going beyond traditional financial models and creating Bioregional Funding Ecosystems. Speakers include (in order): Brian Puppa, Executive Director of the Legacy Project; Susan V. Bosak, Founder of the Legacy Project; Dr. Dan Longboat, Associate Professor at Trent University; Joe Brewer, Co-Founder of the Design School for Regenerating Earth; Mohamed Huque, Director of Community Impact at the Toronto Foundation; Martin Kirk, Program Director of the NoVo Foundation, as well as nine representatives from various projects in the GTB also presented short overviews of their work as part of the GTB Portfolio of Projects. This was followed by a luncheon and open discussion at the Kortright Centre.
Video sections:
- 00:00:00 Titles
- 00:00:23 Forum Participant Reactions
- 00:07:50 Kortright Centre Welcome – Adrian O’Driscoll
- 00:09:31 What is 7-Generation GTB? – Brian Puppa, Legacy Project
- 00:12:42 Conceptual Overview – Susan V. Bosak, Legacy Project
- 00:26:53 Indigenous Ways of Knowing – Dr. Dan Longboat, Trent University
- 00:46:16 Why the Bioregional Scale? – Joe Brewer, Design School for Regenerating Earth
- 01:04:07 Community Funding – Mohamed Huque, Toronto Foundation
- 01:09:05 Systems Funding – Martin Kirk, NoVo Foundation
- 01:19:06 Earth Regeneration Fund – Joe Brewer, Design School for Regenerating Earth
- 01:29:57 GTB Bioregional Funding Ecosystem – Brian Puppa, Legacy Project
- 01:41:08 Group 1 Project Introductions – Brian Puppa, Legacy Project
- 01:42:26 Val Steinmann, Heartwood Farm & Cidery
- 01:51:12 Debbe Crandall, Mount Wolfe Farm
- 01:57:05 Susan Walmer, Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust
- 02:00:41 Group 2 Project Introductions – Brian Puppa, Legacy Project
- 02:01:41 John Stille, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
- 02:09:12 Kate Hayes, Credit Valley Conservation
- 02:17:22 Cory Harris, Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority
- 02:26:38 Group 3 Project Introductions – Brian Puppa, Legacy Project
- 02:27:46 Janet McKay, LEAF
- 02:33:30 Carly Spragg, Legacy Project
- 02:38:42 Miya Mastrofini, Student EcoLeader
- 02:44:13 Dream Bigger, Create Legacy – Susan V. Bosak, Legacy Project
- 02:47:18 GTB Dreams Video Presentation featuring David Crombie
The Kortright Centre for Conservation is located on 325 hectares of pristine woodlands, combining a protected natural forest, with with some of the most leading-edge sustainable education programs and events in Canada, hosting 100,000 visitors annually and offering more than 50 environmental education programs for schools, as well as a selection of 30 different sustainable technology workshops for the public, trades and professionals.
Hosted by
- Bioregional Earth: https://www.bioregionalearth.org
- 7-Generation Legacy Project and the Greater Tkoronto Bioregion https://www.legacyproject.org/7gen/in…
If you are curious about what we are doing with Regenerate Cascadia, and the broader interconnected, and interdependent bioregional & mycelial web that we are growing, you need to watch this video.
The first 1:30 hrs, at least, is especially powerful (by all means, please do listen to the whole presentation as well), but I want to especially highlight the session by Dan Longboat, talking about the importance of Bioregionalism, Joe Brewer on Bioregional Scales, and the Earth Regeneration Fund, and then HIGHLY recommend the session by Martin Kirk and the Novo Foundation.
