Why Regeneration Is Our Next Revolution | Finn Harries | TEDxDaltVila

Key Concepts

Regeneration, Sustainability, Circular Economy, Linear Economy, Regenerative Agriculture, Terrapeta (Black Earth), Key Lines, Cover Crops, Community Food Hub, Food Security, Greenwashing.

From Devastation to Regeneration: A Personal Journey

Six years ago, the speaker moved from city life to an abandoned farm on the northern tip of Ibiza, a landscape devastated by a forest fire. The pine forest was leveled, resembling a "nuclear bomb" site. Initially overwhelmed, the speaker observed nature's resilience: pine cones, unlocked by the fire's heat, sprouted in the nutrient-rich ash. New pines, aromatics, native bushes, and wildlife soon emerged. This transformation inspired the speaker to explore how design can mimic nature's regenerative capacity in the face of climate and environmental disruption.

Shifting from Sustainability to Regeneration

The speaker argues for a shift from a "sustainable culture" to a "regenerative one." Sustainability is framed as "doing less bad," while regeneration involves actively participating in nature's renewal. This requires moving from a linear "take, make, waste" model to a circular one.

• Linear Economy (Line): A one-way relationship with nature: "take, make, waste." This extraction-based system is unsustainable because it depletes resources without replenishment.
• Circular Economy (Circle): A reciprocal relationship where resources are cycled back into the system. Food, water, and materials are reused, becoming building blocks for future processes. This "closing the loop" allows nature to thrive.

Ancient Wisdom: Terrapeta and Indigenous Land Stewardship

The video highlights historical examples of regenerative practices:

• Terrapeta (Black Earth): Fertile soil in the Amazon rainforest, enhanced by humans through the intentional cycling of organic matter, biochar, and microbes. This soil supports the rainforest's biodiversity.
• Indigenous Land Stewardship: North American indigenous groups shaped ecosystems through controlled burning and intentional planting, creating landscapes now recognized as national parks.

These examples demonstrate humanity's potential to participate in regeneration.

Regenerative Agriculture: A Path Forward

The speaker identifies food as a critical area for regenerative practices. While the current food system drives deforestation, freshwater use, biodiversity loss, and greenhouse gas emissions, regenerative agriculture offers a solution.

• Regenerative Agriculture: A farming approach that feeds both people and ecosystems above and below ground.

The speaker led the design of a community food hub and regenerative farm on a 20-hectare abandoned dairy farm in Ibiza, inspired by the pine forest's transformation.

The Ibiza Case Study: La Casa de la Cosecha

The project aimed to address Ibiza's reliance on imported food (98% of consumption), a threat to food security and a manifestation of the linear economy. The approach involved:

1. Feeding the Soil: Mimicking Amazonian techniques by cycling in food waste, horse manure, and biochar to create a thriving soil ecosystem.
2. Natural Planting: Using key lines (natural curves of the land) to slow down and capture rainwater.
3. Crop Diversity: Planting a diverse range of vegetables, herbs, flowers, and fruit trees for resilience and year-round harvests.
4. Cover Crops: Using "green armor" to protect soil on unplanted land.
5. Natural Pest Control: Introducing ducks for snails and calendula flowers to attract ladybugs for aphids, avoiding artificial pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.
6. Animal Integration: Introducing goats (lawnmowers), chickens (pest control), and honeybees (pollinators).

After two years, the abandoned farm was thriving. Other regenerative farming projects emerged across Ibiza, creating a need for infrastructure to support local food distribution.

La Casa de la Cosecha: A Community Food Hub

The project renovated an old slaughterhouse into "La Casa de la Cosecha" (House of Harvest), a community food hub for processing food from the regenerative farms. It includes a farm shop and tasting room to connect the community with locally grown food.

• Circular Design Principles: The renovation used wood fiber panels, clay-cork-lime insulation, and reclaimed French cheeseboards – all natural, carbon-sequestering, and recyclable materials.

The hub has become a popular community space for volunteering, farm tours, workshops, and tasting experiences.

Regeneration Beyond Agriculture

The speaker emphasizes that regeneration is not limited to farming. It involves weaving new connections between people, life, and the land, "putting the culture back into agriculture."

Cautions and Future Directions

The speaker warns against "greenwashing" the term "regenerative agriculture" before it is properly defined and certified. Further innovation is needed to measure and verify regeneration processes and reduce the costs of transitioning to regenerative farming.

Call to Action

The speaker invites viewers to support regenerative farming through their food choices: asking about the origin and production methods of their food. Regenerative practices are also emerging in city design, businesses, economies, and communities, all based on the principle of closing the loop.

Conclusion

The video concludes with a call to action: in the face of climate change and a failing linear system, individuals should become "exploding pine cones," planting seeds for a new regenerative movement.

Notable Quotes

• "Nature always finds a way to rebound in crisis, that's what makes it inherently regenerative."
• "We need to move from a line to a circle."
• "It's about putting the culture back into agriculture."
• "My invitation to you is to become the exploding pine cones."