Principles

Our hope is that the Regenerative Economics materials act like a wildflower, taking root in even the smallest of cracks and spreading seeds to change the way economics is understood by young people around the world.

The guiding principles:

• Facilitate change from the ground up: We recognise the urgency for change in our current systems and believe that change cannot wait for official approval. These learning materials are designed for students that want to change their futures.

• Cultivate local awareness and action: The learning materials aim to be globally relevant, while providing guidance and space for exploration of local contexts. The activities prioritise autonomy and choice, emphasising place-based learning and lived experience; allowing ideas and action to emerge in local contexts.

• Orient towards the sun: Rather than focusing only on criticism of current economic systems, the learning materials aim to be inspiring and irresistible through a hopeful, positive and playful approach to learning about and engaging with economic systems.

• Nurture interconnection: The learning materials value diversity and interconnectedness and seek co-creation, and cross-pollination with diverse educational ecosystems. The materials and engagement suggestions nourish systems thinking, conceptual connection, and collaboration to help students make sense of and engage with the dynamic complexity of social and environmental systems to strengthen positive relationships between humans and the more-than-human world.

• Prioritise form that follows function: The modular materials aim to be flexible enough to grow through the cracks in the rigid surface of mainstream economics courses.

• Make space for emergence: The content of the materials is deliberately restrained to make space for unexpected conversations, detours, digging deeper, and responding to context.

• Practise generosity: The materials are open-access, shared with the CC BY-SA 4.0 creative commons licence. The hope is that everyone who uses or is inspired by the materials pays it forward.