The following project suggestions can be taken up by students alone or with the help of teachers and mentors. These suggestions promote understanding of Regenerative Economics through creativity, collaboration, communication, research, and service. The suggestions can also inspire other engagement ideas from students.
For graded projects, teachers and students should agree on the assessment criteria based on the type of project and school or programme guidelines.
Suggestions are tagged by relevant section to help students match ideas to their interests.
Spend more time outdoors
Use all your senses to observe the ecosystems around you. Record thoughts, sketches, photographs, or soundscapes of what you find. Share your observations in a format of your choice.
Subtopic 1.2 (all)
Citizen science
Join a project that gathers data for scientists, such as insect counts, water quality testing, or plant identification. Record your findings and reflect on how your contribution supports ecological knowledge.
Sections: 1.2.5, 1.2.6, 1.2.7
Join established ecological regeneration activities
Research ecological regeneration projects in your area and volunteer your time or skills.
Sections: 1.1.4, 1.4.1, Subtopic 1.2 (all)
Deep time walk
Use the Deep Time Walk app to explore Earth’s 4.6 billion-year history while walking outdoors. Reflect on how this perspective changes your view of the economy and nature.
Sections: 1.2.1, 1.2.7
Plogging
Plogging is what you combine exercise with ecological care for your community by collecting litter while jogging or walking. Document what you collect and where you find it - what patterns emerge? How might those patterns point to interventions to reduce litter?
Sections: 1.1.4, 1.2.4, 1.4.2
Rewild a small space
Choose an area—a patch of school grounds, a neglected planter, or part of a community garden—and help it return to a more natural state. Research local native plants and encourage their growth. Reduce human disturbance, provide shelter for wildlife, and monitor changes in biodiversity over time. Share your results through photos, drawings, or short reports.
Sections: 1.2.5, 1.2.7, 1.4.1, 1.4.2
Biomimicry observation challenge
Identify natural patterns (e.g., recycling, mutualism, efficient design) in local plants, animals, or ecosystems. Present how these could inspire more regenerative economic designs.
Sections: 1.4.1, 1.2.5, 1.3.7
Strengthen circularity in your school or neighbourhood
Start or support a repair cafe: A repair cafe is an organisation that meets regularly to help people with repairing everyday objects, such as bicycles, electronics, clothing, kitchen appliances, etc.
Start or support a library of things: A library of things is a community organised supply of things that people need only rarely, that they can borrow instead of buy. Examples include drills, saw, home projector, extendable ladder, carpet cleaner, etc.
Sections: 1.1.4, 1.4.2
Nature’s cycles scavenger hunt
Find real-life examples of the water cycle, carbon cycle, or nutrient recycling in your surroundings. Record photos or sketches and link them to economic activities.
Sections: 1.2.5, 1.2.6
Random acts of kindness and service
Spend an afternoon in your community randomly, unexpectedly helping people as you see they need it. Keep an audio journal about the experience, noting your own feelings and others’ reactions to these random acts of kindness.
Sections: 1.3.1, 1.3.7, 1.3.8
Caring in your community
Offer support beyond your household to care for others: help with errands, clean a public space, or organise community meals.
Sections: 1.3.7, 1.4.4
Care walk in your community
Raise awareness of the different types of care in your community by creating a care walk and offering to host the walk, once or regularly, in your community. By doing this, you help to carry out the 5Rs, specifically to recognise care work and make it visible.
Sections: 1.3.7, 1.4.4
Strengthen circularity in your school or neighbourhood
Start or join a repair café, tool library, or swap event to encourage re-use over buying new.
Sections: 1.4.2, 1.2.4
Join established social regeneration activities
Research social regeneration projects in your area and volunteer your time or skills.
Sections: 1.1.4, 1.4.3, 1.4.4, Subtopic 1.3 (all)
Document your own economic activities
Use photos (camera study), videos, or drawings to show your daily roles in the economy. Add short explanations.
Sections: 1.1.1
Document evidence of degenerative economies
Record or illustrate examples of waste, overwork, pollution, or exclusion in your surroundings.
Sections: 1.1.3, 1.2.3, 1.2.4
Document evidence of regenerative economies
Capture examples of sharing, re-use, ecological restoration, or community care.
Sections: 1.1.4, 1.4.1–1.4.4
Short film or audio documentary on human nature
Interview people about how they view human nature and how this shapes their economic behaviour.
Sections: 1.3.1
Care biography
Tell the story of care in your life or family over generations with a a biography of care.
Sections: 1.3.7
Mapping the circular economy in your area
Research local businesses or groups that repair, recycle, or share goods. Create a map to share with others.
Sections: 1.4.2
Biomimicry photo essay
Create a set of images showing natural patterns (e.g., mutualism, efficient forms) alongside human systems that could copy them.
Sections: 1.4.1
Note: many of the activities in the creative storytelling and documentation section can be turned into an exhibit, especially if a number of students undertake the project and can exhibit their work together.
Exhibit about everyday objects and nature
Show the hidden natural resources and energy behind common products and/or their ecological or social impacts.
Subtopics 1.2 and 1.3
Art exhibit about how humans are a part of nature
Create an exhibit of art in various media (photography, painting, sketching, poetry, music, soundscape, etc) to make the point that humans are a part of nature, not separate from it.
Subtopic 1.2
Exhibit about caregivers in your life
Collect photos and stories about caregivers and their contributions in your own life.
Sections: 1.3.7, 1.4.4
Planetary boundaries infographic
Design a visual that explains the nine planetary boundaries and links them to economic activity.
Sections: 1.2.7
Note: developing games and simulations is very challenging. But imagining how games and simulations could work, even in the absence of full development, helps develop critical and creative thinking.
Card sort on the embedded economy
Create a game showing how the economy depends on society and nature.
Sections: 1.1.2
The ultimatum game
Run an experiment exploring fairness and cooperation through an ultimatum game. Be sure to get consent from all the participants
Sections: 1.3.1
Circular economy board game
Design a game where players aim to keep resources in use through re-use, repair, and recycling.
Sections: 1.4.2
Ecosystem resilience simulation
Model how diversity, redundancy, and decentralisation help systems recover from shocks.
Sections: 1.4.1, 1.2.5
Research values and ‘the good life’ in your community
Survey or interview people about what they value and how they define a good life.
Sections: 1.3.2
Research happiness in your community
Learn how happiness researchers use the Cantril ladder and other techniques to find out about the happiness of a group of people. In your home, school, neighbourhood or wider town or city, use their primary research techniques to find out about the happiness of those around you.
Sections: 1.3.2, 1.3.3
Investigate your community’s ecological footprint
Calculate resource use or waste generation locally and compare it to sustainable levels.
Sections: 1.2.7, 1.4.2
Track biodiversity changes
Study changes in plant or animal populations in a local area over time.
Sections: 1.2.5, 1.2.7
Interview someone involved in a regenerative enterprise
Ask about their goals, challenges, and the impact of their work.
Sections: 1.4.1–1.4.4
There are many primary research techniques you can use to find out about your community:
Interviews, possibly with prompts
Warm data lab - Note: a warm data lab should have a trained host.
You should always try to get consent from participants in research if you can.
Redesign the cover of a newspaper
Rewrite today’s headlines as if they came from a regenerative future.
Sections: 1.1.4, and 1.4.1–1.4.4
Future human-nature relationship poster
Show what life would look like if we embraced viewed humans as part of nature and embraced reciprocity in economic design.
Sections: 1.2.1, 1.3.8
Explore care work in your community
Learn about local care-related jobs and share what you discover. Find an internship related to regenerative work.
Sections: 1.3.7, 1.4.4
Interview someone in a regenerative business or organisation
Find out how their work supports people and planet.
Sections: 1.4.1–1.4.4
Organise a repair or swap event
Bring people together to exchange or fix items.
Sections: 1.4.2
Participate in local decision-making
Attend a community meeting and report on how environmental and social concerns are addressed.
Sections: 1.3.9, 1.4.4