The Brief for Thriving helps us get specific about what we want to change in a project, strategy or policy in order to increase thriving. First proposed in The Regenerative Structural Engineer, it combines two key motifs: the System Bookcase (how systems are organised) and the Living Systems Blueprint (the systems characteristics of thriving).
1 — Aim higher in the system
A single project can have an important, localised impact. But to shift industry towards creating thriving, we need to change the operating rules and processes — and above those, the mindsets that frame decision-making → see the Systems Bookcase and Changing Mindsets.
2 — Build interconnection
Living systems have high levels of connectivity — this is how materials, energy and information circulate. Connectivity creates the conditions in which feedback and variation can spread → see Interconnection.
3 — Build symbiosis
Living systems create their richness by working with what is in abundance — sunlight, minerals and organic matter — and cycle it through interconnected processes to create new structures, ecosystems and life. Build symbiosis to increase the system’s richness and complexity within the limits of what the ecosystem can sustain → see Symbiosis.
4 — Build capacity to change
Living systems adapt. Build in the capacity to change to enable the system to build resilience and find the best, lowest energy response to the local conditions → see Capacity to Change.
User guide
Write a design brief — use the four aims above to integrate the criteria for thriving into a design brief, business strategy or policy.
Start with the threads — if the language of the Brief for Thriving isn’t appropriate for your projects, start with the core threads: feedback, circularity and adaptability. These are relevant, contemporary themes that provide a pathway for talking about creating the conditions for thriving in the long run.
Key takeaways — as well as considering what we need to build into systems to create thriving, think also about what we need to take away — the factors that are causing the opposite: destruction, suffering and separation.
Regenerative? Get specific — the term regenerative gets used very loosely. Attempts to pin it down are a losing battle. The Brief for Thriving and the Role of the Regenerative Designer are two key motifs for getting specific about what you mean when using regenerative principles on a project.
Establishing tests — Use the four aims above to create a framework for testing concept designs, proposals for strategies and policies → see Establishing Tests.
Related motifs
Capacity to Change, Changing Mindsets, Continuous Place-Based Design, Fossil Fuel Friction Free, Interconnection, Living Systems Blueprint, Role of the Regenerative Designer, Symbiosis, Thriving.