Abundance is one of the three regenerative mindsets we explore in the Pattern Book for Regenerative Design. It’s the capacity to see the potential for plenty in the world. It asks: what is possible here? What do we already have? What is missing that could return? What could there be?
In the construction industry, I don’t believe we need breakthrough technologies to create a thriving future. Not that new technologies won’t help—but the real breakthrough will come from an evolution in our thinking. A transformation in how we design: working with the existing affordances and latent capacity of places to meet both human and ecological needs.
An abundance mindset sees capacity everywhere—in skills, in communities, in shared expertise, in materials, in landscapes, in ecosystems. The places we design in are the seed trays where this abundance can grow.
Several motifs in the Pattern Book are dedicated to practising this mindset—to noticing what is already present, what could grow, and what might be shared:
- Seeing the Potential encourages us to spot underused resources and overlooked opportunities.
- Psychorederive helps see a place we know well through new eyes.
- System Survey asks: what could this place do? What latent capacity could be unlocked to meet our needs while enriching the wider system?
In the spirit of abundance, the tools in the Pattern Book are shared under a Creative Commons licence. We want readers to pick them up, use them, remix them, and create new ones. And we hope those new tools are shared in turn—so the whole field grows richer, and more possibilities can emerge over time.cause we want readers to pick up and use these tools, integrate them into their professional practice, remix them and create new tools, and share these new tools. The hope is that this content grows, becomes richer and over time lets new possibilities emerge.