Category: News

Posted on

Buying Bags of Kaleidoscopes: reflecting on how far ideas in teaching can travel

Photograph showing the sign outside the Cambridge university department of engineering

Today, Oliver concluded his series of six workshops as part of the Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment (IDBE) Masters program in Cambridge. In this final session, participants reviewed the material covered over the last five sessions, spread out over two years, and set objectives for their continued professional growth.

The series of six lectures aimed to integrate collaborative design skills into the Masters program, focusing on both creativity and collaboration.

Continue reading “Buying Bags of Kaleidoscopes: reflecting on how far ideas in teaching can travel”
Posted on

The Pattern Book – a new collaborative project in regenerative thinking

Earlier this month, we unveiled the Pattern Book project, an innovative workbook designed to guide professionals in the built environment towards regenerative design principles.  The Pattern Book is the next evolution in the development of the Regenerative Design Lab.

New patterns for the future


The Pattern Book aims to be an emergent, collaborative resource, offering a collection of tools, techniques, and resources under Creative Commons.

“We see in patterns, we recognize patterns, we create patterns. To create a world in which construction brings about thriving rather than destruction, we need new patterns for thinking about how we design and build,”

Oliver Broadbent
Continue reading “The Pattern Book – a new collaborative project in regenerative thinking”
Posted on

Models and frameworks for regenerative design – cohort 2 report now live

The news is that we have now published our report from the second cohort of the Regenerative Design Lab. Each cohort of the Lab represents an evolution in our shared understanding of regenerative design. The breakthrough in this cohort was to test tools, techniques and language that make regenerative design easier to understand. These methods bring much-needed clarity to the broader conversation about how work in the construction industry can create thriving.

Our reports are written to be shared; the content to be used. So download a copy and please do share with anyone who you think would be interested.

Download the report

Posted on

Announcing the Regenerative Design Lab Summer Research Workshop

The Regenerative Design Lab community is growing. In 2022, the first 20 people began their journey through our pilot of the lab. Now over 50 people have completed the lab programme (and some of them have been through twice!).

So now our work as conveners of the Lab is as much about nourishing this existing community of regenerative practitioners as it is about recruiting more. And so to help support and further the work of this group of change-makers, we are holding our second summer research workshop.

Continue reading “Announcing the Regenerative Design Lab Summer Research Workshop”
Posted on

5 questions on regenerative design

With five days to go until the launch of the Regenerative Structural Engineer, here are some questions that we would hope you can answer once you have read it.

  1. What is the difference between regenerative design and sustainability design? Is this just a new version of sustainability or is this substantially different. What does regenerative design mean anyway!?
  2. Why do we need to go beyond being sustainable? Isn’t the path we are on already good enough? What about net-zero design – isn’t that enough?
  3. How can we change the way we design to create a transition a regenerative construction industry? What influence do I have as a structural engineer? Isn’t this someone else’s job?
  4. How do we start to think systemically about the changes we need to make in industry to enable regenerative practice? How do we reinforce the positive changes we seek? How do re-imagine how supply chains?
  5. How do we begin to imagine a regenerative future? What are the ways of thinking we need to adopt? And what are the ways of thinking we need to leave behind.

Intrigued? Pre-order your copy here. Available in print or online.

Continue reading “5 questions on regenerative design”
Posted on

Shifting the systemic barriers to regenerative design

The idea that construction should enhance ecosystems and communities rather than depleting them might sound like a given. After all, shouldn’t the world be genuinely better off, more resilient, thriving, and adaptable after we build something? This, in essence, is what a regenerative construction industry is all about.

However, when we start translating this approach to individual projects, we quickly encounter a plethora of barriers: supply chain restrictions, legislative hurdles, planning constraints, contractual structures, questions of long-term ownership, measurement and metrics, to name a few.

Continue reading “Shifting the systemic barriers to regenerative design”
Posted on

Systems Mapping and Abundance Thinking: A Glimpse into RDL Cohort 2 Session 3

Today we held the third session for Cohort 2 at the Regenerative Design Lab (RDL).

Our monthly online sessions offer a platform for participants to discuss and digest the reflective work they’ve engaged in over the past month. Additionally, in these sessions we host skill development activities designed to bolster our understanding of regenerative practices.

Continue reading “Systems Mapping and Abundance Thinking: A Glimpse into RDL Cohort 2 Session 3”