Join Cohort 3 – The Regenerative Design Policy Lab

RDL Hosts Oliver Broadbent and Ellie Osborne guide participants through the Systems Bookcase model at Hazel Hill Wood, the site of the RDL residentials.

Introducing Cohort 3 of the Regenerative Design Lab: a special edition of the regenerative design lab with a particular focus on policy-driven regenerative design for engineering and the built environment.

Cohort 3 of the Regenerative Design Lab presents an opportunity for senior policy professionals and designers from the built environment to delve into the critical intersection of policy and regenerative design.

**With 3/4 of the places on the lab now allocated, we are running a second application process in September to fill the remaining places. **

Over the course of this six-month immersive programme, we will explore the overlap between issues of ethics, sustainability and inclusion while at the same time addressing the climate and biodiversity emergency.

We invite policy professionals from various built-environment disciplines, including engineering, net-zero, planning, housing, energy, sustainability, transport, heritage and education and skills, to join us in addressing the essential question: What policy changes can effectively promote regenerative design in the built environment?

This third edition of the Regenerative Design Lab builds on the theory base we have established in the first two editions, enabling participants to quickly move into a space where they can work together to propose policy changes.

Our peer-led, action-inquiry approach fosters a collaborative environment for exchanging ideas, insights, and expertise among industry leaders, while creating opportunities for new partnerships that will help influence the future of regenerative policy and design.

Special guest contributor – Bill Sharpe

We are excited to announce that futures practitioner and systems thinker Bill Sharpe will be joining this cohort as a special guest contributor. Bill is known for pioneering the Three Horizons futures practice, which forms the backbone of the structure of the Regenerative Design Lab. It is therefore a great honour that he is supporting us in our work.

He works with Future StewardsH3Uni and the International Futures Forum to build a global commons of practice for transformative change in service of a regenerative future where we meet the needs of all within the means of one planet.

Bill will participate in two of our residential lab sessions, running parts of his Three Horizons process with us. Read Bill’s full biog below.

Cohort 3 Schedule:

  • Programme dates: 29th September 2023 – April 2024
  • Applications close: 15th September 2023.
  • Programme starts: 29th September 2023

Please note, the Constructivist office is closed from 27th July to 4th September. We will respond to your application then.

This part-time program is designed to complement your existing work and is ideally suited for senior policy professionals. If you’re seeking to deepen your understanding of regenerative practice, apply innovative solutions within your organization or community, and collaborate with like-minded professionals, Cohort 3 is an excellent opportunity.

Outcomes and opportunities:

As a participant in Cohort 3, you’ll gain valuable knowledge, skills, and experience, including:

  • The ability to analyse existing policies and assess their potential for promoting regenerative design in the built environment.
  • Experience in collaboratively developing policy recommendations that help to shift the built-environment sector from a paradigm of continuous growth to a regenerative paradigm.
  • Confidence in engaging with stakeholders, advocating for regenerative design, and influencing policy decisions.
  • Strategies for effectively communicating the benefits of regenerative practice to diverse audiences, including decision-makers and the general public.

Additionally, you’ll have the unique chance to:

  1. Connect with a network of policy professionals who share your passion for exploring regenerative design.
  2. Access a toolkit of regenerative thinking approaches, enabling you to facilitate conversations around regenerative thinking in your organisation.
  3. Engage with leading experts and regenerative practitioners in the field, broadening your perspective and enriching your knowledge base.
  4. Experiment and explore within a supportive environment, accelerating your professional growth in the realm of sustainable policy and design.
  5. Immerse yourself in nature at Hazel Hill Wood, drawing inspiration from the ultimate regenerative, living system.

Join us for Cohort 3 of the Regenerative Design Lab and contribute to creating the policy landscape that will unlock regenerative design in the built environment. Apply now to enhance your policy career and be part of this collaborative learning experience.

The RDL has provided me with a vision of hope for a construction industry which can truly make the world a better place. It gave me the time to begin to understand and think regeneratively and the confidence to take this into my project work, to clients and the wider industry.

Mike, Regenerative Design Lab Cohort 1 participant

Session dates

  • Online kick-off – 29th September – 10am to 12pm
  • Autumn Forest Lab – 10th October, 11am – 11th October, 3pm (1 night)
  • Online session – 14th November, 9.30am – 12.30pm
  • Online session – 12th December, 9.30am – 12.30pm
  • Winter Forest Lab – 16th January, 11am – 18th January, 3pm (2 nights)
  • Online session – 6th February, 9.30am – 12.30pm
  • Online session – 12th March, 9.30am – 12.30pm
  • Spring Forest Lab – 23rd April, 11am – 24th April, 3pm (1 night)

Around the time tabled sessions we ask participants to do around an hour a week of reflective work. Hopefully, the course will be relevant to what participants are working in their day jobs, so this reflection time should feel an extension of this work rather than something in addition to.

Fees

We offer two prices for participation in the lab depending on your financial circumstances. 

  • £1750 + VAT – corporate/commercial/large organisation rate
  • £670 + VAT – self-funded/NGO/small organisation rate

There are also a limited number of bursary places for people who identify as being from an underrepresented background, including but not limited to, BAME, LGBTQ+, disabled, refugee and asylum seekers. We will discuss this with you further at interview stage.

Application process for the Regenerative Design Policy Lab

The 15 places on the lab are open to people working in the policy field around the built environment sector. You should be passionate about shifting engineering and construction away from a paradigm of growth and destruction and towards a paradigm of repair and renewal. We welcome applications from industry, academia and supporting organisations. You need to have some body of experience to draw upon and the opportunity to explore and apply regenerative principles in practice. To assemble a balanced group of participants in the lab, we are asking people interested in joining to go through a simple application process. 

Complete the application form by 15th September 2023. It includes questions to help us understand more about you, your work, your interest, aims and hopes, and should take 20 – 30 minutes to complete.

Places will not be allocated based on ability to fund your participation. We will settle on a price that feels comfortable and feasible to you or your organisation, once you’ve been offered your place.

If you have any questions about the programme drop us an email.

Further information

Equity & Diversity

We seek to create safe and brave spaces for participants from diverse backgrounds and lived experience to engage in learning together through the Lab. We want to welcome and support anyone with a strong intention to take part in the Regenerative Design Lab, and aim to ensure that identity or background will not be a barrier.

It is important to acknowledge the responsibility and power that comes with our role as a convenor and learning provider, and we are constantly striving to improve and embed equity, inclusion, anti-oppression at the heart of our programmes.

Accessibility

If you will need additional support for your wellbeing or access needs, then please let us know as soon as possible, so we can ensure we have factored this into our planning and design of our sessions. You can let us know in the application form or email us – we are happy to arrange a call to discuss how we can support your learning.

Time commitment

Online sessions:  3 hours
Residential stays at Hazel Hill:  2-3 days

Additionally we recommend 8 hours or more per month dedicated to your personal project or challenge, further learning, connecting with the group and action inquiry.