Regenerative & Sustainable
Responsible development models combine sustainability and regeneration.
While they are closely related and share similarities, there are clear differences between them:
Sustainable Development
Meeting present needs without compromising the capacity of future generations to meet their own needs.
For the East Cape Futures Initiative, sustainable development aims to minimize negative impacts on the environment while respecting local culture and economic dynamics.
Regenerative Development
Going a step further: aiming to restore natural, social and economic systems.
For the East Cape Futures Initiative regenerative development is not only preserving the environment, but actively seeking to restore degraded ecosystems, promoting native biodiversity, and improving economic opportunities and social cohesion in local communities.
By moving beyond sustainability’s goal of reducing negative impact, a regenerative approach is a better strategy towards long-term prosperity and thriving economies and communities.
Regenerative Design of Systems
In the built environment, to regenerate is to holistically restore systemic health and function, and increase the capacity of systems of a specific place.
Based David Johnson adaption of work by Bill Reed et. al.