Regenerative Practitioner Field Guide: CSU's Plaut Explains
By Josie Plaut
TL;DR: This field guide outlines five core capabilities for regenerative practitioners to achieve transformative systems change and foster continuous growth.
- Master five core capabilities for regenerative practice.
- Develop self-awareness and elevate systems thinking.
- Integrate capabilities into daily regenerative projects.
- Facilitate development in self, community, and systems.
- Understand living systems for sustainable action.
Why it matters: Understanding and applying these regenerative practices can lead to significant positive impacts on personal growth, community development, and ecological renewal, fostering a thriving future.
Do this next: Identify which of the five core capabilities you want to develop further and seek out resources or practices to strengthen it this week.
Recommended for: Dedicated practitioners and organizations committed to deep, sustained engagement with regenerative principles for personal and systemic transformation.
This comprehensive field guide, authored by Josie Plaut from the Center for Living Environments and Regeneration and The Institute for the Built Environment at Colorado State University, provides a detailed roadmap for individuals aspiring to become regenerative practitioners. It defines the landscape of regenerative practice, offering a structured overview of the territory through five core capabilities essential for transformative systems change: Systems Actualizing, Framework Thinking, Self-Actualizing, Developmental Facilitating, and Living Systems Understanding. These competencies are presented as lifelong developmental pathways, emphasizing conscious and continuous growth. The guide illustrates how practitioners can evolve themselves, their communities, and living systems by building self-awareness, elevating thinking, managing inner states, and facilitating others' development. Practical insights include strategies for observing aliveness to participate fully in human evolution, generating sustainable actions aligned with personal values. It highlights the character of a regenerative practitioner, demanding diverse skills to renew, evolve, and thrive in natural systems. Key methods involve integrating these capabilities into daily practice, with examples of how they apply to regenerative development projects. The document serves as a foundational map, similar to a territorial guide, enabling practitioners to navigate complex regenerative work. Future expansions mentioned include workshops and continued education in these core areas. Specific actionable steps involve developing competencies over time through varied pathways, such as enhancing systems thinking to actualize potential in projects and communities. Insights underscore the need for practitioners to foster self-awareness informed by living systems principles, nourishing personal and collective evolution. This resource goes beyond theory by providing stepping stones and field stories, making it highly practical for those implementing regenerative principles in real-world scenarios like community regeneration and environmental restoration. Economic and environmental returns are implied through thriving systems, with measurable practitioner growth tracked via capability development. The guide's depth ensures practitioners gain concrete tools for integrating regenerative frameworks into their work, addressing gaps in traditional sustainability approaches by focusing on holistic, evolutionary change.