What is regenerative community organizing?

What is regenerative community organizing?

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If you’re reading this, you’ve been born into an era of unprecedented climate disasters, global pandemics, geopolitical turmoil, and all sorts of shenanigans that have demonstrated that we’re in a crisis of leadership.

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You might be coming to the conclusion that it’s up to us—everyday humans doing their best to survive in a warming world—to organize collective power, change our culture, & create a radically reimagined future. 

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We can’t do this unless everyone who lives on Earth feels a sense of *belonging* in movements to create a healed future. Unfortunately, for many of us trying to get involved in grassroots change, social and climate justice movements feel very limiting. 

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Activists Ayesha Khan and Aisha Abu-Asaba write, “Organizing spaces can be one of the most cruel, ruthless & draconian spaces in the west. At baseline, people can be excessively judgmental, cold, & self-righteous. Many are so terrified of making mistakes…that they refrain from taking initiative at all.” 

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We need organizing spaces that empower us to do good AND feel good. One begets the other! It’s up to us, as organizers and facilitators, to create positive cycles of joy, momentum, and action that make our movements welcoming and effective.  

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We need organizing spaces—online and in-person—that prioritize “the improvement of a place or system, especially by making it more active or successful [or make] a person feel happier and more positive.”¹

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We need organizing spaces that are regenerative.

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It’s time for regenerative community organizing!

What are the conditions for regenerative community organizing?

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Dr. Beatrice Ungard shares² two minimum conditions necessary for a network to be regenerative:

1. It needs to be purposeful in regard to adding value to the larger system it serves and
2. It needs to be developmental, i.e., it needs to evolve its value-generating capabilities of the practitioners and of the network as a whole.

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At Soapbox Project, we think of regenerative community spaces as virtual or in-person places that:

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• Empower us to do good and feel good through joyful connection 🎉
• Adapt to challenges’ unique solutions by prioritizing community-based learning led by frontline voices
• Channel participants’ emotions, experiences, and motivations into meaningful civic action
• Create consistency through encouraging repeat attendance or membership
• Nurture community members into leaders with flexible frameworks (like this one!) with shared collective outcomes that leave room for individual creativity

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Soapbox Project’s core values—courage and joy—are organizing strategies designed to expand the base of who “gets” to be a climate activist.  By making advocacy feel more like a party than a protest, we’re inviting (sneaking?) newcomers into friendly experiences that are grounded by joyful connection, deep wisdom, and proven levers for change.

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As a famous chip bag³ once said, “Betcha can’t eat just one!” and that’s the vibe we bring to regenerative organizing at Soapbox Project! 😋💚

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How to get started with regenerative organizing

The beautiful thing about regeneration is that there is no one expert and no one point of failure. Humans are built to live in community! ANYONE can practice regenerative community organizing! 

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Important note: if you’re building a place-based community, you’ll learn a lot about regenerative community building from the people Indigenous to your land. 

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Here are a few things we recommend at Soapbox Project to start or deepen your regenerative organizing practice:

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1. Have shared language early on and make definitions clear to your team and constituents. 
2. Get clear on the anatomy of your events and what facilitation skills your team will need to develop for each portion of your event.
3. Identify the vibe you want to set and decide how you’re going to set it consistently. Train your facilitators in the basics of charisma and how to channel power, presence, and warmth⁴. 
4. Be prepared for the grind. There is nothing that compares to 1:1 outreach. Automation and technological processes will help create regenerative community structures, but only if healthy structures are already in place. This is hella mundane but non-negotiable. Alas!
5. Assemble your own tools and frameworks and refine them over time. For example, you should know off the top of your head what your perspective is on values-based community stewardship. (What are your community’s core values? How do these translate into behaviors and skills?) The best facilitators can adapt to pretty much any situation because their brain space is available to do so. Free up your magical brain by having frameworks in place! 

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Sources:

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1. Cambridge Dictionary definition of regenerative

2. LinkedIn post from Beatrice Ungard, PhD

3. Lays Chips slogan

4. Paraphrased from The Charisma Myth by Olivia Fox Cabane

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Special thanks to Carol Sanford and Adam French