Free Resource: Playbook for Local Regen Workshops

Introducing a playbook to support place-based regeneration through a rich participatory experience on country.

Free Resource: Playbook for Local Regen Workshops
The Local Regen Workshop Playbook

I recently realised that the team at TACSI, WWF and Regen Studios had put together a Playbook for the Local Regen Workshop experience that I'd been involved with at it's genesis and pilot stage, so I wanted to share this awesome reasource with you all.

What's in the Playbook?

The playbook is the outcomes of a collaborative initiative under WWF's Regenerating Australia initiative in 2022-23, where they were exploring how to catalyse place-based regenerative action.

From WWF:

The Local Learning Lab is a 2-day experience, designed to support the development of regional regeneration and entrepreneurship. The Labs bring together individuals, small-to-medium-sized enterprises, local partners, community activators, and industry experts to support early-stage regenerative ideas, projects and businesses. During Innovate to Regenerate, the Local Learning Lab was prototyped across three regional locations: Meringo, Eurobodalla (on Brinja-Yuin Country), Mount Barker, Adelaide Hills & Fleurieu (on Peramangk Country) and Warragul, Gippsland (on Kurnai Country).

From my perspective, this isn't really a Lab, it's a 2 day workshop to spur connection and catalyse collaborative action in a region, which needs to be followed up with additional support, or hook into existing impact pathways (see Pathways to Change section here).

It includes a run down of the process, activities and considering to support the running of a Local Regen Workshop.

What are the elements of the 2-day workshop? 

The workshop experience involves: 

  1. Connecting with Country and the wisdom of Traditional Owners 
  2. Exploring the ecological and cultural uniqueness and potential for healthy thriving of the place (including a primer on Doughnut Economics)
  3. Progressing ideas for regenerative solutions 
  4. Exploring regenerative business models & examples 
  5. Growing knowledge, skills and ways to take action 
  6. Connecting with regional partners ready to support initiatives 
  7. Connecting ‘regenerators’ across your community to foster a network of collaborators 
  8. Strengthening regional entrepreneurship 

You can download the Playbook section by section on the WWF site.

Who is the Playbook for?

The Playbook is useful for anyone working in place-based regeneration work wanting a process to get people together and advance conversations, ideas and action.

Community champions, facilitators, local councils, place activators, regen consultants and more will all get something out of this playbook.

Note: This is the work of the WWF Regenerating Australia and TACSI team, not directly my own. I was involved in the strategic design, process design and facilitation of the first workshop in Eurobodalla, NSW whilst working with TACSI.