Adaptive Bioregional Governance is a unified framework for establishing bioregions around the world. It resolves the tension between scientifically defined bioregions and culturally defined bioregions by creating a flexible, adaptive model that incorporates both. When we observe nature, we see natural complexity—a network of nested relationships and dynamics that exist in a fractal structure. Certain patterns repeat from one landscape to the next and express themselves uniquely in any given place. By acknowledging these varying relationships and incorporating them into a scalable model, we can establish a governance framework that accurately fits into any ‘place’ around the world. Adaptive Bioregional Governance can serve as a common lexicon for the bioregional movement and a foundation for systemic action.

Bioregionalism is a philosophy and natural organizing pattern that defines a sense of place. It can be used to inform a new system of organization and action to support regenerative community development and landscape regeneration. But what is a Bioregion, anyway? Well, this is a question with varying answers. In short, a bioregion is an ecosystem with similar flora and fauna. It’s a place that has its own unique feel, its own unique story. This story can change depending on who is telling it, and what they’re talking about. Is the entire Colorado River basin a bioregion? Or is it a tapestry of bioregions that contribute to the same river system? The answer can be both, and that’s ok. Nature is flexible and our frameworks should be too.

Crypto and DeFi (decentralized finance) tools are a great leap forward in creating a financial system that is more accessible, fair, transparent, trustless and resistant to corruption, but that alone is not enough. The ReFi (regenerative finance) movement is another great leap forward, and its participants are creating the tools for a regenerative economy, where economic value is shifted from extraction to conservation, from exploitation to collaboration, and from degeneration to regeneration.

The popular show Yellowstone provides a glimpse into the tensions that exist around land in the American West. It highlights the many, often conflicting wants and needs of the environment, government, indigenous tribes, property developers and ranch owners. Yes, it’s more violent and dramatic than what happens in real life, but the various stakeholders fighting for ownership of the land is very real. Luckily, there is another way - a golden opportunity to convert these ranches into ecologically and culturally productive multi-use spaces that serve as common ground for a regenerative economy. I call this the Ranch to Regen Pipeline.

It was 2015 and I found myself in Peru scouting out a potential ecovillage location for an organization I was doing permaculture design work with. I was several years into an obsessive pursuit of the practical solutions we need to implement in order to ‘save the world’.  This was the biggest, most ambitious project I had ever participated in, and I was fully committed to co-creating this vision of a new Earth, no matter where it led me. Up to this point, my search for answers had mostly left me jaded, but I wasn’t ready to give up. 

For the vast majority of our time on Earth as Homo sapiens, we settled differently than we do today. Very differently. People didn’t move around and relocate into other tribal territories - to do so would mean death or conflict. Our population did not expand uncontrollably - to do so would also mean death or conflict. Evolutionary balance over millions of years has driven all successful species to occupy a place-based niche in the environment and to respect the laws of life to which we humans are inextricably linked.

All existing communities can benefit from the reclamation of land for stewardship, regeneration, and sustainable use. A community that reclaims land for the commons sets the stage for moving beyond sustainability and into ecological regeneration and climate resilience. Land ownership affects everything - our food systems, water quality, affordable housing, local economics and more. Depending on who owns the land and what their intentions are, forests can be protected or razed to the ground, soil can be destroyed or built up, and housing can be a toxic soulless box or a nurturing, connected home.

ReCommon is a nonprofit, tax deductible organization that draws inspiration from three pillars of thought: the Community Land Trust model of land tenure, ecological design, and distributed technologies. When woven together, these three core concepts pose a viable alternative to the current extractive paradigm of land use and ownership that is destroying the ecological systems we need to survive and thrive here on planet Earth. This particular model of land tenure is both new and old, a mix of time-honored principles and modern wisdom. Our organization is a catalyst for both global and local communities to rise up to the unique challenges of our times and emerge into a new era of abundance and connectedness.

We humans are really good at forgetting. As one of my favorite authors Graham Hancock has said, “we’re a species with amnesia.” This is seen all the time in our current fast-paced, content-overload world. People will be up in arms about something one week, and a new headline the next week makes people forget. That forgetful rhythm of react > move on > react doesn’t get us anywhere. In fact, it keeps the masses distracted from the important things while those pulling the strings behind the scenes continue to consolidate power and hoard wealth.