Executive, judicial, legislative, bioregion.
If the deft doctoring of disinformation is the great malignancy of our time, then surely in person storytime, or deep hanging out to use the words of the late great Malcolm Margolin, is the antidote.
All the great ecocides of our time seem to happen after we drank some kind of kool-aid, that looked great, tasted sweet, yet harbored unfathomable tragedies.
Bioregioning, defined casually as loads of hanging out with friends in local nature, could be expanded to mean witnessing environmental changes over time and together weaving sharable stories. At scale, it would be difficult to create propaganda that countered these empirically constructed stories.
If bioregions shared hardware and networks that were trusted and redundant, then we might have something that our descendants might proclaim as the beginning of the end of ecocide. Shout out to Felix de Rosen’s recent post reframing AI safety as planetary safety.
Who wants to co-build a school that facilitates organizing cohorts for executing this agenda? Draft curricula below. HMU
12-Month Training Curriculum
Regenerative Bioregional Observatory Facilitator (RBOF)
Format
• Cohort-based (30 participants)
• 10–15 hrs/week
• Field + remote hybrid
• Each participant anchors in a home bioregion
Capstone
Launch a functioning Regenerative Bioregional Commons Observatory (RBCO) node with live monitoring of ecological, social, and economic regeneration metrics, coupled to governance pathways.
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MONTHS 1–2: Foundations — Bioregion + Regeneration
Module 1: Bioregional Literacy + Regenerative Systems Thinking
Objectives
• Map watershed, airshed, and bioregion boundaries
• Understand flows of water, carbon, nutrients, energy
• Learn regenerative principles (perma/ecological design, water cycle repair, soil restoration)
Skills
• GIS mapping of ecological flows
• Systems diagrams for regenerative impact
• Baseline ecological health indicators (soil, water, biodiversity)
Partners
• California Center for Natural History
• Regenerative Development Institute
• Indigenous Guardians Programs
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Module 2: Ecocide, Regeneration & Law
Objectives
• Ecocide framing + regenerative reparations
• Legal and community accountability pathways
• Integration of regenerative metrics into enforcement
Skills
• Case studies of degraded vs regenerating landscapes
• Regulatory mapping of reparative incentives
• Designing monitoring protocols tied to legal thresholds
Partners
• Stop Ecocide International
• Environmental Law Institute
• Rights of Nature Tribunals
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MONTHS 3–4: Observation Infrastructure & Regenerative Indicators
Module 3: Satellite & Aerial Observation for Regeneration
Objectives
• Track both harm and regeneration
• Identify indicators such as reforestation growth, wetland expansion, coral recovery
Skills
• Copernicus Sentinel / Planet Labs imagery analysis
• NDVI, NBR, chlorophyll, soil moisture indices
• Drone surveys of restoration projects
Partners
• ESA Copernicus
• Planet Labs (carefully scoped)
• OpenDroneMap
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Module 4: Ground Truth & Community Monitoring
Objectives
• Validate remote sensing with in-person indicators
• Integrate community knowledge into regeneration tracking
Skills
• Soil carbon & moisture sampling
• Water quality monitoring for regenerative outcomes
• Pollinator and biodiversity surveys
• Indigenous ecological indicators
Partners
• Public Lab
• Indigenous Guardians Programs
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MONTHS 5–6: Data, Trust & Regenerative Feedback Loops
Module 5: Data Commons & Regeneration Metrics
Objectives
• Design data governance that protects the commons
• Standardize regenerative indicators
Skills
• FAIR & CARE data principles
• Regenerative KPIs (soil health, carbon sequestration, biodiversity trends, water retention, social engagement)
• Automated dashboards for real-time feedback
Partners
• Mozilla Foundation
• MyData Global
• Regen Network
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Module 6: Verification, Certification, and Legal Admissibility
Objectives
• Make regenerative monitoring credible for courts, funders, and governance
Skills
• Chain-of-custody protocols
• Remote sensing + ground truth verification
• Certification frameworks for restoration projects
Partners
• SkyTruth
• Environmental Defense Fund
• Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature
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MONTHS 7–8: Governance, Enforcement & Regenerative Decision-Making
Module 7: Bioregional Governance for Regeneration
Objectives
• Tie monitoring to actionable governance
• Create feedback loops that incentivize regenerative practices
Skills
• Watershed councils & cooperative governance
• Legal enforcement + restoration triggers
• Participatory budgeting for regenerative projects
Partners
• Rights of Nature / GARN
• Local watershed trusts
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Module 8: Enforcement & Adaptive Management
Objectives
• Translate observed harm or regeneration into adaptive governance
• Use restorative thresholds to trigger enforcement or reward
Skills
• Automatic alerts for violation or regeneration benchmarks
• Restoration bonds and incentives
• Policy triggers linked to ecological KPIs
Partners
• Earthjustice
• ClientEarth
• Local municipal enforcement agencies
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MONTHS 9–10: Operations & Resilience
Module 9: Observatory Operations & Tech Maintenance
Objectives
• Ensure observatory is durable and adaptive
• Integrate regenerative monitoring
Skills
• Drone & sensor deployment
• Remote data pipelines
• Dashboard design for continuous KPIs
• Maintenance of ecological monitoring equipment
Partners
• OpenDroneMap
• OpenStreetMap Foundation
• Regen Network
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Module 10: Funding Without Capture
Objectives
• Sustain observatories independently from extractive finance
Skills
• Cooperative finance
• Watershed or community fees
• Restoration bonds tied to regenerative outcomes
• Philanthropic seeding aligned with regeneration
Partners
• RSF Social Finance
• Omidyar Network
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MONTHS 11–12: Synthesis, Deployment & Network Weaving
Module 11: Capstone — Launch Regenerative Observatory Node
Deliverables
• Governance charter with regenerative thresholds
• Operational observation stack
• Dashboard of KPIs (ecological, social, economic)
• Enforcement and reward triggers
Mentors
• Multi-partner review panel
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Module 12: Federation & Planetary Scaling
Objectives
• Connect bioregions without centralization
• Share lessons, standards, and regenerative metrics globally
Skills
• Interoperable data standards
• Mutual aid pacts
• Peer-to-peer bioregional mentoring
• Planetary-scale reporting without co-option
Partners
• Open Environmental Data Project
• UN Harmony with Nature (observer role)
• Regenerative Development Institute
