An Exercise of Regenerative Design

Ernesto van Peborgh
19 min readDec 29, 2024

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Crafting a Blueprint for Our Regenerative Future

Introduction to CAST

CAST’s first draft, published as CAST: The New Architecture for Navigating Our Metacrisis and Beyond, presented a bold framework for addressing today’s interwoven crises — ecological collapse, economic instability, and societal fragmentation.

Now, we’re sharing this evolving essay to delve deeper into CAST’s core principles and invite engagement in this critical journey.

CAST is a developmental process, more than just a model or framework; it’s a compass for an evolving co-evolutionary process, guiding us toward a regenerative, resilient future.

This updated work is organized into three interconnected chapters:

  • Awakening to Transition: A call to recognize the collapse of outdated systems and the emergence of a regenerative future rooted in thriving ecosystems and new ways of being.
  • Building the Bridge: A guide to unlearning old paradigms and adopting the tools and principles necessary to align with living systems.
  • The Six Forces of CAST: A deep dive into the six interdependent forces — nature, community, regenerative projects, living systems design, generative AI, and regenerative finance — that together form a system designed to co-evolve with life.

An Invitation to the Reader

For the last year, we at the Seva Institute have worked to design CAST, but its full potential can only be realized collectively. CAST is not just a system; it’s a commons — a shared effort that requires the stewardship of all who feel called to this work.

This is a deeply personal journey as much as a systemic one. The way forward begins within, as we awaken to the truth of interbeing:

that life doesn’t just exist around us — it thrives through us.

Each of us has a role to play in building this bridge toward a regenerative future.

Guided by the Sanskrit principle of Seva — selfless service — a team of regenerative thinkers, scientists, and technologists is here to support this journey. In this essay we invite you to awaken to the possibilities of CAST, explore its principles, and join this collective effort to co-create a thriving future for humanity and the planet.

Are you ready to take the first step? Let’s build this bridge together

As you continue reading, I will be reaching out to the regenerative mind within you, dear reader, with the premise that regenerative design is not about creating objects, buildings, or landscapes — it’s about designing processes.

These processes require a shift in perspective, a move toward systemic understanding and the interconnectedness of all life. As Thich Nhat Hanh defines it, interbeing is the realization that nothing exists independently; everything is interwoven, co-arising through its relationships with everything else.

Building on this, we must develop a process of interbecoming — a recognition that life is a continuous flow of mutual transformation.

To embrace this, our minds must shift from the constant state of doing to one of being. Horizon 1, which I explain below, is rooted in the belief that we must always act, control, and produce. What I invite you to do instead, dear reader, is simply be.

Connect with your true self, approach this essay without judgment, and see it as an invitation to align with the core essence of life — the underlying spirit of interconnection and regeneration.

Chapter One

The Bridge to Horizon 3: Awakening the Spirit of CAST

We are at the edge of a great unraveling and a great awakening. It’s not just a transition from one era to another, but from one way of being to something radically new — and yet profoundly ancient. To understand this moment, we need to step outside the language of technology, finance, and politics. Instead, let us look through the lens of spirit — a syntropic energy that is emerging, not as a tool or a method, but as a living force.

This force is what I call Core Essence of CAST: The Essence of a Complex Adaptive System for Transition. But CAST is not just another acronym for a technological solution or a scientific framework. It’s a bridge — a spiritual, social, and ecological bridge — between the collapsing structures of Horizon 1 and the emergent consciousness of Horizon 3.

The Three Horizons: A Map for Transition

The three horizons model offers us a way to navigate this moment.

Horizon 1, the system we know, is receding. It is the world of extractive economies, centralized control, and short-term thinking. Its patterns have delivered extraordinary technological and economic advances, but they are self-terminating. We are witnessing this collapse in the form of ecological breakdowns, social fragmentation, and the exhaustion of a profit-at-any-cost paradigm.

Horizon 3, by contrast, is not a utopia — it is the future wanting to emerge, a new paradigm coming to life. It represents a new consciousness grounded in a core underlying essence: the very essence of life itself.

It is the rediscovery of patterns and principles that have always existed in nature, found in its most pristine manifestations where systems are in balance, adaptive, resilient, and thriving. This essence aligns with the living systems of nature, demonstrating that thriving systems are not linear or mechanistic but dynamic, interconnected, and co-evolutionary.

This new horizon is already visible. We see it in thriving ecosystems that balance themselves without human interference, in the sustainable commons that Elinor Ostrom documented, and in communities that live in harmony with the rhythms of the Earth. Horizon 3 is not something we have to create from scratch; it is something we are being called to rediscover, reconcile with, and regenerate.

And then there’s Horizon 2: the messy, transitional space where the old systems of Horizon 1 resist their demise, and the seeds of Horizon 3 struggle to take root. Horizon 2 is defined by disruptions — political, technological, financial, social, and even a new consciousness emerging — that challenge the dominance of the old while creating openings for the new to emerge. CAST is the bridge across this space, providing the structure and guidance needed to navigate this turbulent transition.

CAST: The Essence of Life in Transition

At its core, CAST captures the essence of life itself. It is a system that adapts, evolves, and thrives by aligning with the patterns and principles of living systems. Nature has always been the ultimate teacher, showing us how to design for resilience and abundance.

But CAST is not just a return to nature. It is a co-evolutionary system that integrates the best of what humanity has discovered — our technologies, our economic models, and our cultural insights. Technology and finance, often seen as the culprits of our crises, can become allies in this transition. If we align them with the syntropic energy of life, they can amplify our ability to scale thriving systems.

Ostrom’s work on governing the commons provides a blueprint. She demonstrated that communities could manage shared resources sustainably when they adhered to principles like inclusivity, local governance, and accountability. CAST takes this wisdom to a higher scale. It is not just about managing resources but about regenerating ecosystems, economies, and communities.

CAST is a system that understands the patterns of interconnection, the feedback loops of adaptation, and the cycles of regeneration. It’s not just a tool; it’s a living framework that evolves with us as we move from the collapsing Horizon 1 to the thriving Horizon 3.

The Spiritual Awakening of Horizon 3

Here’s the key: Horizon 3 is not a technical solution. It is a spiritual awakening — an evolution of consciousness and a paradigm shift in values and beliefs even more radical than the Copernican paradigm shift.

It calls us to fundamentally rethink our relationship with life, moving from separation and domination to alignment and co-evolution with the patterns and principles of living systems.

It is the recognition that we are not separate from nature but part of it. It is the realization that life itself is syntropic — a force that moves toward higher levels of order, complexity, and harmony.

This energy cannot be programmed or engineered, but it can be activated. How? Not through domination or control but through alignment. By aligning our systems — economic, technological, and social — with the principles of living systems, we can unleash this energy as a co-evolving force.

And here’s the paradox: the most advanced technologies and the most ancient wisdom are converging. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, and regenerative finance are not the endgame. They are tools that, when aligned with the spirit of CAST, can help us scale the patterns of thriving ecosystems.

Chapter Two

The Bridge We Must Build

The CAST framework is the bridge we must build between the self-terminating systems of Horizon 1 and the living systems of Horizon 3. It is the third attractor Daniel Schmachtenberger speaks of — a way out of the binary trap of collapse versus techno-utopia.

This bridge is not just technical or institutional; it is deeply spiritual. It calls us to awaken to a new consciousness, to see ourselves as stewards of life rather than consumers of resources. It calls us to embrace syntropy, the energy of life that moves toward balance and regeneration.

We are not creating Horizon 3; we are being invited into it. The energy is already here — in thriving ecosystems, sustainable communities, and the quiet hum of syntropic forces that have been waiting for us to remember who we are.

The question is: will we cross the bridge? Will we align with this energy and co-evolve into a system that thrives? The future of life on Earth depends on our answer.

This is not just a moment of transition. It is a moment of awakening. CAST is the bridge, and syntropy is the spirit that will carry us across. The time to step forward is now.

The Awakening: How to Build the Bridge

So, how do we do it?

How do we step out of the collapsing world of Horizon 1 and move toward the luminous possibility of Horizon 3? How do we activate CAST — a Complex Adaptive System for Transition — not just as a framework, but as a living force that bridges the chasm?

The answer lies in three interconnected steps: Awakening and Sense-Making, Building Capacity, and Developing Capability. These steps are not just about knowledge or tools but are deeply rooted in spirit — spirit as the ancient breath of life, the force that ignites and traverses all three steps, animating the entire process with purpose and vitality.

Defining Spirit

When we speak of spirit, we are invoking its ancient meaning, derived from the Latin word spiritus, which means breath — the breath of life. Spirit is the essence that animates all living things, the invisible force that connects us to the world and to one another.

To reference spirit is to acknowledge the essence of life—the life force that sustains not just human existence, but the entire web of life.

Schopenhauer described this essence of life as the “Will,” an intrinsic, driving force that underlies all existence and manifests through nature, humanity, and the cosmos. This Will is not just a blind striving; it is the creative and unyielding energy that shapes reality, the impulse toward becoming.

In the context of Horizon 3, this aligns with the recognition of life’s core essence — an emergent force seeking balance, adaptation, and thriving. It reminds us that life’s unfolding is not static but a continuous, dynamic interplay of creation, interconnection, and regeneration.

Spirituality, in this sense, is not a departure from reality but a deep engagement with it — a recognition of the interconnected, breathing vitality of the Earth, and our role within this dynamic, living system. It is the breath that ties us to nature, the pulse that aligns us with its rhythms, and the energy that drives us to co-evolve with its patterns and principles.

This journey is not for the faint-hearted. It begins by searching into our deepest shadow, like a seed buried in the soil, straining toward the light. Spirit is the underlying force, the spark of awakening, the energy of capacity, and the alignment that makes capability possible.

The three steps — Awakening and Sense-Making, Building Capacity, and Developing Capability — guide us from clarity to action, aligning knowledge, tools, and spirit to co-evolve with Horizon 3 and regenerate life’s systems.

Step One: Awakening and Sense-Making

The first step is awakening. To awaken is to understand the current predicament — not in fragments, but as a whole. It requires looking unflinchingly at the reality of Horizon 1: ecological collapse, social fragmentation, and a way of being that is consuming the very foundations of life.

Awakening is not about fear but clarity. It’s about that spark — the realization that the old ways cannot continue. It is sense-making: connecting the dots between the collapse of Horizon 1, the transitional tools of Horizon 2, and the emerging consciousness of Horizon 3. This is not just a crisis; it is an evolutionary moment.

Sense-making requires humility and courage. It demands that we confront the flaws in the systems we built while seeing the possibilities of what comes next.

Step Two: Building Capacity

Awakening is only the beginning. The next step is building capacity — the ability to understand, adapt, and act.

This step challenges us to unlearn the linear, mechanistic thinking of the past and to relearn the languages of Horizon 3: complexity theory, living systems thinking, commons theory, and quantum theory. These sciences reveal how to think in patterns, feedback loops, and interconnections.

Capacity also means preparing ourselves to embrace the tools of Horizon 2 — technologies like AI, regenerative finance, and blockchain — not as ends but as means to align with the principles of living systems. However, none of this will matter if we don’t also build spiritual capacity — the openness and wisdom to align ourselves with the breath of life itself.

Step Three: Developing Capability

Capacity is not enough without capability — the practical ability to use our understanding and tools to co-evolve with Horizon 3. Capability is about applying what we have learned to create systems that are adaptive, resilient, and regenerative.

But the foundation of capability is spirit. Spirit, derived from the ancient word meaning breath, is the force that animates this step, giving it meaning and coherence. It is the essence of stewardship, the recognition that we are not separate from nature but part of it.

This spirit reminds us of the wisdom of our ancestors and the interconnected vitality of the Earth. It is not an external addition but an intrinsic quality within us, waiting to be remembered and realigned. Capability emerges when we reconcile with the Earth, with one another, and with ourselves.

Spirit: The Force That Traverses All Steps

Spirit is the breath of life, the unifying force that moves through Awakening, Capacity, and Capability. It animates our sense-making, ignites our ability to build capacity, and aligns our actions with the principles of life. It is the spirit of interbeing, as Thich Nhat Hanh described, reminding us that we are not individuals in isolation but parts of a whole.

To activate CAST, we must embrace this breath of life — not as an abstract idea, but as the guiding force that leads us toward balance, resilience, and co-evolution with the intricate web of life. This is the essence of the journey — a living process powered by spirit.

What is the spirit of CAST? It is the spirit of stewardship, of interbeing, of recognizing that we are not separate from nature but part of it. It is the spirit of indigenous wisdom — the wisdom that sees the Earth not as a resource to be extracted but as a living system to be cared for.

This wisdom is not “theirs.” It is ours. It belongs to all of us, as a species. Our ancestors carried this knowledge, and it is still within us, waiting to be remembered.

But here’s the challenge: we cannot simply “add” this wisdom to our current systems. We must reconcile. Reconcile with the Earth, with each other, and with ourselves. This requires a profound shift — a return to what the Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh called “inter-being.” It’s about understanding that we are not individuals in isolation but parts of a whole, interconnected and interdependent.

A New Spiritual Path

This is not just a spiritual challenge; it is a spiritual opportunity. We need to rediscover our essence — not as consumers or dominators but as stewards. This is the essence of CAST: a system of co-evolution between humans and nature, built on the principles of life itself.

And here’s the paradox: we already have everything we need. The science, the technology, the knowledge — it’s all here. What’s missing is the spirit to align it all.

That spirit is not lost; it’s just been forgotten. It’s the same spirit that allowed our ancestors to live in harmony with the Earth for millennia. It’s the spirit that pulses through every thriving ecosystem and every resilient community. And it’s the spirit that, once awakened, can guide us across the bridge to Horizon 3.

The Time to Reconcile

The great systems theorist Gregory Bateson once said,

“The major problems in the world are the result of the difference between how nature works and the way people think.”

It’s time to close that gap. It’s time to reconcile the separation we’ve created — not just between humans and nature, but between ourselves and our spirit.

The bridge to Horizon 3 will not be built by engineers alone. It will be built by those who awaken, those who sense-make, and those who rediscover the spirit of life. CAST is not just a system; it is a calling.

The question is not whether we can cross the bridge. The question is whether we will. Will we awaken? Will we build the capacity to see and to act? Will we reconnect with the spirit that makes life possible?

The seed has already been planted. It’s time to grow.

Chapter Three

The Six Forces of CAST: Building the Cockpit for a Regenerative Economy

If you’ve been reading this far, you might be asking: How does this actually work? How do we take this vision of CAST and make it real? How do we combine the forces of nature, community, science, technology, and finance into a system that not only works but thrives?

The answer lies in six forces, each with its own unique capacity. Together, they form a dynamic whole — CAST — that acts as a bridge from the collapsing Horizon 1 to the regenerative Horizon 3. Let’s break them down.

1. Nature: The First and Last Teacher

At the heart of CAST is nature itself. To build a thriving system, we need to go to the most pristine, intact ecosystems left on Earth. These places are not just beautiful; they are teachers. They hold the secrets of thriving — resilience, adaptation, and balance — that we need to learn if we are to survive.

But nature is now a scarce resource. We’ve stripped so much away that what remains is both precious and essential. We must engage with nature not as conquerors but as students, bringing every tool at our disposal — science, technology, and spirit — to understand its patterns and principles.

2. Community: A Living Commons

Nature cannot thrive without community. And I’m not talking about community in the vague sense of “people coming together.” I’m talking about the kind of self-governing commons that Elinor Ostrom so brilliantly described.

In these communities, everyone is a commoner, aligned with the principles that make shared resources thrive. These principles are the same as those found in living systems: mutualism, balance, and feedback. When nature and community come together, they form the foundation of a co-evolving system that works for all.

3. Regenerative Projects: Proof of Possibility

Here’s the thing: this isn’t just theoretical. All over the world, there are thousands of regenerative projects already in existence. These are real-world examples of communities and ecosystems thriving together, often against incredible odds.

These projects are the seeds already sprouting in the soil of Horizon 3. They show us that regenerative systems are not only possible but scalable. And when we understand these projects as part of a larger pattern, they become a framework for co-evolution.

4. Living Systems Design: The Language of Life

To scale CAST, we need a bridge between the ineffable forces of life and the precise tools of science and technology. This is where living systems design comes in.

Living systems design translates the quantum, syntropic forces of life into a language we can measure and understand. It gives us metrics for thriving — feedback loops, energy flows, and regenerative cycles — and tools to replicate these patterns across human systems. Rooted in the principles of regenerative design, it ensures alignment with nature’s patterns, enabling us to co-create systems that are adaptive, resilient, and thriving.

5. Generative AI: Building Replicable Systems

Now, we step into the age of artificial intelligence. Generative AI, combined with the principles of living systems design, can help us create adaptive, resilient, and thriving ecosystems — both ecological and organizational.

These AI agents will understand the metrics of thriving and help us scale them globally. They won’t replace us; they’ll co-evolve with us, amplifying our capacity to build systems that align with the principles of life.

6. Regenerative Finance: The Engine of Change

Finally, we need a new financial system. The economy as we know it is collapsing alongside Horizon 1, but we now have the opportunity to create a regenerative economy — one that is rooted in the principles of abundance, not extraction.

This isn’t about tearing down everything we’ve built. It’s about repurposing the tools of finance — capital markets, investment structures, and economic incentives — into engines of regeneration. The separation is over. Now is the time to integrate.

CAST: A Living System of Co-Evolution and Regeneration

The two graphs illustrate the dynamic and holistic nature of CAST, emphasizing that it is not a reductionist framework but an interconnected and emergent system. The first graph, while appearing reductionist in its attempt to map CAST’s six forces — nature conservation, regenerative agroforestry, community commons, living systems design, generative AI, and nature finance — into distinct compartments, should not be interpreted as representing separate or linear components.

As shown in the second graph to the right, these forces are interdependent elements of a whole system that co-evolves dynamically, mirroring the patterns and principles of life itself. This interconnected system gives rise to emergent properties, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, fostering harmony and adaptability as these forces interact and influence one another.

The core essence embodies the principle of co-evolution, aligning all six forces with life’s regenerative patterns and systems. Rather than being fixed or compartmentalized, this essence serves as a cohesive nucleus, cultivating balance, harmony, and emergent properties. Together, these graphs represent CAST as a living, co-evolutionary process — one that transitions us from fragmented, mechanistic thinking to a regenerative and interconnected worldview where humanity participates with and as nature.

This essence can be defined through three key dimensions:

  • Syntropic Energy: The driving force of life, propelling systems toward higher levels of complexity, balance, and thriving.
  • Living Systems Understanding: A deep, unifying awareness of the interconnectedness between human and natural systems, recognizing that all life is interwoven.
  • Regenerative Co-Evolution: Humanity’s active participation with and as nature, fostering reciprocal, adaptive relationships that enable mutual flourishing and continuous renewal.

The core essence serves as the anchor of purpose, ensuring that all forces — technological, ecological, financial, and social — align toward the regeneration of the whole system. Together, these two visualizations depict CAST as a process of ongoing alignment, emergence, and co-evolution, offering a framework that evolves in harmony with life.

The Trajectory of Ecological Design

To better grasp the dynamic interplay of CAST, it’s helpful to revisit Bill Reed’s "Trajectory of Ecological Design," a framework that brilliantly maps the evolutionary path toward regenerative systems—perfectly echoing the philosophy behind CAST’s six forces.

This trajectory begins with Conventional Practice, where fragmented, issue-based approaches focus on limiting harm. It progresses through Green Design and Sustainable Design, which emphasize efficiency and neutralizing impacts, but stop short of restoring ecological vitality. Beyond these stages lies Restorative Design, which actively works to repair and assist the natural evolution of ecosystems, and Reconciliation Design, which recognizes humans as integral participants within nature’s systems. At the pinnacle is Regenerative Design, a holistic approach fostering co-evolution between human and natural systems to create thriving, adaptive, and resilient ecosystems.

This trajectory mirrors CAST’s emphasis on moving beyond sustainability into dynamic systems where the six forces — Nature Conservation, Regenerative Agroforestry, Community Commons, Living Systems Design, Generative AI, and Nature Finance — co-evolve in harmony. Like the regenerative stage of the trajectory, CAST focuses on fostering relationships that regenerate and enrich life systems, guided by continuous learning, feedback, and co-creation. By integrating Bill Reed’s principles, CAST embodies this shift from fragmented approaches to a unified, regenerative process that builds the cockpit for a thriving regenerative economy.

For deeper insights into this concept, see Bill Reed’s article, Shifting from Sustainability to Regeneration (2007).

The Way Out Is In: A Personal Invitation

So, dear reader, let me turn this to you. If you’ve made it this far, you already feel it — the tug, the spark, the sense that something within you is waking up. You are not alone.

We live in a paradigm — a set of beliefs and values — that is self-terminating. The extraction, the separation, the domination — it is all collapsing. And yet, as the Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us, “The way out is in.”

The solution is not “out there.” It’s inside you. It’s in the realization that life is not something happening to you; it’s something thriving through you. This is the essence of interbeing: the understanding that we are not separate but part of a whole, deeply connected to every other living system.

When you embrace this, you will find the capacity to build something new. There is no single formula, no one-size-fits-all path. Each of us must find our own way, but at the end of the search, we all find the same truth: the universal principles of life, of syntropy, of thriving.

In CAST, we — a group of regenerative designers, scientists, and stewards — are working to create a cockpit for this regenerative economy. We are not leaders; we are servants. We are here to help, to guide, and to co-evolve.

But we cannot do it alone. The spirit of CAST needs you. Are you willing to join? Are you willing to awaken, to sense-make, and to reconcile? Are you ready to step into your role as a steward of life?

The way forward begins with a single step. And that step begins within you.

If this resonates with you, we invite you to engage with us. Share your thoughts, your feedback, your criticisms, and your ideas. Feed forward by contributing your insights and experiences. CAST is not a fixed blueprint — it is a living, evolving process that thrives on dialogue, collaboration, and co-creation. Your voice matters, your perspective matters. Help us refine, expand, and strengthen this vision. Together, let’s build the bridge toward a regenerative future.

Some links below for Further reading.

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Ernesto van Peborgh
Ernesto van Peborgh

Written by Ernesto van Peborgh

Entrepreneur, writer, filmmaker, Harvard MBA. Builder of systemic interactive networks for knowledge management.

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