In this episode I am sharing what I have come to call the 7th Generation Principle – a principle guide post of sorts that I’ve been refining for nearly 10 years now to help guide my design work (for my own life and for others) in the direction of inter-generational regeneration.
Basically, it seems like throughout human history we’ve actually lived in a truly sustainable fasion – i.e. regeneratively. Some of those examples even persisted for quite some time, but now we are left with very few intact cultures that can successfully transmit the cultural values of regeneration through time from one generation to the next. Even those that still exist are struggling to keep it up.
This principles is my attempt at refining design imperatives such that we prepare fertile soil for the values of regeneration to once again take root in the hearts and minds of the up and coming generations, and for them to have the tools to successfully transmit those values to their descendants.
We’ll break down all the context and various pieces of it in the podcast, but here it is in full:
A 7th generation system creates socially and economically fulfilling lives for its inhabitants, whose daily activity patterns regenerate natural ecosystems and increase living capital year over year, such that the economic and social value of natural ecosystems is always increasing, and the value-ing of those systems is transmitted intact across generations.
In this episode I’ll walk through the questions that led to me writing this principle this way, and the ways to apply it in your own lifestyle design using the Regenerative Triple Bottom Line – Economic, Social and Ecological to create guiding criteria and questions to assess if you’re on target or not.
Show Resources
- BLOG POST: The 7th Generation Principle – Designing Regenerative Systems For Continuity Across Generations
- VIDEO: The Living Root Bridges Of Meghalaya (4 min)
- VIDEO: India – The Living Bridges – ARTE.tv documentary (24 min)
Getting started designing your homestead?
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Upon completing this course you will have a crystal clear idea of who and what resources you have to work with, your desired Quality of Life that your homestead has to provide for, and what you will need to produce and the conditions required to sustain that production to meet your Quality of Life needs.
Or…
Need some help getting the “birds eye view” of your property and its surrounds to help you design your sovereign homestead?
Check out our Hi-Definition Contour Base Map package. This package includes:
- Hi-definition LiDAR contour map layer (contour lines can spaced at whatever scale you desire – as tight as 1 foot or less if you desire).
- Aspect Map Layer – color-code your entire property by which direction it faces – very helpful in identifying ideal growing zones and microclimates for specific plantings.
- Hillshade Layer – for easily visualizing landform across your entire property.
- Slope Layer – color-code your entire property based on the % grade – very helpful for access planning, living systems establishment and site selection for buildings etc.
Deliverables include:
- Hi-definition .jpeg or .pdf of your entire property and/or its contributing watersheds, at whatever size you desire (if you wish to print a poster and have it laminated as an iterative design tool images can be generated at whatever size the poster shop will print).
- .KML file of the contour lines for importing and 3D viewing in Google Earth Pro (free to download) – this is a very helpful and accessible design tool.
Sovereign Homestead Design also offers consulting calls if you need some design help or a fresh perspective – see the Virtual Property Design Review for details.
