The Design
Where systemic wisdom meets participatory practice
The Five Spheres: A Tapestry of Vitality
Our evaluation framework mirrors life’s complexity by honoring five interconnected spheres of vitality. These are not silos but living currents that shape—and are shaped by—every regenerative action:
| Sphere | What We Measure | Example Indicators | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ecological | The dance of soil, water, and biodiversity | Mycelial network density - Pollinator diversity - Watershed regeneration rates | |
| Social | The invisible threads of trust and collaboration | Self-reported fairness - Conflict resolution speed - Youth leadership engagement | |
| Cultural | The stories and rituals that bind communities to place | Oral histories preserved - Stewardship role adoption - Language revitalization | |
| Political | The flow of power and accountability | Decision-making transparency - Resource allocation equity - Civic participation | |
| Economic | The alchemy of resources into shared abundance | Local currency circulation - Cooperative revenue growth - Waste-to-value streams |
These spheres breathe together. During an [action-learning journey](action-learning journey) in Accra, youth-led recycling hubs didn’t just reduce plastic—they rewired economic flows (creating jobs), political trust (co-designing with elders), and cultural pride (reviving traditional craft motifs).
The Eight Capitals: Nourishing Regenerative Wealth
We track eight forms of capital that sustain thriving systems:
Say something about resourcing from and to capitals, the value contributed could be different. Like one can resource from financial capital (stipend) to contribute knowledge capital flow, and build up physical capital (architecting design for a building).
- Natural 🌱 (forests, soil)
- Social 👥 (trust networks)
- Human 🧠 (skills, health)
- Cultural 🎨 (stories, rituals)
- Political 🏛️ (governance capacity)
- Financial 💰 (regenerative currencies)
- Built 🏗️ (resilient infrastructure)
- Digital 💻 (open-source tools)
Example: A Welsh village’s bioregional learning center measures success not by tourist numbers, but by how these capitals interweave—elder-led storytelling (cultural) training youth in permaculture (human), while a practice-DAO turns shared wisdom into microgrants (financial).
Stages of Learning: From Soil to Story
Baselining
- Listening to the land’s memory: Co-create health parameters with communities using participatory mapping and [relational audits](relational audits).
- Tool: Sensor networks measure baseline soil pH; elders share oral histories of seasonal cycles.
Live Signals
- Feeling the pulse: Real-time data streams from IoT devices, [bot arrays](bot arrays), and community pulse checks.
- Tool: Telegram bots collect daily reflections during enactment phases.
Insights
- Weaving patterns: Mixed-method analysis reveals hidden connections (e.g., how compost workshops boosted neighborly trust).
- Tool: [Causal Loop Diagrams](Causal Loop Diagrams) co-drawn in Warm Data Labs.
Story-Making
- Breathing data into meaning: Transform metrics into narratives that sing.
- Tool: Elders and youth co-create digital “story looms” using decentralized storytelling platforms.
Data Alchemy: Honoring the Seen and Unseen
We gather:
- Quantitative: Sensor metrics - Tokenized contributions - Resource flow dashboards
- Qualitative: Voice journals - Embodied Systemic Constellations - Grievance redress logs
- Relational: Trust network maps - Conflict transformation timelines - Ceremony participation rates
In practice: During a Guatemalan coffee cooperative’s evaluation, soil moisture sensors (quantitative) merged with women’s weaving-circle dialogues (qualitative) to reveal how shade-grown practices deepened intergenerational bonds (relational).
The Accra Revelation
When youth in Accra’s living lab launched a plastic-upcycling DAO, our framework captured:
- Ecological: 12 tons diverted from landfills (but also restored mangrove microhabitats)
- Cultural: Revival of Adinkra symbol-carving in recycled art
- Political: Co-governance pact between elders and tech-savvy youth
- Economic: [community token](community token) circulating across 14 microbusinesses
The data didn’t just measure—it invited. Neighboring villages now adapt the model through process-infrastructuring, seeding a bioregional movement.