Today I want to share more insights about how the Dandelion Strategy is working so that more people can get involved. This also reveals more about where we are going with all of this. For context, everything we are doing is rooted in the honest assessment of reality that we are already in planetary collapse. Social and ecological systems are already failing us. The next few years (and decades) are going to be extremely challenging. We need a Dandelion Strategy capable of dealing with this complex reality.
What this means in practical terms is that we need to seed the regenerative organizing that moves toward bioregional scales in as many places as possible during the next 1-2 years. When this year began, we had several bioregional learning centers (BLCs) in the process of taking form. This was made possible by the learning journey we hosted in the Design School for Regenerating Earth in 2024 called “Birthing of Bioregional Learning Centers” and the learning journey we hosted in 2025 called “How to Organize Your Bioregion.”
These learning journeys resulted in about two dozen webinar recordings that can be viewed by all Design School members. They also supported flow funding into different landscapes through our Earth Regeneration Fund to help local teams get started. Every place that we visited during our pilgrimages this year is the germination seed of that previous work.
This history gives shape to how you can understand what is emerging now. Our pilgrimage helped catalyze the creation of BLCs in Tunisia, France, Belgium, the North Sea Delta, along the River Thames, in the High Plains of Texas, for the Northern Andes, and other places around the world. Now we find ourselves midway through a birthing process for the planetary network of bioregional learning centers.
What we envision for the next several months is to prepare the launch of a Bioregional Design Certificate that will take place in March 2027 and lay the groundwork for the BLC Action Network that is the community of practice for bioregional organizing teams that are creating their own BLCs. Now that we have met in person with a lot of people who would qualify to be in this community we can start to clearly outline the criteria and protocols for participation. This is something that needs to be done really well. We plan to devote a lot of energy to getting this right in the coming months.
What Do We Need Right Now?
First and foremost, Penny and I need a break. We have been on the road for several months connecting with amazing people. Now we are going inward for personal reflection and to take care of ourselves. We are focusing on how to create healthy balance in our lives for the work that will continue from here.
What we need from all of you can be described in three parts:
#1 — Share the Stories!
We have a Narrative Strategy for Regenerating Earth that guides us in what we are doing. Everyone who participated in one of the local gatherings during our pilgrimage is encouraged to write about it, share the writings of others, and help spread the word.
The more we create buzz that something powerful is emerging across the planet, the more we can inspire dandelion seeds to take hold in different parts of the world.
#2 — Start Your Own BLC!
Now that you can feel the energy maybe you want to start organizing locally where you are. We will only get to 1000 bioregional learning centers if a lot of people decide to answer the call and do the work where they live. Are you one of these people? If so, reach out to others who are organizing BLCs. Join us in the Design School. Become part of this movement and help it ripple out into the world.
#3 — Help Us Raise Funds!
We have been successful so far thanks to discretionary funds from a grant that we received last year. That funding is going to run out next year and only covers the living expenses for Penny and me. It doesn’t provide for the seed funding that all of our bioregional teams are going to need. We also pool the money that comes in through membership dues in the Design School. We used those funds to cover the costs of the Tunisia Pilgrimage and our Mississippi Basin Pilgrimage this year.
What we are going to need in 2027 and beyond is a continual flow of funding — and have it come in at increasingly large scales. We need monthly contributors, small and large donations from individuals, grants from aligned institutions, and other kinds of financial flow.
You can read more about our Living Flows Approach here. And how it is grounded. in Processes of the Living Earth here. Reach out to me directly if you think you can help us mobilize funding for this ambitious vision. We want to see a thousand bioregional learning centers emerge by the year 2035. And this is going to take a long view that requires significant financial support.
You can Donate to the Dandelion Strategy here.
In Closing — Thank you to the organizers
Every place that we visited had a local organizing team. Almost all of them are volunteers doing this work unpaid. They are completely devoted. They are the real deal. And we are grateful to all of them. Without you, dear organizing teams, none of this would be possible.
Penny and I are committed to helping you. We feel how much you have already given. We give joyfully in return. Together we can change the world.
Onward, fellow humans.
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