Inner Dimensions of Regeneration: Mental Models, Mindsets and Cultures

A growing body of scholarship recognizes the importance of understanding the inner dimensions of transformations to sustainability at individual, collective, and system levels and their influence on the behavior of individuals and groups and the types of institutions that prevail. This review summarizes and synthesizes scholarship on the inner dimensions of regeneration, a subject of growing interest in the sustainability science literature. Regeneration refers to a process of rebuilding or renewing an asset, resource, ecosystem, individual, family, organization, community, or place. It enables the expression of nature’s capacity for self-organization and empowers social-ecological systems to revive themselves through positive reinforcing cycles. The review seeks to improve understanding of the characteristics and meanings of regenerative mental models, mindsets, and cultures. It begins with definitions, then describes methods, summarizes results, and discusses what regenerative mental models and mindsets look like when they become part of culture and are scaled to larger social-ecological systems.