A Talk with David Waldron -- Regenerative Neighborhood Sustainability

I recently heard David Waldron speak on the topic Regenerative Sustainability: from Ideas to Reality in Urban Neighborhoods at the San Francisco Department of Environment. The presentation was based on a research and application project exploring and catalyzing ‘regenerative sustainability,’ at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.he has been managing at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada.

The morning after the presentation I had the good fortune of meeting David for coffee, where we had a long and animated discussion on strategic sustainability, the long-emerging focus in sustainability practice on regenerative processes of the biosphere, and the many-faceted arc of his path-breaking 18-year career. I appreciated the respect with which he approached different ideas and willingness to lightly engage in the moment to deepen understanding.

David’s presentation explored the question: what is the full potential – and some key practical considerations – for urban neighbourhoods of the 21st Century to move beyond ‘less harm’ solutions and improve both human well being and environmental conditions? David drew on lessons from various fields of research as well as his own experience trying to turn big ideas into actual projects that ‘walk the talk.’

This emerging research on regenerative sustainability spans a diverse range of unfolding inquiry, such as: regenerative and ‘net positive’ design and development, sustainable urban planning and assessment, population health, neighbourhood metabolism, procedural sustainability, social and organizational learning and leadership, dialogic methods, etc. The practice examples came from UBC’s Campus as a Living Laboratory – where research meets major project implementation for a campus and growing community of more than 70,000 students, faculty, staff and residents, 400 buildings and extensive infrastructure. The UBC experience was supplemented with other case studies, including David’s work with ecoistricts.

Coincidentally, David is one of the guest editors in the upcoming Journal of Cleaner Production's (Elsevier) special journal volume scheduled for May 2014 on the theme, "Toward a Regenerative Sustainability Paradigm for the Built Environment: from Vision to Reality." See the Call for Papers for a brief history of the topic and summary of the journal content for a deeper understanding of the breadth, topics, and focus of this emerging theme.

[David has considerable experience in strategic sustainability with over 18 years of practice, including: co-authoring Whistler’s first vision and comprehensive sustainability plan (Whistler2020); being the ‘lead architect’ and Program Director for the international Master’s program “Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability” at BTH, Sweden; launching IMAGINE, a European network of hundreds of local authorities re-imagining their energy futures; being Director of Sustainability and strategic advisor for the David Suzuki Foundation. David teaches Sustainability Leadership through the University of British Columbia (UBC) and is an Adjunct Professor with Simon Fraser University (SFU). He has a Bachelor’s of Applied Science (Civil Engineering), from UBC and a Master’s of Resource and Environmental Management, from SFU. He also practices strategic sustainability through his consulting firm, Synapse Strategies.]