Regenerative and generative economies and their impact on governace models innovation research plan.

Abstract

This research deals with planetary regeneration and the technologies used to boost the process in connection with the

systemic crisis we are passing through. It concerns the study and observation of theories such as the civil economy, the

regenerative economy and regenerative finance, completing the framework with the block-chain economy. The analysis will

focus on the applications of those theories in different contexts throughout the last 50 years, on the tools and instruments

developed to serve their implementation and finally it will observe the impacts on leadership and governance dynamics. All

this to collect evidence, in coherence with systems theories, of a potential influence these new leadership and governance

models could have at global scale and in line with regenerative/generative intents.

Background

Several economists are warning about the consequences of infinite growth at social and environmental level since the

second post world war. At social level and with a deep focus on social impact of unbalanced political economies we can find

the Civil Economy School, of Italian origin and guided by Federico Caffè deeply influenced by Jhon Mainard Keynes theories.

At environmental level we can find the regenerative economies and the regenerative finance theories of Kate Raworth over

than John Fullerton, the natural capitalism theories by Paul Hawked, the degrowth theories of Serge Latouche, Jason Hickel

and finally all the developments connected with the Blockchain economy in our work with focus on regenerative, generative

applications.

The multidisciplinary approach embedding also the STEM dimension into social science, typical of generative economic

approaches, it brings us to consider a basic assumption these theorists individuate as critical crucial point of the actual

economic and financial attitudes. In fact a scientific evidence fosters these theories claims, it is the concept of "planetary

limits" postulated by Rockstrom et al. 2009; in the cited article, the authors identify social and planetary limits that are

incompatible with some current economic behaviours. Specifically this study, published in the journal Ecology and Society

reads "Anthropogenic pressures on the Earth System have reached a scale where abrupt global environmental change can

no longer be ruled out. We propose a new approach to global sustainability in which we define planetary boundaries within

which we expect humanity to operate safely. Transgression of one or more planetary boundaries can be deleterious or even

catastrophic because of the risk of crossing thresholds that will trigger abrupt, nonlinear environmental change within

continental or planetary scale systems"; therefore, it is necessary to identify a space of action within which human activity

can be exercised without upsetting the planet's balance. The components of social, economic and financial innovation noted

above are working, in some contexts jointly, toward this end. Nine planetary boundaries are identified in the article, as shown

in Figure 1.
From here the development of economic and financial approaches, tools and instruments, methodologies and models to

create innovative business models to perform in real economy and in the financial markets that could regenerate and

protect the planet with its resources. The Blockchain economy bit inserted in these contexts and embedded into the

Regenerative approaches created environments such as the ReFi one, where several experts coming from different

backgrounds are collaborating to develop financial products to solve main planetary challenges. Common ground of all

these theories is the critic to the actual systemic approaches toward growth and development: the critic to infinite growth

within a finite planet, the critic to extractive approaches to be replaced with more advanced regenerative, redistributive

and generative approaches through the use of innovative technologies and digital technologies. Within the decentralized

management environments connected with the Blockchain economy following regenerative/redistributive/generative

trends, some people started to develop also new governance tools to make the decision making process more just and

effectively democratic (Vitalik Buterin, Glen Veyl, Eric Posner). We are talking, for example, about tools as quadratic

voting and conviction voting; these tools can orientate decisional making processes responding to different logics and

also could help allocating funds within a more democratic framework and respecting the real needs and desire of

grassroots communities. Other tools are under development together with coordination ones for wider decisional making

processes connected with strategies implementation for regeneration actions. All this to foster the regenerative impact of

the above mentioned theories.

Progress of Research and Method

I started from community currencies studies and the investigation of protocols able to allow interactions among different

community exchanges systems. I wrote a paper about the Credit Commons protocol that has been submitted for review,

from there I met the Crypto Commons organization and the regenerative decentralized finance movement, ReFi based on

token engineer theories and techniques. During my studies within the framework of my master in Ethical Finance, I

deepened the investigation on how community currencies, complementing fiat money and through digital protocols

allowing interaction among different systems, could support regenerative economies and financial development trends;

from here a consequent step brought me directly in analysing the “cryptos for good” approach and, as already mentioned,

to observe more closely the ReFi token engineering approaches. Organizational bases of some financial products

creation and commercialization within decentralized finance contexts are the DAOs – Decentralized Autonomous

Organizations. This particular organizational asset within decentralized environments brought me directly in thinking about

the opportunities deriving from these new models and applied to processes but also organizations’ governance. There

aren’t only DAOs but also DISCOs Distributed Cooperative Organizations and some mixed experiments hybridising

conventional organizational models with these new decentralized ones. Members of a DAO or a DISCO can be networks,

organizations, enterprises over than persons and or informal groups. During my work for the master in ethical finance I

examined some realities operating within the ReFi and the Cryptos for good environment focusing my attention on impact

creation and who is really taking care of creating solid standards and solid assessment methodologies to support

developments in tokens engineering applied to regeneration and environment protection. My work focused also on

mapping existing assessment methodologies for regenerative projects and traditional impact investments, further step

would be to verify if such methodologies could be applied to ReFi financial products impact assessment also to frame

effective risks analysis for investors. From this knowledge of the regenerative tokens and innovative regenerative

decentralized financial products and protocols I would like to dive into governance processes characterizing creation,

management and decision making also in connection with impact creation and risk assessment. I would start

methodologically from the analysis of the ReFi environment maps, to than proceed to a categorization per regenerative

sector and impact, to than look into decisional making processes, organizational structures and governance models all

this while setting a baseline to compare real efficiency and effective operational capacity of both governance models and

organizational structures involved. The real impact and efficiency results would imply also the individuation of traditional

standards referring to conventional organizational structures and already known governance models.

Tools I would like to use are questionnaires for people directly involved in DAOs and regenerative tokens/community

currencies engineering groups; direct observation of governance models and decisional making processes dynamics with

relevant data collection per: (i) DAO, (ii) community currency,(iii) mixed scheme associating community currencies and

regenerative tokens, (iv) DISCO, (v) leaving opened the opportunity to individuate other organizational structures being

created or discovered during the research; during the study I will try to analyse the above mentioned organizational
structures but per sector of impact within the regenerative frame. Finally I will categorize organizational structures and

their governance models but also observing attentively interaction dynamics within decentralized environments and

among networks toward the fostering of regenerative global movements.

Significance of this Research

Deep significance of this research stays with the intention of assessing the possibility of decentralized governance models

as ways to foster regenerative movements worldwide. Such an opportunity would mean to create networks of action

toward the resolution of environmental and social challenges, to answer effectively and in a coordinated way to the

climate mitigation and adaptation processes, to foster social justice and to test effectively and in a controlled way new

economic schemes to overcome systemic dysfunctional elements actually influencing negatively human and planetary

development processes. Such new governance models able to coordinate decentralized actions intervening on the same

challenge with different timing, approaches and in different localities but in the same time could intervene effectively in

shaping new scenarios for local decisional making processes guaranteeing real regenerative impacts over than

acceptance through direct participation of communities directly involved and interested in such processes. The Glocal

approach would be declined through efficient allocation of funds respecting the needs of local communities while

guaranteeing their direct involvement and participation even if supported and aided by external cultures; mixed financial

schemes could guarantee different approaches in designing, starting up and guaranteeing the long lasting duration of the

regenerative projects and actions.

Research Aims

Final and main aims of the research are:

- to investigate real efficacy of decentralized regenerative financial products,

- to check on assessment and real potential impact over than risks for investors,

- to look more directly at the governance dynamics consequent to their creation, managements and development

- to observe if these governance models could foster regenerative movements and their activities at grassroots level.

Key Research Questions

- Which organizational structures are governing the regenerative decentralized finance?

- What kind of regenerative financial products exist?

- Which is their impact?

- What governance processes do they activate at local, regional, national, bio-regional and international level?

- Which is the impact of such governace models on fostering regenerative movements?

Timetable 3-4 years

1- year:

3-4 year: impact, governance and coordination/interaction dynamics

Outputs

- PhD thesis

- Categorization of organizational structures

- Comprehensive list of tokens and decentralized regenerative or at impact financial products

- Illustration and Categorization of schemes and applications

- Preliminary list of applied impact assessment methodologies/used sectoral certifications

- Categorization of governance models, tools and processes underlying the connection with financial dynamics

and funding management processes

- Illustration of organizational structures interaction dynamics within a regenerative movement framework