Sensing place-based ecological knowledge for regenerative development and design

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Toner, Jane
Reis, Kimberley
Kanasa, Harry
Hayes, Samantha
Hes, Dominique
Desha, Cheryl
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2025
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Abstract

Regenerative paradigms seek to realign the built environment with living systems by activating the capacity of communities and ecosystems to coevolve in mutually beneficial ways. Supporting regenerative outcomes, this study introduces a Community Nature (Re)Connection Workshop as a place-based approach to engaging communities through the ecology of place. Informed by experiential and social collective learning theories, and inspired by biomimicry, the pilot workshop was iteratively refined through participant feedback. Quantitative analysis of pre- and post-workshop surveys demonstrated its potential to significantly strengthen participants’ sense of connection to nature, heighten interest in continued learning, and deepen appreciation of local ecology. The workshop's experiential approach supports ecoliteracy as a foundation for place-based community engagement, ecologically informed regenerative outcomes, and community capacity-building for stewardship.

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Design Studies

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100

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© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Architecture

Design

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Toner, J; Reis, K; Kanasa, H; Hayes, S; Hes, D; Desha, C, Sensing place-based ecological knowledge for regenerative development and design, Design Studies, 2025, 100, pp. 101334

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