“When we enter the paradigm of complexity and begin to see reality as a fabric made of a myriad of interconnected and systemic phenomena, we see how uncertain the future truly is. There are no certainties or guarantees. So, since we cannot know for sure where we are going, we need to actively engage in the construction of the futures that will come, in a conscious and intentional movement.”
“Far beyond composing a set of precepts and rules, land ethics is based on an understanding that we are as much a part of nature as the leaves that fall from the trees in autumn, as the bacteria that help with our digestion, as the polar bears that roam malnourished and starving in search of food in an ecosystem in melting collapse.”
Coral Michelin
What is ecosystemic design?
Ecosystem Design is a regenerative design approach that seeks to regenerate three interconnected dimensions: the environmental, the social, and the subjective. This means restoring degraded ecosystems; creating new ways of being-in-collectivity—new social fabrics; and shifting our worldview toward a systemic view of life.
Her theory and practices are grounded in ecology (and deep ecology), decoloniality or counter-coloniality, systems thinking, feminism, ecopsychology, and indigenous and Eastern philosophies.
It is the result of past and present research by Dr. Coral Michelin, and was published as a book by Editora Bambual under the title Ecosystemic Design: an eco-decolonial path to regeneration, in Portuguese and Spanish.
This approach can be used in different ways by anyone, designers or not, who wants to rethink their ways of being and existing in the world, or who wants to explore new and better futures.
how to use?
Want to put it into practice in your business? Check out the possibilities:
literacy
The theory behind Ecosystemic Design is based on major references and thinkers from Decoloniality, Systems Thinking, Ecology, and Design. This theoretical framework is used in literacy programs with content related to Sustainability and Regeneration, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I), and Futures Visions from a regenerative perspective. These literacy programs are useful for all organizations that want to advance their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) agendas and explore innovative paths for their future.
“According to the narrative of modern science (yes, because science is also a narrative), everything that exists in the entire universe arose from the smallest of the smallest subatomic particles, in the cosmogenesis called by physicists the Big Bang. From an apparent nothingness, everything we know today emerged, in an uninterrupted relational creative flow of increasing complexity: from the smallest particles to the largest suns, all existence is composed of connections and relationships.”
the author
.jpg)
Strategic and ecosystemic designer, graduated in Environmental Management, Master in Strategic Design, PhD in Design. She is currently conducting postdoctoral research in ecosystemic design focusing on the process of ecological resubjectivation at Linnaeus University (Sweden). She is a strategist, author, teacher, facilitator of processes and experiences, and an international speaker. Her research focuses on ecology, regeneration, systems thinking, feminism, futures, and decoloniality.
She was Innovation Manager at Re.green, a company that restores tropical forests for people and the planet; Director of Community Mobilization for innovation at (011).lab, the innovation laboratory in government of the City of São Paulo; and coordinator of the Bachelor's Degree in Product and Service Design at IED-SP.
She is a senior lecturer at Linnaeus University and a visiting professor at IED-SP, ESPM-SP, and Unifor.
Environmental activist, poet, and feminist. She is a member of the MADI network – women working in design and innovation.
let's talk?
