Regenerative Capacity is a system’s ability not only to adapt to changing conditions, but to restore and strengthen its capacity for continued renewal.
In Adapt, Survive and Flourish, Adaptive Capacity combines human capital and social capital. Human capital provides knowledge, skill, experience, creativity and judgement; social capital enables that capability to move through trust, reciprocity, relationships, dialogue and collaboration.
Regenerative Capacity extends this idea. It is adaptive capacity embedded within a healthy social ecology and connected to the reality of the wider living system. We must keep capability, relationships, and knowledge connected with operational experience, stakeholder perspectives, ecological conditions, and the consequences of action.
A system may appear resilient because people continually compensate for weakness through effort, experience and informal relationships. Regenerative Capacity develops when the underlying conditions become healthier—enabling people and systems to learn, replenish resources, strengthen relationships, and increase their future capacity to adapt and renew.
Resilience helps a system continue. Regenerative Capacity increases what the system can become.