Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

This foodscape thesis focusses on improving the health and wellbeing of the biosphere of our planet. To transform the food system and tackle the planetary problems, this thesis brings together the concepts and potential of change agents; regenerative development and destination foodscapes. To improve the social-ecological system, it has to be initiated by, or work with those individuals and collectives who already have the characteristics of change agents, or the potential for their competencies to be cultivated, as well as them having an ecological worldview, or the interest in developing their living systems thinking and ecological literacy. Identifying who these regenerative change agents are and how to best cultivate their characteristics, competencies and worldview, will accelerate regenerative development to design living systems which create ecological value over time, and in doing so tackle our planetary problems. This thesis conceptualises a framework for regenerative change agents and a framework for a regenerative destination foodscapes. The initial findings show that the regenerative change agents framework helps identify and support those individuals and collectives who want to affect systemic environmental change. And that the regenerative destination foodscape framework provides and guides collaborative regenerative capacity building. These insights provide the basis for testing the capability development of individuals and collectives to become regenerative change agents. This research conceptualises where these regenerative change agents can affect this change best: in a regenerative destination foodscape, and envisions how and where tourism practices of hosting and sourcing, implemented by change agents using regenerative development approaches in destination foodscapes can improve the biosphere of our planet. This is the first research undertaken on change agents operating with regenerative principles in the nexus of tourism and agriculture in a destination foodscape, and as such on the individual competencies, characteristics and ecological worldview of agents who want to affect positive environmental change.