Synthegrative Blog
This "word" synthegrative reflects our approach. It combines real words, synthesis – "a combination of ideas to form a theory or system", and integrative – "serving or intending to unify separate things"; to create a systemic vision of wholes which are greater than the sum of their parts, reminding us that our work in regenerative design must begin with working on whole living systems and not just the parts and pieces. Our synthegrative posts explore the intersection of green building design, regenerative practice and personal development. We will tell our story and the stories we find along the way.
Seeing Nature’s Mind | Regenerating Place
Join Us in Seeing with Nature’s Mind and Developing Regenerative Thinking at Spillian Building upon the success of prior workshops together, 7group and Spillian are further developing their partnership this spring by offering two workshops in the Catskills aimed at developing our capacity to practice regeneration.
Walking the Talk
Proud to announce that our commitment to protecting Mother Earth, not just earning profits, secured our place on the BCorporation Best for the Environment list for the 3rd year in a row. This honor places us as one of the B Corporations with the most positive environmental impact (scoring in the top 10% of more than 2,100 certified B corporations) based on an independent, comprehensive assessment administered by the nonprofit B Lab.
Come, make yourself known!
At a moment when so many ecological limits are being breached by a civilization largely oblivious to its own embedment within the biosphere, how can we swiftly catalyze a collective recognition of our thorough dependence upon the animate earth? How to open a fresh and unshakeable solidarity between humankind and the other animals, plants and elemental forces that compose this breathing commonwealth?
Regenerating 7group
Our journey began more than 25 years ago as we explored what constituted a green building. Our initial focus was on trying to figure out how to implement specific strategies related to technical building systems. We caught the LEED wave very early and worked to help create it in a myriad of ways as it swept across the market. We developed a keen focus on systems thinking and an integrative process. Impactful videos on our approach and projects put us on the map here and abroad.
Dreaming into the Earth
I woke to the sound of people milling around outside my tent. Their moonlit silhouettes were moving across the tent fabric with a random purpose as if a gathering was taking place. A very large woman came to view just beside my tent and in a loud, booming voice declared, “YOU NEED TO MOVE CLOSER!”
On Being Human in a More-Than-Human World
We will be working on developing each unique human’s capacity to play their role (and manifest their particular essence) in service to the vitality and viability of all life in a particular place. We see this as a process of reciprocity that seeks to grow and develop potential in each and all entities nested within the whole. The most effective nodal point for actualizing such systemic transformation is working on how we, as humans, are thinking about our role on the planet.
Building as a Living Organism
Latest Willow School Project Achieves Certified Living Status! “Excellence, Education, Ethics, and Ecology”, is the Willow School’s mantra. A small, independent coeducational day school for students in kindergarten through eighth grade, the Willow School is committed to combining academic excellence and the joy of learning with experiencing the wonder of the natural world. Its green campus is nestled on a 34-acre wooded site in rural New Jersey countryside, and the building and its surroundings are an integral feature in the school’s curriculum.
What Are You Trying to Sustain?
Having helped builders, designers, architects and owners for more than 21 years understand green building, having worked with USGBC to create the LEED green building rating system, and having deeper engagements with regenerative practice for the past 8 years, we are now imagining the next step in the trajectory of thinking beyond sustainable practice . . . a whole new way to explore how humans, their built environment and the natural world develop a co-evolutionary way of nurturing life.
How can every project and person involved contribute to the vitality of their unique place?
Let's Engage