: Story of Place™

Through Story of Place®, we bring a place alive, capturing its essence, painting new possibilities for how to live in partnership, and growing a future of greater abundance and creativity for all life. An authentic story creates community, enabling us to see through the eyes of others. Such a story speaks to what a place can become, and how we can both contribute to and benefit from that future.

A compelling story becomes the meta-framework that, over the course of a project:

enables different specialists to find their specific niche without losing sight of how their contribution serves the whole, and how it is co-dependent on the work of others

ensures that sustainability goals and indicators for the parts (water, energy, etc.) are tied to the desired evolution of the whole

builds a foundation of shared meaning and purpose that supports deep collaboration across old divides

Achieving sustainability requires profound changes in how we design, construct and inhabit our environments. Oberlin’s Director of Environmental Studies, David Orr has warned that falling back into an “engineering problem of improving efficiency—reducing the rates at which we poison ourselves and damage the world” cannot address the problem. “The success of ecological design” he posits “will depend on our ability to cultivate a deeper sense of connection and obligation without which few people will be willing to make even obvious and rational changes in time to make much difference.”

Regenesis approaches this challenge by developing “the Story of Place^®” as the context for the design and development process. A story is a coherent organization of information and the relationships and connections between discreet pieces of information and different types of information. These are related in a way that reveals a holistic, understandable picture. In every place the geological, natural, and human history and culture interweave to create a unique nature of place. The story helps us to understand this nature through understanding the development of a place both throughout time and in relation to the human and natural landscape in which it is embedded.

The Story of Place^® as a context serves multiple purposes. First, history has shown that, without the spirit of caring that comes from a deep connection to place, we will not make, let alone maintain day after day, the changes needed for sustainability. Second, discovering the story of a place enables us to understand how living systems work in a particular place, and provides greater intelligence about how humans can then align themselves with that way of working to the benefit of both. Finally, the Story of Place^® provides a framework for an ongoing learning process that enables humans to co-evolve with their environment.

Working in place. All living systems are in a continuous state of transition, either evolving or devolving. In order to interact with a site in a beneficial way one needs to be able to discern the trajectory of its development so that the strategic places and ways to intervene to support its health and ongoing evolution are clear. This trajectory is clearly revealed by the Story of Place^®. We can then effectively interact with it in a beneficial and mutually supportive way.

For decades, development and agricultural practices have been creating landscapes, buildings and towns that are increasingly indistinguishable. We seek to override the natural rhythms of a place by formula, and find ourselves in a continuing and costly battle to correct the dissonance we have created. We can reverse this trend, but not through palliative or piecemeal approaches. It requires an approach that comprehends, and builds on, the complex human, natural and economic relationships that create and sustain the vitality and viability of a place.

We begin to develop the Story of Place^® by developing an understanding of the unique rhythms, patterns, capacity and potential of a site. This understanding helps to reveal both the existing and potential collaborations that weave together the diverse human and natural needs, aspirations and dynamics of a place into a coherent, harmonious and sustainable whole. Through promoting the cooperative interaction of human and natural systems, well-designed developments can actively contribute to the revitalization of the ecology, the community culture, and the regional economy in which they take place. It is the Story of Place^® that is the critical window into clearly seeing this potential.

Beyond the initial design and development process, the Story of Place^® provides the organizing mental framework that turns our surroundings into a curriculum rich environment for learning to live intelligently on the earth. Seeing it as an unfolding story enables us to understand the interconnected roles played by the plants, animals and insects around us, and to access the wisdom of living in place that they embody.





“Story is ultimately about relationship. The soul of the land becomes the soul of our culture not through information or data alone, but through the metaphor and analogy of story.” Peter Forbes "Regenesis helped the community distill the potential for the valley and was probably one of the very best things that could have happened." Jim McGuire, Director, Economic Development Washtington City, UT	: Story of Place™ Through Story of Place®, we bring a place alive, capturing its essence, painting new possibilities for how to live in partnership, and growing a future of greater abundance and creativity for all life. An authentic story creates community, enabling us to see through the eyes of others. Such a story speaks to what a place can become, and how we can both contribute to and benefit from that future. A compelling story becomes the meta-framework that, over the course of a project: enables different specialists to find their specific niche without losing sight of how their contribution serves the whole, and how it is co-dependent on the work of others ensures that sustainability goals and indicators for the parts (water, energy, etc.) are tied to the desired evolution of the whole builds a foundation of shared meaning and purpose that supports deep collaboration across old divides Achieving sustainability requires profound changes in how we design, construct and inhabit our environments. Oberlin’s Director of Environmental Studies, David Orr has warned that falling back into an “engineering problem of improving efficiency—reducing the rates at which we poison ourselves and damage the world” cannot address the problem. “The success of ecological design” he posits “will depend on our ability to cultivate a deeper sense of connection and obligation without which few people will be willing to make even obvious and rational changes in time to make much difference.” Regenesis approaches this challenge by developing “the Story of Place^®” as the context for the design and development process. A story is a coherent organization of information and the relationships and connections between discreet pieces of information and different types of information. These are related in a way that reveals a holistic, understandable picture. In every place the geological, natural, and human history and culture interweave to create a unique nature of place. The story helps us to understand this nature through understanding the development of a place both throughout time and in relation to the human and natural landscape in which it is embedded. The Story of Place^® as a context serves multiple purposes. First, history has shown that, without the spirit of caring that comes from a deep connection to place, we will not make, let alone maintain day after day, the changes needed for sustainability. Second, discovering the story of a place enables us to understand how living systems work in a particular place, and provides greater intelligence about how humans can then align themselves with that way of working to the benefit of both. Finally, the Story of Place^® provides a framework for an ongoing learning process that enables humans to co-evolve with their environment. Working in place. All living systems are in a continuous state of transition, either evolving or devolving. In order to interact with a site in a beneficial way one needs to be able to discern the trajectory of its development so that the strategic places and ways to intervene to support its health and ongoing evolution are clear. This trajectory is clearly revealed by the Story of Place^®. We can then effectively interact with it in a beneficial and mutually supportive way. For decades, development and agricultural practices have been creating landscapes, buildings and towns that are increasingly indistinguishable. We seek to override the natural rhythms of a place by formula, and find ourselves in a continuing and costly battle to correct the dissonance we have created. We can reverse this trend, but not through palliative or piecemeal approaches. It requires an approach that comprehends, and builds on, the complex human, natural and economic relationships that create and sustain the vitality and viability of a place. We begin to develop the Story of Place^® by developing an understanding of the unique rhythms, patterns, capacity and potential of a site. This understanding helps to reveal both the existing and potential collaborations that weave together the diverse human and natural needs, aspirations and dynamics of a place into a coherent, harmonious and sustainable whole. Through promoting the cooperative interaction of human and natural systems, well-designed developments can actively contribute to the revitalization of the ecology, the community culture, and the regional economy in which they take place. It is the Story of Place^® that is the critical window into clearly seeing this potential. Beyond the initial design and development process, the Story of Place^® provides the organizing mental framework that turns our surroundings into a curriculum rich environment for learning to live intelligently on the earth. Seeing it as an unfolding story enables us to understand the interconnected roles played by the plants, animals and insects around us, and to access the wisdom of living in place that they embody.