This selection of videos will help you learn more about the ideas underlying 7-Generation GTB.
Several of the videos feature Joe Brewer, a global regeneration leader with a background in both earth sciences and cognitive sciences. Joe visited the GTB and did several talks to different audiences. He's currently doing on-the-ground regeneration work in a 500,000 ha bioregion around Barichara, Colombia, and helping to create a global Bioregional Network. He is founder of the Design School for Regenerating Earth and author of The Design Pathway for Regenerating Earth.
7-Generation GTB Introduction
Drawing on the 1992 Regeneration report by The Hon. David Crombie (former Toronto Mayor and MP), the Legacy Project's 7-Generation Greater Tkaronto Bioregion (GTB) initiative mobilizes intergenerational and place-based dynamics for both social regeneration (generations in communities) and ecological regeneration (communities in bioregions) to #ChangeTheStory for ecopsychosocial wellbeing. Join us!
Building a 7-Generation World
Susan V. Bosak is a researcher, educator, and Founder of the Legacy Project. Her 7-Generation research and strategy work is the foundation of 7-Generation GTB. Take a look at her TEDx Talk on Building a
Dr. Dan Longboat Greeting
This is a greeting from Dr. Dan Longboat welcoming regenerative leader Joe Brewer to the Greater Tkaronto Bioregion (GTB). The greeting was recorded for an event that took place at OCAD University in Toronto, February 2023. Dr. Longboat is an Associate Professor in the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies at Trent University and one of the Group of Seven advisors for the 7-Generation GTB work. He talks about the vital importance of bringing Western scientific knowledge together with Indigenous ways of knowing. This is one of the goals of
7-Generation Greater Tkaronto Bioregion (GTB):
Past, Present, Future
It started with former Toronto Mayor and MP The Hon. David Crombie and his seminal 1992 Regeneration report.
30 years later, global regeneration leader Joe Brewer visited the GTB and, based on earth systems science, laid out a compelling vision for the bioregion as the smallest actionable scale that reflects larger planetary processes. This enables us to meaningfully scale-link in thought and impact upward through the Great Lakes Basin into the continent and ultimately to regenerating the entire Earth. The GTB is part of the first North American cohort of a global Bioregional Network. It can both lead and learn from other bioregions.
A Message from Joe Brewer to the Generations in the GTB
Joe Brewer visited the Greater Tkaronto Bioregion (GTB) in February, 2023. He did a dozen public talks, toured the region, and visited with regenerative projects. At the end of his week-long visit, we asked Joe to record a message to the generations in our bioregion. This is his message, accompanied by some highlights from his visit.
Weaving Together the GTB for Regeneration with Joe Brewer
A general session for the public that's a good introduction (with great Q&A) to the thinking underlying the 7-Generation Greater Tkaronto Bioregion (GTB) initiative. Joe outlines the predicament in which we find ourselves, and the regenerative action we can take in the context of the smallest local scale – the bioregion – that reflects bigger planetary processes.
A 7-Generation Bioregional Approach to
Regenerating Our Land and Water with Joe Brewer
A talk for staff managing the stewardship of large landscapes in the Greater Tkaronto Bioregion (e.g. conservation authorities, Rouge National Urban Park and other local parks and forests, the Greenbelt, etc). How can we take a bigger systemic approach to stewardship that can multiply meaningful impact across land areas from the very small to the very large? The GTB is part of the first North American cohort of a global Bioregional Network. It can both lead and learn from other bioregions.
A 7-Generation Bioregional Approach to
Planning for People & Planet in a Polycrisis with Joe Brewer
A detailed talk for municipal and regional staff across departments in the Greater Tkaronto Bioregion (GTB). The blunt fact is that we're in a polycrisis – converging climate, environmental, economic, political, technological, social, health crises. This is about deep systems strategy that manages systemic risk and builds systemic resilience. A bioregional approach promotes intersectoral and interdisciplinary management and planning, and offers opportunities to integrate and deploy strategic and policy priorities effectively on multiple fronts simultaneously. The GTB is part of the first North American cohort of a global Bioregional Network. It can both lead and learn from other bioregions.
7-Generation Healing: Lived Experience in Place
with Joe Brewer, Penny Heiple, and Susan V. Bosak
The story of the world is interwoven with our own life stories and relationships. For Indigenous peoples, everything rests on right relationships – with other people and with the land. The long-term effectiveness of any collective action we try to take depends on how well we can rise into collaboration – how we come together in relationship. How can we nurture intergenerational healing and bridge silos? How can we systemically interconnect social programs/supports to be more than just a bandage, and provide a tapestry for co-creation and care?
Grade 12 Student Ethan Bonerath Interviews Joe Brewer
Ethan Bonerath is a grade 12 student in the GTB (Greater Tkaronto Bioregion). During a visit global regeneration leader Joe Brewer made to the GTB, Ethan did a short radio interview with him. This wide-ranging interview covers everything from personal purpose to environmental challenges.
What is a Bioregional Learning Center?
One of the most important parts of bioregional social and ecological regeneration is organizing a learning ecosystem that coherently integrates everything taking place in the bioregion. In this video, Joe Brewer introduces the idea of a Bioregional Learning Center. We're working to establish a Bioregional Learning Center in the GTB.
Exploring Learning in an Uncertain World with Joe Brewer
In an uncertain and changing world, how can we help young people learn what they'll need to know? How can we more deeply engage all generations in regenerative thinking and practices? This session with global regeneration leader Joe Brewer took place in August, 2023 with a group of teachers, parents, elders, and students in the Greater Tkaronto Bioregion (GTB). It also features Susan V. Bosak, who is the Lead Educator with the Legacy Project core team for 7-Generation GTB.
We're creating "Intergenerational Zone" learning spaces that connect student EcoLeaders with supportive teachers and with Elders-in-Residence from the community. These "super teams" are engaged in mutual learning and collective action that can ripple out around the planet by connecting with other bioregions through the Design School for Regenerating Earth.
Tkaronto Food Forest
Elder Dr. Duke Redbird describes the food forest that once was Tkaronto, connecting it into the 7 Grandfathers teachings. A regenerative future across the GTB can bring back this kind of local resilience. This video segment is used with permission of Myseum of Toronto and Dr. Redbird.
Towards a More Just Future – understanding 'land back'
The David Suzuki Foundation has produced an excellent series of videos exploring the "land back" movement. It looks at the past and present, culminating in this discussion on the future. An expert panel discusses Indigenous rights and responsibilities to help better understand the root causes of conflicts over land use and resource extraction in Canada.
The Story of Al Baydha:
Regenerative Agriculture in the Saudi Desert
What we do in the GTB is part of a larger global regenerative system. Nine years in, Al Baydha Project Co-Founder Neal Spackman offers this analysis. He looks at how desertification resulted from the loss of an Indigenous land management system, and how the land has changed with the implementation of the project. The project challenges us to rethink our stewardship of the planet, whether here in the GTB or halfway around the world. "We are not destructive by nature, but by habit. Our potential for destruction is mirrored by our potential for regeneration." This is a call to action.
The Power of the Land
In this historic global moment of uncertainty and challenge, as much as we need rational, analytical thought, we also need creative artistic expression. Based on a poem written by Elder Dr. Duke Redbird, this video features the music of the Sultans of String and the voices of Twin Flames. May it speak to your soul and move you to new ways of being in the Greater Tkaronto Bioregion.
Visit the Legacy Project's YouTube channel for more videos.