Vision

A region-wide initiative of The Sustainability Project, funded by The Greenbelt Foundation, RGB aims to determine whether there is a narrative existing in Grey and Bruce counties that holds an image of the region’s landscapes that is hopeful, future-oriented, and community-led.

Regenerate Grey Bruce envisions a landscape that is resilient, vibrant, and hopeful.

• A vibrant, living landscape fosters the resilience of all living beings towards external threats, including those posed by climate change, economic disruption, and disrupted food chains.
• Human society (individuals, communities, and governance structures) benefit from the vibrant landscape through tourism, access for learning and healing, and economic activities that sustainably harvest its resources.
• The relationship between human society and the living world is characterized by awareness, mutual care, and co-benefits. These relationships recognize future living beings - human generations, and other life forms. Human society proactively manages its landscape with the goal of simultaneously meeting the needs of humans and the living world, now and into the future.

Our Theory of Change

"The Good Stuff" about our project can be found here.

Equity of Change Statement

Regenerate Grey Bruce is a project about change - how to respond to it, how to shape it, and how to inspire it. To change when one wishes is a privilege, in that those that can can choose to make incremental changes, or to make bigger shifts, at their own pace, from a mind-set of comfort, or semi-comfort, have more control to influence how we collectively respond and shape our future in this period of big crisis.

There are many people who do not have this privilege, who are living in parts of our region, and our planet, where they have no choice but to change, often very suddenly, and often in undesired ways. Scenarios like the need to leave suddenly because homes and fields are threatened or destroyed by forest fires or uncharacteristic rain events are examples of this.

And so, RGB recognizes that we all change at the pace our lives dictate. We recognized that change is very difficult for many of us, and the changes that our human species, and our planet, need to survive, are uncomfortable, that our neighbours might complain, and our families may not understand.

The project staff, with deep respect, encourages those who have the privilege to change when they choose, to reflect on how they can find the places and spaces in their lives where they can start, and invite, and inspire more change to continue regenerating our beautiful landscapes.

Where the Narrative is RIGHT NOW?

When asked about what Landscapes signify to them, some Grey Bruce residents shared stories of “home”being their house and private property, with less thought to the wider region. Others perceived the land merely as an investment good that is simplified for agricultural rental, and potentially for future development. Yet others expressed the need to take active responsibility in landscape conservation and stewardship for the land at large.

Our current landscape narratives are diverse and seem in conflict with one another. However, RGB staff have found an emerging landscape narrative where individual and community actions to regenerate land, spirits and community in the region showed that the stories we are telling ourselves are indeed full of hope.

The stories of how our community is actuating this new narrative are:

1. diverse in content, scale and context and so reflect how Regeneration is a process, action and mindset.
2. few but growing in number.
3. sparsely scattered across the entire region.
4. exist in the private, day-to-day actions taken by individual citizens on the land they own/steward
5. exist in institutional, public and government spaces
6. not easily visible to those not reflected or represented in them.
7. most visible stories are those of residents in later stages in life.
8. most ‘close to home or private’ stories are those of residents in the middle stages of life.
9. least known as of right now, and so have little space in the emerging narrative, which is a very serious concern, are those residents in earlier stages of life (i.e. youth in school and still/are dependents: lack of capacity and skill).
10. seem challenged in recognizing one another, which has created a lack of collaboration and support for resident’s individual experiences, stories and work in regeneration. This in turn seems to be one of the barriers in scaling up regional efforts as this lack of recognizing one another has created feelings of isolation, despair, and nervousness to engage.
11. across the board, seem to reflect these values: accessibility, responsibility, adaptability, respect, relationships/family, and hope.
12. More stories are emerging every day as the larger regional climate movement continues to take the time to listen, reflect and shift with the people, science and landscape changes that are engaged.

Youth Climate Action Conference

We co-host the YCAC every fall, including the 2025 conference being planned as we speak. Updates and details are here.

A Guide for Intergenerational Collaboration

The guide, the advisory body, and more info is in our public access folder here

On Landscape Narratives

What is a "Landscape Narrative" exactly? We started with cultural narratives. Our "take" can be found here.

Don't Forget!

Remember, the goal of RGB now is to amplify this emerging narrative we've uncovered, the collective and individual stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves, acted out in real time through our decisions and actions. You can take action by:

PLANT (POLLINATORS and NATIVE SPECIES): Addressing barriers community members face in regenerating their surrounding landscapes i.e. planting native plants; supporting a regional native plant supply chain; and, bringing together nursery owners, farmers and seed collectors, etc.

SHARE (YOUR STORY): Publishing, Highlighting and Inviting more stories into the emerging narrative to i.e. Regeneration Stories, Presentations, StoryMap, Social Media, Signage/Messaging, etc.

INSPIRE (TO JOIN): Directly inviting friends, family, co-workers, etc. to join the work i.e. Theory of Change, Guide for Intergenerational Collaboration, YCAC collaboration, Wiarton Tiny Forest Collaboration, RGB Seed Collectors, etc.