Sustainability, as directly mentioned in the word, is the ability to sustain. To sustain what?
One would think, to sustain LIFE on Earth. Our ecosystems, our communities, and the plants, animals, and people who live here. And I keep coming back to the question: What are we actually choosing to sustain?
Are we sustaining the conditions that allow life to thrive? Or are we sometimes sustaining old systems and ways of operating that are no longer conducive to a healthy planet?
Sustainability has become such a widely used word that I think we sometimes forget to ask what it actually means. To sustain is to support, maintain, keep going, or provide what is needed for something to continue over time.
What are we keeping going? Have we all agreed on that? I’m not sure.
There are parts of sustainability that are beautiful and very much a part of what we do at Springboard Connectivity, especially nourishing, supporting, and helping. I also don’t think that is the full picture.
For us, the end goal is not simply that life on Earth continues. We want life on Earth to thrive and be naturally healthy for generations to come.
Why Regeneration?
This is why I love the word regeneration.
Even the language around generation feels alive. To generate is to create, produce, engender, bring forth, and give rise to something. These words are full of life-force energy. They speak to creation, renewal, and something new coming into being.
Regeneration carries that same sense of life and creation, along with the capacity for renewal.
When we create something at Springboard, we want to know that it is replicable, sound, and has a lasting, positive impact. We also make sure to ask whether what we are creating has the strength and capacity to continue growing and regenerating. Are we creating the conditions for something to continue on its own, to sustain itself? Are we equipping people with the knowledge and power to carry the work forward themselves?
I think of a fetus growing in the womb. The fetus has what it needs from its environment to grow, and it is continually being nurtured by that environment. It is growing, creating, developing, and becoming.
Eventually that fetus emerges and begins learning to listen, interact, walk, talk, and ultimately support itself. What began as a life completely dependent on its environment gradually develops the capacity to participate in and create a healthy life of its own.
I think there is something important in that progression. Health is never just one thing. Our physical health is connected to our emotional health, our relationships, our environment, our sense of purpose, our ability to learn and contribute, and our access to the resources we need to live. When these parts of life support one another, we have the conditions for greater health and resilience.
I see regeneration in a similar way. Whether we are talking about a person, a community, or the land itself, we are looking at the whole ecosystem and asking what it needs to become healthy enough to grow, adapt, and continue.
Sustainability Has Been an Important Part of the Journey.
Sustainability has gotten us this far, and that matters. It has been part of the environmental conversation for decades and has helped move attention toward renewable energy, conservation, responsible resource use, and greater awareness of our relationship with the planet.
I see sustainability as an important foundation. Regeneration asks us to go further. It asks us to preserve what is working, restore what has been depleted, and create conditions that support greater health and life.
At Springboard Connectivity, this changes the kinds of questions we ask about our work. We want to know: Is it viable? Is it serving? Is it nourishing? Is it useful? Will it help our youth flourish, grow, and embody healthy, happy lives? How will it impact the generations that come after us?
These questions matter whether we are thinking about clean water, food security, regenerative agriculture, education, technology, or health. We are interested in what happens after a project begins and what remains after our direct involvement ends.
What are we actually creating? Are we creating something that continually needs to be propped up, or are we helping create the conditions for people and communities to grow, adapt, and continue building upon the work themselves?
The Seven-Generation Question
There is one question I invite you to ask yourself:
Is what I am doing going to help or hinder the next seven generations?
It is a simple question that can put a lot into perspective. We can ask it about the food we grow, the water we use, the products we buy, the businesses we build, the technologies we develop, the way we educate our children, and the way we care for our own bodies.
At Springboard Connectivity, we are continually asking how the choices we make today will affect our youth and the generations who come after us. Regeneration, to us, means prioritizing health in body, mind, and soil. It means looking beyond the immediate outcome and considering what our actions are setting into motion.
Sustainability asks us to consider what can continue. Regeneration asks us to consider what can grow, renew, and create the conditions for more life.
How do we create the conditions for life on Earth to thrive? For us, for our children, and for generations we will never meet.
