sustainability Article Evaluating the Practice and Outcomes of Applying Regenerative Development to a Large-Scale Project in Victoria, Australia Dominique Hes ID , André Stephan * ID and Sareh Moosavi Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia; [email protected] (D.H.); [email protected] (S.M.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +61-3-8344-5929 Received: 27 November 2017; Accepted: 6 February 2018; Published: 9 February 2018 Abstract: Regenerative development is one of the critical pathways or processes towards an ecological worldview and a built environment in synergy with the natural environment. This vision aims to restore and support environmental, social and economic flows from a systems perspective. While regenerative development has been discussed in theory and applied to some projects, very few studies have analysed the processes that support its emergence. Our study investigates the design process of an ongoing development project, “Seacombe West” in Victoria, Australia. It evaluates the design outputs, using the LENSES Framework (Living Environments in Natural, Social, and Economic Systems) which is specifically designed to facilitate the emergence of regenerative development thinking. The project included a series of four workshops that led to a set of guidelines that in turn were used to design a masterplan. We evaluate the resulting guidelines, the masterplan, and the experience of the participants through an online survey (70% response rate) and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. Our results show that using LENSES encouraged systems thinking and helps facilitate a transdisciplinary approach towards regenerative development. This evaluation provides insights into how regenerative development can emerge in projects and how the potential for net benefit can be embedded. Keywords: net regenerative regional development; ecological worldview; LENSES Framework; transdisciplinary design 1. Introduction There has been a call from many areas of research and practice for a different approach to sustainable development in the built environment. This has occurred because many of the social and ecological indicators that underpin our civilisation are being eroded. In other words, we are generally failing at our current approach to sustainability. Led by thinkers in the built environment such as Lyle [1], McDonough and Braungart [2], Birkeland [3], Cole [4], Mang and Reed [5] and du Plessis [6,7], the call has gone out for approaches that facilitate built environment outcomes that move beyond marginal improvements and shift our focus towards creating vitality and net benefit. Projects that begin to heal the damage done in the past and consider creating vital relationships that lead to resilience. Regenerative development can be seen as a process to facilitate this type of approach to contributive development [5,8–11]. Regional development (which occurs in rural or semi-rural communities, outside of major urban centres) presents a clear opportunity where regenerative development can be applied. The case study investigated in this paper aimed to become a net positive living environment, defined as “a setting that is thriving, healthy, and resilient because its ecological, social, and economic systems are continually nourished” ([12], p. 2), using a regenerative development defined as “the process of cultivating the capacity Sustainability 2018, 10, 460; doi:10.3390/su10020460 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Sustainability 2018, 10, 460 2 of 24 and capability in people, communities, and other natural systems to renew, evolve, and thrive” ([12], p. 2). Though in its infancy in application, Regenerative Development draws on the fields of knowledge required to better understand the “unique social, cultural and ecological opportunities and constraints of place” ([4], p. 48), including history and natures wisdom [13], and provides alternative ways to look at development. Regenerative development focuses on symbiosis with nature, in contrast to most other forms of development which can focus on other aspects. Critically, regenerative development aims to work within a system to enable the potential of the system to emerge; to co-evolve the aspects of the system so that it can constructively adapt to change and evolve towards increasing states of health and abundance. This typically involves a shift in mindset that puts thinking about potential before problem-solving [5]. Currently, there are examples of the application of regenerative development ideas but these tend to be reflections on projects and their outcomes [5]. Examples include case studies found on practitioner pages such as Regenesis and the Institute for the Built Environment (IBE) at Colorado State University. While these provide insights into the outputs of regenerative development projects, there is a need to better understand the process that supports regenerative thinking and contrasting it to “business as usual”. In other words, how do we operationalise these abstract concepts of creating ecological, social and economic benefits to achieve a living environment? 1.1. Aim and Scope The aim of this paper is to assess the process of applying regenerative thinking and reflect on the outcomes for the participants and the design of the masterplan of a 680-hectare project, “Seacombe West”, in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, 217 km southeast of Melbourne. The framework that was used to facilitate the design of the Living Environment was the LENSES (Living Environments in Natural, Social and Economic Systems) framework. This paper discusses how this case study and its three-months design process drove the ability to move towards regenerative development. This was achieved by comparing the 2003 failed masterplan with the outcome of the LENSES Framework application; evaluating the effectiveness of the LENSES Framework to guide the outcome towards a healthier and more ecological built environment (through a survey); investigating how both the approach and the framework, together with transdisciplinary collaboration provided a pathway and a model to support future projects (through semi-structured interviews and the survey); and lastly, assessing if there were significant lessons, enablers and benefits drawn from the process. As such we outline the process of designing for building upon the potential of the site, detail the application of the LENSES Framework, present the results of the design, and report on the interviews and surveys undertaken with the participants involved in the design process. The scope of this paper is depicted in Figure 3. To summarise, this project is a step along the way to understanding how transdisciplinary collaborations can create net benefit. It provides a potential foundation for future evaluation and research around the project. The investigation into the design process was guided by the following key questions: • Is the process used in this project justified in terms of investment in time, energy and resources? • Does it have the potential to achieve Regenerative Regional Development? • What worked well? • What could have been improved? • What were the key enablers? 1.2. Case Study Area Seacombe West is located 217 km southeast of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The proposed 680 hectares (6.8 km2) development is located south of Lake Wellington (or Lake Murla in the Indigenous Gunai language), which is one of the three major interconnected lakes that form the Sustainability 2018, 10, 460 3 of 24 Sustainability 2018, 10, x FOR PEER REVIEW 3 of 25 Gippsland Lakes systems (Figure1). The lakes cover 340 km 2 and are separated from the Bass Strait by aby linear a linear sand sand shore shore that that forms forms the Ninety the Ninety Mile Beach.Mile Beach. The lakes The lakes are fed are by fed seven by seven rivers rivers that carry that water carry 2 fromwater a from catchment a catchment area of area 20,000 of km20,0002 [14 km]. The [14]. Gippsland The Gippsland Lakes systemLakes system is listed is as listed a Ramsar as a Ramsar site under site theunder Ramsar the Ramsar Convention Convention of 1982 of in 1982 recognition in recognit of itsion outstanding of its outstanding coastal wetlandcoastal wetland value and value natural and featuresnatural features [15] and [15] is also and covered is also covered by other by wetland other wetland and bird and protection bird protection agreements. agreements. The site The is site now is seennow asseen meeting as meeting six out six of theout nineof the nomination nine nomination criteria recognisingcriteria recognising its representative its representative wetland habitatswetland athabitats an international at an international level [16]. level [16]. EqualEqual to the the site’s site’s natural natural significance, significance, the the Gippsland Gippsland Lakes Lakes embody embody diverse diverse cultural cultural and socio- and socio-economiceconomic values values in the State in the of State Victoria of Victoriaby generati byng generating economic economicactivities in activities the form in of the agriculture, form of agriculture,fishing, boating fishing, and boating tourism. and There tourism. is an There increasing is an increasing pressure pressureon urban on nodes urban and nodes small and fishing small fishingcommunities communities from population from population growth, growth, recreational recreational fishing and fishing boating, and boating,as well as as holiday well as tourism. holiday