How Business Models Brought Me to Greece in 2016 & Kept Me Here
From Linear to Circular to Regenerative Models. Organisms more than Systems.
My dear friends,
In our Peloponnese Living FB group, you hear me say it all the time. I found the area Thyrea, (is means the Portal, the Gateway) in Arcadia in 2016.
My portal. My Gateway.
I was asked to speak at a conference in Karyes. It was a changemakers conference World Health Innovation Summit. Organized by friends of which one of whom lived in Greece. Christiana. Founder of Meraki People.
I met Vivian Manolesou, the president of the Peloponnese Tourist Association, and the rest is history. We offer many goodies to people who also want to come and do some DEEP Travel here.
It’s calm here. I can hear myself think.
I can design creatively when I’m close to the sea (200m), in the sea, and hiking up in the mountains. I can give my Biomimicry Design Education to students.
But what is this Ecology-Economy all about? Why Pristine Peloponnese?
What does Pristine mean?
Pristine means every day a clean slate. Every day a little notch further in evolution. Every day a bit better instead of worse. Healthier. Happier. 4 ALL.
And in order to organize that, we need a healthy environment. Prevent stinking monoculture fish farms. And make new economic plans that DO give BETTER… Zero emission. Zero waste.
Less = More…
Well, in our current business models, we think way too linear. Then we had circular economy. Good concept. But people want pristine. And you can’t change trends.
So, it doesn’t work. What does work? Biodegradable. I am going to explain about it this year in many ways. But the result is something we ALL want. A system that repairs health & peace problems with little effort and little extra costs.
A system that uses healthy production. And that uses ALL waste in the system to produce more multifunctional goodies. That’s Abundance 4 ALL. Healthy for ALL. Solving all kinds of world problems.
Some of the first economic stories I wrote about our ecology-economy projects on Medium is this one. From linear to circular to regenerative. How to scale. Why ecosystem restoration comes first.
For my subscribers, I’ll share the free friends’ link a it lower down in this newletter.
Others can click here and read in Medium.
Beer Breweries
Independent beer breweries in the Netherlands (organic beer), Spain, Ireland, and Montana USA are the ones I know who use this beer business model.
They hold local harvesting feasts. The neighboring baker brakes bread with the rest stream of grains (very healthy since it’s fermented). Energy is produced locally. And mushrooms give protein to whoever is vegetarian or vegan.
In Holland, the area where this happens are South Limburg (Maastricht area) and Rotterdam (Blue City 010). Small independent brewers are popular in cities. And young people wall want to make sustainable business models work with their own small, independent brands. They market it to local restaurants who all want more than just Heineken on their list.
Keep the money in Holland. Greece can do this too. Keep the money in Greece.
I applaud them! Great! Beyond industrialism! Beyond big is whoever appreciates the small and special. Tasty. Stories. Sustainable. Healthy!
More stories about Economy of Scope (keep the money in Greece):
About my time with the giants in large-scale ecosystem restoration and climate resilience.
About our friends at Blue City 010 in Rotterdam. They have now grown to 200 startups and scale-ups who use each others rest streams. CO2 emitters next to a spirulina grower who used the CO2. The building has been financed with stranded assets. An economic mechanism.
Applause to the changemakers. The dreamers and the doers!
How to Scale a Regenerative Business Model | by Desiree Driesenaar | The Startup | Medium
As a consumer, it’s simple. Think Global, Act Local.
Be with locals, contribute to locals, and buy local beers.
As an entrepreneur it means have consortiums with locals. Never extract from locals. Always contribute. Not be just a taker. Giving is the ART of Living…
After our contributions to El Hierro, the first fully regenerative economy of Europe in Spain, Mike and I worked on many projects in Holland and Germany. Healthy buildings, prevention of wildfires, drinkable rivers, sponge cities, preventing malaria, etc.
Always landscapes and seascapes as prevention. Always climate resilient and with the economic ability to grow or shrink without problems or income losses. Always organisms more than systems.
Wanna be in nature?
Start thinking like nature, and even business models come up like mushrooms… The great thing is that now that we have Web3 and tokenization, it’s even easier to distribute the money in complex systems.
People earning who also pay the price (money or otherwise)…
But that’s what my other friends in Peloponnese are working on. They are the UX designers and blockchain wizards. I can explain what they do and how they do it. I design the models. But I can’t DO it. I’m too old to learn.
Next month turning 60.
Time to retire and let the young ones take over in their own ways…
I stick to a little education and writing. Fiction will be my next endeavor. Adventurous science fiction with wormholes and a happy ending. Time not linear.
Chronos & Kairos. I soooooooo love Greece!
To prevent you paying double, here are the free links to Medium.
Happy reading!
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