What Regenerative Innovation Actually Means
Moving beyond sustainability, circularity, and human-centered design toward a living systems approach
Innovation requires us to balance human + more-than-human
Innovation has always been about solving problems. But when the problems are planetary (think climate collapse, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, soil degradation), the stakes change. The question isn’t just:
“How do we innovate?”
It becomes:
“What kind of innovation does life actually need?”
At Carom, we call this Regenerative Innovation. Before it becomes just another buzzword though, let’s pause and be clear:
This isn’t just sustainability 2.0.
It’s not "do less harm" with a green veneer.
It’s not circular economy compliance or waste stream optimization.
And it’s not simply stretching design thinking to be a little more eco-aware.
Regenerative Innovation is something more foundational. More systemic. More alive.
What Regenerative Innovation Is Not
First, let’s talk about what it’s not.
It’s not incremental improvement on broken systems
It’s not just making your supply chain more efficient or less wasteful
It’s not an ESG initiative bolted onto business as usual
And it’s definitely not solving for short-term stakeholder optics
Those approaches might reduce harm. But they don’t repair, restore or regenerate the living systems that make all business (and life) possible.
What Regenerative Innovation Is
At its core, Regenerative Innovation is about designing and innovating in ways that:
✅ Restore ecosystem health
✅ Rebuild planetary cycles - water, carbon, nutrients, biodiversity
✅ Support the well-being of both humans and more-than-human life
✅ Align business and design decisions with the health of entire ecosystems
✅ Contribute to conditions where all life can thrive - not just human life, and not just short-term profit
What do we mean by “more-than-human life”?
When we say more-than-human, we’re talking about all the living systems beyond us humans that make life on Earth possible: like forests, watersheds, pollinators, soil microbes, coral reefs, fungi and wildlife.
In other words, these are the ecosystems, biodiversity and planetary stakeholders we’re often blind to in traditional innovation work.
Why This Shift Matters
If you’re a product designer, strategist, entrepreneur or leader, you’re already making decisions every day that shape material flows, energy use, biodiversity impacts and human behavior at scale.
But the old innovation playbook isn’t built for these planetary realities.
Instead it was built for human convenience, market growth and shareholder value..and all too often at the expense of ecosystems.
That’s why at Carom, we’re developing new tools to help aid in the redesign from a place of planetary responsibility and possibility. Soon we’ll kick it off with our upcoming Regenerative Innovation Canvas.
The New Starting Point for Innovation
Instead of asking:
“What does the market want?”
We start by asking:
“What does this watershed need?”
“What does this soil require to regenerate?”
“How does this business participate in the health of this ecosystem?”
This shift doesn’t mean abandoning human needs. But what it does mean is understanding that human thriving depends on ecosystems thriving.
The Provocation
So what if innovation wasn’t just about solving problems, but about repairing our relationships with land, with water, with biodiversity, with future generations?
It’s not about perfection; it’s about changing direction. From extraction to regeneration, and from linearity to life.
Coming Soon: The Regenerative Innovation Canvas
In just a few short weeks, we’ll be releasing a free version of our canvas. It’s designed to help you begin this shift in your own projects, teams and organizations.
Want first access?
👉 Subscribe at carom.com/home#join to get the free download as soon as it drops.