.webp){kind=logo}
Gen, our Systemic Capital Lead, explores a future paradigm for investing in the Birrarung / Yarra River.
“The most dangerous thing we do is treat human and natural systems like machines.”
My environmental engineering professor's maxim has been ringing loudly in my ears as I navigate the possibilities for a systems finance approach in service of the Swimmable Birrarung Project. Even the title of the work puts me in the danger zone:
Swimmable– an experience of joy and immersion in a natural environment at an elemental level.
Birrarung– a 'river of mists and shadows', a place of ancient significance that forms a sustaining, complex system of cultural, environmental, educational and recreational resources.
Project– a bounded set of actions through which scientifically-robust processes efficiently and effectively convert inputs into outputs to achieve predefined outcomes.
The challenge: how could a systems finance approach at Regen Melbourne respond to the scale and complexity of making the Birrarung swimmable?
A moment of clarity occurred when our Lead Convenor, Charity Mosienyane, shared an article about'Rewiggling' rivers. This article described how biodiversity has sprung back to life in rivers that have been reverted to their more natural shape. The way to create a healthier, more productive river is to slow it down. One of the most well-known examples is therewilding of Yellowstone National Park– when wolves were reintroduced after an absence of 70 years, it led to atrophic cascadewhich created 'niches' for other species and habitats, allowing the river to regenerate. Just as river systems need to slow down to allow richness to emerge, making the river swimmable means creating the space for ideas to percolate and meander.
When a complex system like a river thrives, unexpected things happen. It exhibits self-organising properties. What if the river running through Melbourne was healthy enough to swim in? Who might be inspired? How might this ignite creativity and build the character of the city?
There is a global movement to make rivers the centre of flourishing life they once were. People living in cities with rivers they can swim in relate to them and as a result, care for them, and protect them. For example,urban swimming in Swiss citieslike Zurich, Bern and Geneva is considered one of the greatest cultural experiences.
Driving investment into the Swimmable Birrarung Project requires us to embrace complexity. Simple interventions such as focused conversations and storytelling can unleash previously suppressed energy. The river has always been a place of cultural and ecological significance for the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people. By listening to Indigenous storytelling and language about the river, we can easily imagine the Birrarung as a lifeblood of a city.
Part of this storytelling is reflected in the pursuit of self-sovereignty for natural entities. In 2017, the Birrarung was recognised under law as a living entity through the Yarra River Protection (Wilip-gin Birrarung murron) Act 2017, meaning “keep the Yarra alive”. Its interests are represented by theBirrarung Council, including Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Elders. Another notable example is theWhanganui River in Aotearoa New Zealand, which has been granted legal personhood.
On the other hand, the same conversations can stimulate the power dynamics vested in the status quo. Silos in government and industry result in spending which optimises around water supply, rather than value the broader opportunities a thriving river could bring. Dominant finance paradigms struggle to account for the profound value of complex integrated systems.
Piloting Systemic Investing at Regen Melbourne
The premise of establishing a systems finance approach at Regen Melbourne is to recognise that finance and investment practices must also work towards and serve this goal. We are part of a global coalition of leading systems thinkers, including partnering with theTransCap Initiative, a global network building the field of systemic investing, as well as theGriffith Centre for Systems Innovation. You can read The Griffith Centre's article about developing a systems financing approachhere.
In practice, our systems finance approach will be piloted through three interconnected workstreams:
Interpreting demand
Understanding and enrolling supply
Facilitating investment
Interpreting demand
This work is embedded within the pioneering work driving improvement in river health for decades. We will build a map of how resources and money flow in service of both current and future vision for the river.
Participating in 'swimmable river' convening sessions
Identifying and testing how diverse actors engage with 'boundary objects'
Individual follow-ups with actors seeking investment/new resources
Producing: annotated investment landscape map, reflection blogs, investment opportunity snapshots
Understanding and enrolling supply
The purpose is to engage with capital holders to better understand their perspectives on systems financing and adopting new practices.
Semi-structured interviews with capital-holders of diverse types and scales
Exploration of perspectives on systems financing and conditions enabling changes in investment policies
Producing: reflection blogs, more capital holders engaged and open to experimenting
Facilitating investment
The ultimate success is being a trusted connector, providing a service to enable people and organisations to achieve more. This takes an active-learning approach, brokering connections to improve flow of resources into Swimmable Birrarung aligned activities.
Opportunistic match-making between supply and demand
Influencing funding logic to recognise the value of nested activities
Producing: reflection blogs, investments into aligned activities, case studies
An important part of this work is publishing insight we are learning from undertaking the process itself. We will keep you informed via regular blogs as we build out the systemic investing approach. In my next blog I will share insight on how we are mapping the investable universe through a systemic investment lens.
