Regenerative design in the circular economy: An oxymoron?

The Circular Economy (CE) model considers the life cycle of material goods and examines its journey from cradle to cradle; it tries to put human beings in the same species picture as other living things and focuses on design of materials and systems. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMAF) argues for an industrial economy that is restorative or regenerative by design and aims. Regenerative design requires a multi-disciplinary approach which transcends the disciplines of design only. Despite the use of the terms restoration and regeneration, these have not been readily defined in the context of a circular economy. In this paper we critique the term ‘regenerative’ from different interdisciplinary perspectives. Interdisciplinarity analyses, synthesises, and harmonises links between disciplines into a coordinated and coherent whole. Regenerative design has acquired different meanings and outcomes in different disciplines. Regenerative design is a key component of heterodox economic models such as the circular economy and doughnut economics which contend that the current orthodox economic model of indefinite linear growth is not compatible with 21st century needs. Regenerative design is proposed as a key tool in meeting the needs of the heterodox economic models. This paper uses case studies to illustrate the different understandings of regenerative design from different disciplinary backgrounds, leading to a unifying definition. This paper argues that regenerative design in context of the Circular Economy is misunderstood and needs clearer definitions that support a genuinely restorative economy, one that will need a new politics, fit for the conditions of the Anthropocene.