The Vitality Triangle

Abstract

How can we navigate complex power dynamics in our every-day interactions, while sourcing our collective powers for just transitions to equitable, regenerative economies? When in the course of planetary crises, how do we harness the powers of the earth and find our way forward through conditions of precarity, under the pressure of necessity, into a future in which we can all flourish? How can we expand our toolkits with guidance born of ancient wisdom, intersectional social movements, and personal praxis? This article explores how an inner-compass, the “Vitality Triangle,” can help us cultivate ecosystem awareness as we navigate from the life-threatening conditions characterizing our current geological epoch towards just and flourishing futures. Informed by diverse lineages of thought and action and shaped by the authors’ experiences navigating just transitions, the Vitality Triangle is not a new theory. Rather, it is a practical, synthetic framework that directs us to well-established practices, methods and traditions that can help us navigate planetary crises by living our questions while embodying, embedding, and emplacing three principles of regenerative vitality in living systems: liberty, reciprocity, and integrity. Through a review of challenges we face in our planetary moment, stories from practice, and reflections on the origins, practical application, and pragmatic possibilities of the Vitality Triangle, the authors posit that this vital tool can guide us in cultivating the collective awareness and (r)evolutionary power required to repair harm, regenerate well-being, and co-create the world anew.

Keywords

• regenerative economics
• environmental justice
• community development
• systemic trauma
• climate
• resilience