What is a regenerative workplace - and why it matters now
The conversation around workplace wellbeing and sustainability has shifted in recent years - and, for good reason. It’s no longer sufficient to talk about avoiding harm or reducing risks. Organisations, employees, and communities are increasingly asking a deeper question: How can work itself become a force that restores, renews, and regenerates both people and the planet?
From Sustainable to Regenerative
Sustainability has long been the goal in business and organisational practice. In essence, it asks: how can we meet today’s needs without compromising tomorrow?
Regenerative thinking, however, goes further. It actively asks how we can meet today’s needs, whilst also actively improving systems - ecological, social, and organisational – so they’re stronger, healthier, and more robust than they were before (1).
Why?
In an era of environmental degradation, ‘sustainable’ is not sufficient. The past harms of the industrial age and extractive work still need to be addressed, and at work, this means shifting from the narrow focus of productivity or compliance to instead creating environments where people, organisations, and ecosystems thrive together.
It means going beyond the existing approaches of ‘zero harm’ or ‘sustainability’ aiming instead for net positive impact to reverse existing environmental and social harms (2).
It also means creating work that is comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful - building long-term wellbeing and coping capacity within workers, as opposed to operating a business that consumes an employee’s resources (i.e. their skills, knowledge, and labour)(3) and then provides ‘wellbeing programs’ as a bandaid employee burnout.
Core Elements of Regenerative Workplaces
Research and practice suggest regenerative workplaces arise from several overlapping dimensions:
Workplace wellbeing: Regenerative workplaces prioritise psychological, physical, and social health, recognising that worker wellbeing is not only critical for health, it also drives engagement, innovation, productivity, and empowerment (3, 4, 5)
Ecological systems: Nature is not just a backdrop but an active component in how regenerative businesses generate value. A regenerative workplace considers its carbon footprint, supply chains, and community impact, aiming to restore in all areas rather than simply deplete. Ecological systems are therefore positioned as both a means of production and as a beneficiary of all business activities (2, 6)
Resource generating: Beyond pay checks, regenerative workplaces create meaningful roles that connect individual work to wider social and environmental value, and strengthen employees personal and professional resources over time (3, 7)
Continuously evolving: Regenerative organisations embed resilience, experimentation, and feedback loops, seeing setbacks as opportunities to adapt and evolve. Employees and the business are seen as becoming, instead of just statically being (2, 7)
Distinct from mainstream: Most mainstream businesses address climate change in narrow ways (think risk management, reputation, and compliance). Regenerative organisations break this pattern, innovating governance, ownership and financial models to align with ecological and social regeneration outcomes (8)
Why Does it Matter?
There are many reasons why the adoption of a regenerative approach is important, with the two main ones being:
The climate crisis requires us to shift from extraction to regeneration. Work has historically been extractive of both planetary and human resources, landing us in the situation we are now: epidemic burnout rates and widespread environmental deterioration. We simply can not continue to work the way we have, and regenerative work offers us a way forward, correcting past harms, and strengthening resilience for the future.
Work occupies a third of most people’s waking hours. That’s approximately 90 000 hours of life. Poorly designed work has been linked to chronic disease, stress, and injury, whilst well-designed work is a proven and powerful lever for health, wellbeing, and social cohesion (9). When workplaces take a regenerative approach, the benefits extend beyond the office walls: healthier employees, more resilient organisations, stronger communities, and a healthier planet.
Regenerative workplaces produce a win win situation for all.
Practical Steps Towards Regeneration
There’s no one-size-fits-all model, but the most regenerative workplaces tend to follow four key principles:
1. Human wellbeing is designed into the way we work.
The problem with the current approach to workplace wellbeing is that it's seen as an employee 'perk'. It's not, and should never be considered this way, nor should it be seen as an optional program sold in exchange for reduced salary expectations. You can read more about why this is here.
Rather, in a regenerative workplace, workplace wellbeing is Designed. Into. The. System. Wellbeing is central to the way you work.
This could look like:
Trauma-informed and neuro-inclusive practices and leadership
Embedded coaching frameworks that support reflection, recovery, and growth
Flexible, adaptive, and responsive work design
Cohesion, trust and mission aligned goal setting and action.
Jobs that provide autonomy, meaning, learning, and connection, supporting personal and collective growth
If chronic job stress contributes to cardiovascular disease, depression, reduced productivity and turnover; purposeful, meaningful and regenerative work work boost autonomy, output and protect against ill-health (9) it becomes clear what an organisation must do to both thrive and genuinely care for their workforce.
2. The planet is a stakeholder
Climate change risk isn’t a future issue. It’s here and now, and it's shaping where we work, how we work, and what kind of work is even possible.
A regenerative workplace doesn’t just talk about carbon and climate mitigation. It integrates planetary health into everyday organisational life.
This may look like:
Climate-adaptive buildings, tools, and policies
Nature-positive supply chains
Ethical digital design and infrastructure
Environmental justice woven into diversity, equity and inclusion strategies
Sponsoring workers to participate in environmental initiatives.
A regenerative workplace aims for net positive, not carbon neutral, with a greater focus to leave people, systems, and the environment, stronger than they found them.
3. Culture is relational, not performative
Regenerative workplaces go beyond ping pong tables and purpose statements. You can’t yoga your way out of systemic dysfunction - instead regenerative workplaces cultivate relational accountability, belonging, and co-creation.
This may include:
Deep listening and feedback loops
Shared decision-making
Practices of repair - not just of productivity and performance
Recognition of Indigenous knowledge and intergenerational wisdom
People thrive when they have purpose, and where they feel seen and trusted.
Culture isn't curated. It’s actively pursued and grown.
4. Systems thinking is standard, not niche
Regenerative organisations think in systems - not silos.
Regenerative organisations don’t treat climate, mental health, diversity, and leadership as separate departments or organisational concerns. They understand these topics are deeply connected, and that the quality of work is shaped not only by health and the quality of relationships, but by the systems within which workers operate.
This means:
Workflows are designed with health, life stage, and ecological boundaries in mind
Signs of burnout are seen as a signal - a sign of systemic imbalance, and not simply the concern of affected workers
Growth is planned to generate impact but also respect human and planetary limits
Building policies reflect interdependence, not independence from its people and their mission
Fields like regenerative design, biomimicry, and ecological economics provide frameworks for organisations ready to move beyond efficiency, to the next level of coherence and regeneration within dynamic, living systems.
The system must be integratively designed to promote the end goal - regeneration, otherwise failures or short comings will continue to occur.
Final Word
A regenerative workplace is not a distant vision; it is an urgent response to the challenges of our time - burnout, inequality, climate change, and technological disruption. By designing workplaces that restore and renew, we can build organisations that not only succeed in business terms but also contribute to the flourishing of people and planet.
So now to you:
If you’re a leader or HR executive, book a workplace wellbeing mentoring call with Kinwork to design a strategy that creates measurable impact.
If you’re a practitioner or coach, join our Workplace Health Coach Certification waitlist and be among the first to train as one of Australia’s workplace health coaches.
Together, we can design workplaces that work for organisations, people, and the planet.
References (because evidence matters):
Mang, P., & Reed, B. (2020). Regenerative Development and Design. Wiley.
Hahn, T., & Tampe, M. (2021). Strategies for regenerative business. Strategic organization, 19(3), 456-477. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476127020979228
Kira, M., & Forslin, J. (2008). Seeking regenerative work in the post-bureaucratic transition. Journal of organizational change management, 21(1), 76-91. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534810810847048
ISO 45003: Occupational health and safety management - Psychological health and safety at work - Guidelines for managing psychosocial risks. International Organization for Standardization.
WHO, (2022). WHO guidelines on mental health at work
Raworth, K. (2017). Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist.
Lilja, J. (2024). Facilitating organizations to dance with the complex “logic of life”: spinning with paradoxes in regenerative appreciative inquiry summits. The learning organization, 31(3), 299-316. https://doi.org/10.1108/TLO-01-2023-0006
Branzei, O., Muñoz, P., Whiteman, G., & Russell, S. (2017). Call for Papers: Special Issue on “Regenerative Organizations: Business and Climate Action Beyond Mitigation and Adaptation”. Organization & environment, 30(3), 275-277. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026617728990
World Health Organization. (2010). Healthy Workplace Framework and Model: Background and Supporting Literature and Practices. WHO.