In order to respect the needs of the surrounding ecosystem, Mediamatic needs to determine its personal regenerative goals. For this we use the Zoönomic Annual Cycle (ZAC), a tool developed by the Zoönomic Institute. It helps organisations review their impact and set priorities each year. Together with Jolanda, we go through this cycle. In practice it means answering five key questions each year:
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Identifying – Which actors make up the Zoöp’s ecosystem?
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Sensing & Listening – How do these actors perceive and respond to their world?
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Characterizing ecological pain points – What are the types of relationships between the actors? Degenerative (One actor benefits at the expense of another), neutral or regenerative (All actors benefit)?
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Focusing – Which degenerative relationships do we work on to turn regenerative within this year?
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Intervening – Where, when and how do we intervene to create or strengthen regenerative relationships?
So being a Zoöp does not only include adopting a new organization model – It is also a constant organic learning process and a basis for collaboration with other Zoöps in the network.
Why is being a zoöp so important and relevant?
Humans, businesses, and organisations tend to treat the natural world as if it were an infinite resource existing solely for their use. This human centric vision on our environment is problematic, since it is not infinite nor designed to serve human needs. Combined with economic goals focused on short-term profit and unlimited growth, this mindset accelerates the degradation of ecosystems and drives countless species to decline or extinction. If our environment collapses, humans too will suffer from the consequences of that. So we need to understand that respecting, collaborating and regenerating our other-than-human life forms is essential for long-term thriving. By joining the growing network of Zoöps, Mediamatic wants to evolve from a human-centric perspective to a broader one that involves all life forms. We don’t put ourselves above the environment, but we level with it. This will protect the other-than-human life forms, not because they deserve or need it – but because it is their right.
