The Next UN: Visions for a Regenerative Future

In this fireside episode, Silke sits with spiritual elder Jyoti Ma and Earth lawyer Alexandra (“Ally”) Pimor to explore a simple yet transformative question: What was the UN born for — and what does that origin ask of us now? Together, they trace the UN’s roots as a spiritual endeavour grounded in peace, dignity, and a collective choice for life, inviting staff to realign everyday actions with this original intention. Ally expands the meaning of “We the peoples” to include rivers, forests, future generations, and more-than-human nations, offering concrete ways to bring these voices into programmes and governance. Both guests return to the power of individual agency, reminding us that while institutions may feel stuck, people never are — each email, meeting, and act of integrity is a seed shaping the future. The episode ultimately offers a hopeful call to dream the UN forward by nurturing reciprocity, deep listening, and care for all life, and to remember that UN staff are not cogs in a machine, but gardeners in a living ecosystem.

Join the conversation: regeneration-collective.org

About the Podcast Guests: Jyoti Ma is an internationally respected spiritual teacher and bridge-builder between ancestral traditions and modern systems change. As Vision Keeper of The Fountain, she has dedicated her life to restoring balance between humanity and the Earth through sacred reciprocity and unity. She helped convene the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers and the Mother Earth Delegation of United Indigenous Nations, and works closely with the Kággaba Mamas in Colombia on the Sun Project to “remember the Golden Body.”

Alexandra (“Ally”) Pimor is an Earth lawyer, legal scholar, and systems thinker working at the frontier of regenerative governance. As Director of Nature Governance at the Earth Law Center, she leads the pioneering Nature On The Board initiative — bringing the Rights of Nature into corporate and institutional decision-making.She served as one of the first proxies for Nature at the UK company Faith In Nature, and mentors a global network of Nature proxies through the Dandelion Fellowship. Her work invites us to reimagine law and governance as living systems that serve all of life.

• Connect with Alexandra on Linkedin
• Earth Law Center's Nature Governance Agency: a program for onboarding Nature (including Nature as inspiration, advisor, director and shareholder), and cultivating Nature-conscious governance and leadership praxis.
• Dandelion Fellowship: capacity‑building for individuals to practice and speak as a voice of nature

How can the UN move from talking about transformation to living it? In this powerful episode, Silke von Brockhausen sits down with Laurel Patterson, Head of Strategic Partnerships & Communications at UNDP’s Crisis Bureau, to explore what regeneration really means inside one of the world’s most complex systems.

Together, they unpack why the UN often produces outcomes nobody truly wants—and how shifting our inner and relational lenses can change that. Laurel shares a refreshingly practical roadmap drawn from years of work with Theory U, Transformative Spaces, and SDG Leadership Labs—showing that change starts with how we show up together.

You’ll learn:

• How to design meetings that build trust and human connection.
• Why naming power dynamics unlocks new possibilities.
• How “action-confidence” beats waiting for perfect plans.
• Why unlearning—together—is the real key to innovation.
• How scaling transformation means deepening ownership, not rolling out toolkits.

Big takeaway: Regeneration in the UN isn’t a project—it’s a daily practice of seeing clearly, acting with courage, and nurturing relationships as the core infrastructure of change.

Listen now to rediscover the art of deep listening, relational leadership, and small steps that can move big systems.

Chapters

00:00Introduction to Regenerative Leadership

02:20Understanding Regeneration in the UN Context

05:17Awareness-Based Collective Action in the UN

11:49Scaling Initiatives for Regenerative Leadership

18:43Advice for Future UN Leadership

29:45Empowering Young Leaders in the UN

34:33Daily Practices for Grounding and Connection

What if the UN could regenerate from the inside out—one meeting, one ritual, one relationship at a time?
In this insightful conversation, host Silke von Brockhausen speaks with Liliana Uruburo, a culture-change advisor in the UN Secretariat’s Business Transformation and Accountability Division. Instead of debating large-scale reforms, they explore what every UN staff member can actually do tomorrow morning to make work more humane, energized, and effective—no matter their grade or duty station.

Liliana introduces the idea of tending the UN’s “social soil”—the web of trust, presence, and relationships that makes everything else grow. Through small, repeatable habits, she shows how we can shift from fatigue and fragmentation toward clarity and collaboration.

• Culture before structure: Technology enables change, but people and relationships carry it.
• Micro-habits of regeneration: How brief practices like breath resets and collective listening can transform meetings.
• Middle management as the system’s pivot: Why the “squeezed middle” determines whether change sticks.
• Empowered early-career staff: Building credibility through clarity, kindness, and quiet value creation.
• Regeneration as participation: Re-imagining the UN’s renewal as a shared, living process—not another reform task force.

Try these this month:

1. Open–Listen–Close: Start with a 3-minute reset, practice collective listening mid-meeting, and end with one-line commitments and an energy check.
2. Borrow before building: Before starting a new initiative, find an existing one and collaborate.
3. Trust the outputs: Focus on outcomes over optics—flex where, when, and how work gets done.
4. Find your circle: Join a practice group such as Transformative Spaces or NewWork to keep skills alive and embodied.

• Explore Transformative Spaces and NewWork within the UN system for bite-size, experiential learning.
• Connect with Liliana Uruburo on LinkedIn.
• Discover more about The RE:Generation Collective and upcoming events here: regeneration-collective.org

When people talk about “transformation,” it often sounds like a slogan — a shiny new strategy that changes little in reality. This conversation is different. In this episode of The Regeneration Collective Podcast, host Silke von Brockhausen speaks with Luise Raaschou and Felix Braun from Mercedes-Benz Vans Europe, who have quietly led a culture shift inside one of the world’s most traditional, high-pressure industries.

Together, they share how regeneration — the practice of leaving systems, people, and processes better than we found them — can turn even the most hierarchical organization into a living, learning, and energizing system.

Their story offers a roadmap not just for businesses, but for institutions like the United Nations, where mission-driven people are often exhausted by structures that no longer serve life.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Regenerative Leadership

05:41 The Journey of Transformation at Mercedes-Benz

11:48 Challenges and Resistance in Transformation

17:53 Staying Grounded in Times of Crisis

24:03 The Role of Leadership in Regeneration

29:53 Closing Thoughts and Future Directions

Key Takeaways for UN Staff and Leaders:

• You don’t need permission to start. Begin in your own team.
• Make space for honesty and recovery.
• Protect people experimenting with new ways of working.
• Watch the energy in the system — it tells the truth.
• See regeneration as prevention, not decoration.
  

Listen if you’re curious about:

• How large organizations can become more human and effective
• Regenerative leadership in practice
• Lessons for the UN and international institutions
• Culture change that doesn’t depend on top-down reform
  

Follow the Guests: Find Luise Raaschou on LinkedIn to learn more about her ongoing journey of regenerative leadership inside Mercedes-Benz Vans.

Connect with The Regeneration Collective:  🌐 regeneration-collective.org

Nora Bateson invites the UN to let life through: to work with information that is as alive as the systems we serve. Instead of preloading projects with KPIs, she proposes placing the SDGs at the end—tend the relationships that nourish relationships, then see what goals were actually met. In disaster and conflict, skip the town-hall shopping list; make space for people to be together (childcare, food, time) and allow new patterns to emerge. Warm Data Labs create an ecology of communication where personal stories widen perception—because perception is the action.

Key themes 

• Regeneration: “Participating in life that makes more life.” Relationships making relationships.
• Warm Data: Relational, trans-contextual information living between people, institutions, culture, ecology.
• Why metrics fall short: Streams of decontextualized data don’t add up to systemic understanding.
• SDGs at the end: Do what’s needed; afterwards, note which goals were met.
• Rupture as opening: In crisis, everyday patterns break—don’t impose; support emergence.
• No town halls: Don’t ask communities what they need in a competitive frame; it aligns them to power, not to each other.
• Make space: Provide childcare, food, time; let relationships re-knit.
• Ecology of communication: Personal stories neutralize status, amplify the quiet, soften the loud.
• Secretary-General thought experiment: Stop writing reports; bring in people who learn from how nature healsin multiple directions.

Memorable lines

• “The information we need has to be as alive as the systems we want to make more life within.”
• “Perception is the action.”
• “Put the SDGs at the end, not the beginning.”
• “Don’t pit communities against each other for funding—help them align to each other, not to you.”

About Nora

Nora Bateson leads the International Bateson Institute in Sweden. She coined Warm Data and developed Warm Data Labs, now facilitated in 40+ countries, to help groups perceive complexity together. She is the author of Small Arcs of Larger Circles and Combining, and director of An Ecology of Mind (about Gregory Bateson).

Chapters

00:00Introduction to Regeneration and the UN

02:54Understanding Regeneration

05:18The Concept of Warm Data

10:44Challenges of Simplified Data in the UN

16:07Building Relationships in Crisis

22:05Creating Cohesion in Communities

27:21Listening to Marginalized Voices

32:56A New Way of Leading and Governing

34:22Vision for the Future of the UN

Key links

• Nora Bateson (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nora-bateson-b4a2456/
• Warm Data Labs (Bateson Institute): https://batesoninstitute.org/warm-data/
• Nora Bateson at the Bateson Institute: https://batesoninstitute.org/nora-bateson/

In this thought-provoking conversation, Silke von Brockhausen speaks with Jon Alexander, strategist, storyteller, and co-founder of the New Citizen Project. Jon’s award-winning book Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything Is All of Us has inspired a quiet revolution—reframing us not as passive consumers of systems, but as active citizens shaping the future together.

Drawing from his work with governments, NGOs, and social movements worldwide, Jon invites UN staff and international practitioners to see regeneration as falling back in love with humanity. Together, they explore what it would mean for the UN to become a participatory ecosystem—one that harnesses collective intelligence, distributes power, and cultivates belonging across our shared planetary home.

Connect with Jon on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-alexander-11b66345/

Learn more about Jon: https://jonalexander.net/

• From Consumer to Citizen: Why shifting our collective story is essential for the future of humanity.
• Safe Uncertainty in Leadership: How to hold space for not-knowing and co-create solutions.
• Institutional Renewal: Lessons from Taiwan’s crowdsourced pandemic response.
• Post-Crisis Regeneration: Starting with what’s strong, not what’s wrong.
• Citizen Assemblies: Democracy under good conditions—and how it could inspire the UN.
• Distributed Power: Reimagining the UN as a pollinator of regenerative systems.

• Regeneration means falling back in love with humanity.
• The shift from consumer to citizen is essential for our shared future.
• Institutions must evolve to support collective intelligence.
• Leadership is about creating safe spaces for uncertainty.
• Citizen agency is the foundation for lasting recovery.
• Citizen assemblies can renew democracy and legitimacy.
• Crowdsourcing participation can rewrite the social contract.
• The UN’s future lies in distributed, not centralized, power.
• We must celebrate existing citizen initiatives.
• The future is messy, beautiful, and full of possibility.

00:00 — Introduction to Regeneration and the UN
02:32 — What Regeneration Really Means
05:02 — From Consumer to Citizen: A New Narrative
08:10 — The Power of Collective Intelligence
10:51 — Creating Conditions for Participation
13:40 — The UN’s Role in Crisis Situations
16:26 — Harnessing Citizen Agency
19:05 — Why Citizen Assemblies Matter
21:41 — Reimagining Global Governance
24:28 — The Future of the UN: A Distributed Power Model

In this conversation, Silke von Brockhausen and Eric Martin explore the concepts of regenerative and adaptive leadership within the context of the United Nations. They discuss the importance of redefining relationships, understanding the essence of humanity, and the need for a shift in mindset among leaders. Eric emphasizes the significance of navigating change, recognizing resistance, and the value of personal transformation in leadership. They also touch on practical tools for young leaders, the potential of a regenerative UN, and the importance of fostering a culture of truth and trust.

Learn more

Eric Martin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericrogermartin/

Adaptive Change Advisors: https://adaptivechangeadvisors.com/

Takeaways

· Regeneration involves redefining relationships and values.

· Leadership begins with personal transformation.

· People resist loss, not change; understanding this is key.

· Adaptive leadership requires discerning between technical and adaptive problems.

· Young leaders should not wait for permission to lead.

· Compassion and empathy are essential in leadership.

· A regenerative UN would support individual contributions and creativity.

· Appreciative inquiry focuses on highlighting what works well.

· Daily contemplative practices can enhance leadership presence.

· Understanding others' experiences fosters empathy and connection.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Regenerative Leadership

02:20 Understanding Regeneration

05:37 Adaptive Leadership Explained

11:25 The Importance of Mindset in Leadership

16:50 Navigating Change and Resistance

21:26 Practical Tools for Young Leaders

25:26 Envisioning a Regenerative UN

29:07 The Role of Truth and Agency

32:08 Appreciative Inquiry in Leadership

34:01 Personal Practices for Grounded Leadership

In this episode of the RE:Generation Collective podcast, Silke von Brockhausen engages with Mansi Jasuja to explore the concept of regeneration in the context of the United Nations and beyond. They discuss the importance of participatory leadership, the Art of Hosting, and the need for a heart-centered approach to leadership. Mansi shares her insights on the necessity of organizational rebirth, the role of joy and beauty in work culture, and the significance of decolonization in creating inclusive environments. The conversation emphasizes the importance of listening to communities, fostering fluidity in organizational structures, and implementing daily practices for personal and collective regeneration.

Connect with Mansi and learn more about Art of Hosting:

Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mansijasuja/ | ArtofHosting.org | www.aohnetherlands.org

Takeaways

• Regeneration is about rebirth and returning to our essence.
• We are at a critical moment where serious choices must be made.
• The art of hosting emphasizes collective intelligence and human connection.
• Facilitation is linear; hosting is about relationships and sense-making.
• Heart-centered leadership focuses on service and community well-being.
• Organizations need to let go of outdated structures to regenerate.
• A wisdom council could replace hierarchical leadership in the UN.
• Fluidity in systems allows for better communication and connection.
• Communities should lead their own regeneration efforts post-conflict.
• Joy and beauty are essential for a thriving organizational culture.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Regeneration and the UN

03:10 Understanding Regeneration: A Personal Perspective

05:51 The Art of Hosting: A New Approach to Facilitation

09:08 Participatory Leadership in Organizations

12:09 Heart-Centered Leadership: A New Paradigm

14:56 The Need for Organizational Transformation

17:54 Imagining a New UN: A Wisdom Council Approach

20:53 The Interstitium: Fluidity in Organizational Structures

24:03 Rebuilding After Conflict: Listening to Communities

27:02 Joy and Beauty in Organizational Culture

29:46 Decolonization: Bringing Wholeness Back to Work

32:47 Daily Practices for Regeneration

36:07 Conclusion and Future Connections

In this conversation, Silke von Brockhausen (The RE:Generation Collective) and Joachim Stroh (Hypha) explore the concept of regeneration within the context of the United Nations and the role of technology in facilitating this transformation. They discuss the importance of moving from extractive practices to restorative ones, the potential of Web 3.0 and blockchain technology to enhance trust and collaboration, and the need for adaptable organizations that can respond to complex challenges. Joachim emphasizes the significance of collective decision-making, tokenization for community engagement, and the necessity of inner alignment within organizations to foster a regenerative culture. The discussion culminates in a vision for a more decentralized and participatory UN, highlighting practical steps that can be taken to initiate this transformation.

Connect with Joachim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joachim-stroh/ 

Hypha's platform for systems change - https://hypha.earth/

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Regeneration and the UN

02:13 Understanding Regeneration: A Call to Action

04:58 The Role of Technology in Regeneration

08:10 Demystifying Web 3.0 and Blockchain

15:39 Building Trust Through Technology

20:16 Transforming Hierarchical Structures in Organizations

23:52 Collaborative Decision-Making in Complex Environments

28:44 Tokenization and Community Engagement

31:26 Addressing Criticism of New Technologies

36:14 Vision for a Regenerative UN

39:06 Practical Steps for Regenerative Practices

40:08 Engaging with Hypha and Future Collaborations

In this episode of the Regeneration Collective podcast, Silke von Brockhausen engages with Alexandra Pimor, an Earth lawyer and advocate for nature's rights. They explore the concept of regeneration, its relevance in today's world, and the innovative idea of giving nature a voice in governance through initiatives like 'Nature on the Board.' Alexandra emphasizes the importance of understanding our interconnectedness with nature and the need for inner work to foster a culture of peace and sustainability within organizations, particularly the UN. The conversation highlights the significance of indigenous wisdom and the potential for transformative change in governance structures.

Learn more/Engage:

• Connect with Alexandra on Linkedin
• Earth Law Center's Nature Governance Agency: a program for onboarding Nature (including Nature as inspiration, advisor, director and shareholder), and cultivating Nature-conscious governance and leadership praxis.
• Dandelion Fellowship: capacity‑building for individuals to practice and speak as a voice of nature.

Takeaways

• Regeneration is about renewal and intentional repair.
• Nature should have a voice in decision-making processes.
• We are all interconnected and part of nature.
• Inner work is essential for fostering peace and sustainability.
• Organizational culture must embrace nature consciousness.
• Indigenous wisdom is crucial for understanding our relationship with nature.
• The UN must evolve to reflect the needs of the planet.
• Creative lawyering can enable nature's rights within existing systems.
• Peace is a practice that requires conscious effort.
• We must take care of our roots to see fruitful outcomes.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Regeneration and the UN

05:14 Nature on the Board: A New Governance Concept

11:08 The Role of Nature in Governance

19:12 The Inner Work of Being a Voice for Nature

25:34 Roots of Regeneration and Self-Care

30:38 Integrating Inner Development Goals

35:12 Indigenous Wisdom and Future Policies