Imagine Northern Rivers: Reimagine, redesign and reignite shared mission for regenerative futures across the Northern Rivers

With start-up funding from the Ingrained Foundation, Imagine Northern Rivers has launched. In 2025 and 2026, we will be engaging communities, businesses, peak bodies and government agencies across the region, to explore opportunities for regenerative, adaptive and connected futures. What do these futures look like? How can we get there? And what’s needed to align and leverage Mission for impact?

Imagine Northern Rivers is an ambitious endeavor to link and leverage the work of regeneration, resilience-building, climate adaptation, social wellbeing, the circular economy and government planning, for maximum long-term impact. Many of us sense that our business-as-usual approach is taking us towards a degenerative future. The opportunity and need is to focus on and move towards regenerative futures - socially, environmentally, economically and culturally regenerative futures. In the plainest of language - a better and safe future for us all.

What will we do?

• Develop a shared picture of what the Northern Rivers currently looks like and what's already underway to regenerate across the region.

• Engage place-based communities across the region in articulating what regenerative, safe, adaptive and connected futures (up to 2060) could look like, and the actions needed to take us there.

• Host ‘big-picture’ forums about the future of housing, food systems, our regional (ideally circular) economy and other themes that emerge due to interest and opportunity.

• Thread the place-based and ‘big picture’ vision elements in to a regional story that can inform the planning and work of diverse sectors.

• Build an alliance that includes organisations, government agencies, groups, Indigenous communities, farmers, businesses, universities, philanthropists, schools and residents, all serving place-based visions of regenerative, adaptive and connected futures.

• Build the confidence, knowledge and skills in community-based leaders across the region, to act in service of place-based regenerative futures.

Imagine Northern Rivers is a partnership between Carmen Stewart (local futurist), Living Lab Northern Rivers, Ingrained Foundation, Northern Rivers Community Foundation, Southern Cross University and The Family Centre.

If you live and/or work in the Northern Rivers and would like to participate, contact us. We are seeking members of organisations, clubs, networks, business chambers etcetera, to help us convene workshops in communities across the region. There is no cost to participate.