What happens when old systems fail, but the new ones aren’t fully “born” yet? Welcome to the messy in-between! The Berkana Two Loops Model helps us understand that when one system is in decline, another is already quietly emerging at the fringes.
For those anxious about climate change and nature loss, especially those actively working on creating a more regenerative world, the tension between the old and the new is all too familiar. Many of us long to be part of a regenerative future, but we still depend on extractive economies.
This dichotomy begs the question: How do we manage that contradiction? How do we live in both worlds? The answer isn’t to simply wait for the new system to arrive fully formed. We need to be part of the transition, actively guiding and supporting it.
The Berkana Two Loops Model, developed by Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze of the Berkana Institute, demonstrates how systems undergo transformation by illustrating the interplay between an old, declining system and a new, emerging one. This model helps those of us involved in systems change to understand where they fit within the transformation process. Whether we are supporting the declining system, innovating new practices, or connecting emerging efforts, all of us have a role to play.
The Role of Pioneers, Protectors, and Hospice Workers
The Berkana Two Loops model highlights the multiple roles that guide systems change. Pioneers, already on the fringes, experiment with new ways of thinking and doing. Protectors work from within the existing system to support these pioneers, while hospice workers help the old system decline gracefully, preserving what is valuable for the emerging new. The Two Loops model stresses that we require these multiple roles to guide us out from the old system into the emerging, regenerative future. In other words, not all of us have to be pioneers!
Commonland’s global network of partners take on these multiple roles to support pioneers, accelerate innovations, and honour and compost the old to support systems change transition. For effective and transformation landscape restoration, each role is essential, contributing to an emerging regenerative future.
Pioneers
Pioneers are individuals or organisations who imagine new possibilities and test alternatives, often operating without institutional support and experimenting at the fringes to create emerging systems. They require community networks to nourish their work, connect with like-minded individuals, and provide a sense of belonging. This is crucial because, according to the Two Loops model, pioneers alone can’t sustain change. They need support, connection, and protection to prevent the dominant system from washing them away. Visibility is also essential for pioneers, ensuring they are not isolated and helping lay down roots for the new systems they aim to create.
Examples of pioneers:
- AlVelAl champions regenerative practices across the Altiplano Estepario region of southern Spain, demonstrating what’s possible through holistic landscape restoration. A strong network of local farmers, landowners, and communities, empower pioneers to share knowledge, innovate together, and scale regenerative solutions that restore ecosystems and revitalise rural economies.
- Wilder Land reintroduces diverse native herbs and regenerative agriculture practices into the Dutch landscape, working with local farmers to use “spare” bits of their land to grow plant species that support biodiversity for regenerative products like kombucha and herbal tea. Their work showcases how biodiversity can be restored while enhancing agricultural resilience and supporting regenerative business models. Through a network of local farmers and engaging consumers through regenerative products sold in nearby cities like Amsterdam, they support a thriving community of pioneers committed to restoring landscape health.
Protectors
Protectors work within the existing system to protect emerging innovations. They are crucial players who serve as bridges between the old and the new. They leverage their position to advocate for new methodologies and progressive practices while remaining embedded in the dominant structure. By offering mentorship, creating coalitions, and finding allies within the old system, Protectors help ensure that innovative ideas are integrated rather than crushed by the inertia of the status quo. They know that change takes time, and they work strategically to align emerging ideas with existing priorities, allowing these innovations to take root within a system that is often resistant to change.
Example of protector:
- The Landscape Finance Lab mobilises financial resources to support large-scale landscape restoration, ensuring that impactful projects receive the necessary funding for long-term resilience. By guiding projects from concept to implementation, they support the work of pioneers and empower local stakeholders to maintain healthy landscapes that benefit both people and nature.
Hospice Workers
Hospice workers help guide the graceful decline of the old system. They identify what is valuable within the old ways and transform these remnants into resources that support the new. Hospice workers play a key role in honouring the past, ensuring the valuable aspects are not lost, and “composting” outdated elements–turning them into fertile ground to nurture the emerging system. Hospice workers understand that the decline of a system can be unsettling, often accompanied by resistance and fear of the unknown. By providing support, empathy, and clarity, they help individuals and institutions come to terms with the change, fostering a sense of continuity rather than abrupt loss.
Examples of hospice workers:
- The Presencing Institute guides the mindful dissolution of unsustainable systems while cultivating the conditions for transformative, regenerative futures to emerge. Through tools like Theory U, they empower individuals and organisations to co-create new paradigms rooted in awareness, collaboration, and systemic change.
- Bioregional Weaving Labs facilitate the graceful transition of outdated systems while fostering the emergence of regenerative, place-based solutions. By connecting diverse stakeholders and aligning local knowledge with systemic action, they create collaborative spaces for co-designing resilient and thriving bioregions.
Honouring Both the Old and the New
The Berkana Two Loops model reminds us that the transition to a more regenerative world is not just about rejecting the old system entirely. It’s about figuring out what to keep and what to compost. Composting is an apt metaphor here–it’s the idea of taking what’s worth preserving, letting it decompose, and using it to nourish the emerging new practices. There is wisdom in the old systems that should not be ignored, but there is also much that needs to be let go.
For instance, in landscape restoration, the old economic structures often rely upon over-extraction of natural resources, which destroys natural ecosystems, but they have also built infrastructure and accumulated knowledge that could be repurposed for regeneration. We must hospice the parts of the old system that no longer serve us and use that compost to support the pioneers working on regenerative solutions.
A Roadmap for Transition
The Berkana Two Loops model gives us a roadmap for navigating systemic transition. It teaches us that every role matters–those who hospice the old, those who pioneer the new, and those working within the dominant system to protect emerging practices. Transition is messy, and it requires people from all parts of the system to guide the process. It’s about forming networks, connecting protectors with pioneers, and ensuring that the energy of the old system is not wasted but transformed.
Margaret Wheatley, co-developer of the Berkana Two Loops, writes, “The world doesn’t change one person at a time. It changes as networks of relationships form among people who discover they share a common cause and vision of what’s possible.” This captures the essence of the Two Loops model–the power of connection, of coming together to support an emerging future, even when the old still clings on.
Where Do You Fit In?
So, where do you see yourself in this transition? Are you pioneering what’s to come, experimenting at the fringes? Or are you working from within the dominant system, serving as a protector of the emerging new? Maybe you are hospicing the old, helping it decline gracefully while keeping what is valuable? We all have a role in this transition, and understanding where we fit can help us navigate the messiness more effectively.
This is not a clean break; it’s a collective, ongoing effort that requires multiple perspectives, diverse skills, and a willingness to be both courageous and patient. How do you manage the tension between the dying and the emerging?