Running an organisation that exists to deliver ecological, social, and economic regeneration in a system that is inherently destructive to people, place, and planet is no simple task.
Every step we take brings us face to face with contradictions, paradoxes, and uncomfortable truths. Yet these are the realities of our times, and we believe they should be acknowledged rather than avoided.
This is why Artecology has made a deliberate shift: moving from a limited company into a not-for-profit. It’s not a decision taken lightly, but it is the first step in aligning our work with the reality of the challenges we face.
The GDP Paradox
One of the principles driving this change is what we call the GDP paradox. At its heart, it’s the contradiction that while GDP measures growth, that growth is overwhelmingly rooted in unsustainability: in the extraction and exploitation of resources, in practices that undermine ecological systems rather than regenerate them. To talk about “sustainability” while working within this framework is, in truth, to wrestle with impossibility.
That’s why we rarely use the word sustainability at Artecology. Instead, we prefer to talk about regenerative actions and processes. Regeneration speaks to what we believe is actually possible, not simply slowing the damage, but creating conditions for renewal and recovery, in people, in places, starting with the natural world.
From Artecology Ltd to The Common Space CLG
Back in 2015, around the same time we first incorporated Artecology as a limited company, we also established The Common Space as a not-for-profit vehicle to support our hyper-local community projects. At the time, its focus was neighbourhood-scale interventions that could make a tangible difference to local people and places.
Over the past decade, our mission has grown. The challenges we all face, and the associated enquiries we receive, are still local… and they are also increasingly national, and sometimes even global. So last year, we began the process of moving all of Artecology’s operations into The Common Space, creating a platform better suited to meeting the scale and urgency of the issues at hand.
This process also involved dissolving our parent company, Arc Biodiversity & Climate Ltd, and moving all its services into The Common Space too.
Working in the Binds
Operating in the field of ecological, social, and economic regeneration means accepting that contradictions and binds are everywhere. Organisations are generally encouraged to pursue “sustainability” while working inside an unsustainable economy, and yet science tells us truths that economics often demands we water down in the name of viability.
Science shows us that “growth” is measured as progress, even when it deepens social, economic, and environmental crises.
And yet, while society is encouraged to see the free-market system as immovable, as permanent and unquestionable as the laws of science, those in positions of political and financial power appear to know otherwise. We see this in their willingness to overlook systemic rule-breaking when it benefits corporate interests: from the shadow banking practices that fuelled the 2008 crash, to the rise of Stablecoin and other financial instruments that exist precisely because the status quo cannot deliver for the long term without bending/breaking its own rules. These alternatives reveal that the system is not permanent, only protected.
The problem is that when these experiments collapse, as they so often do, the costs are always socialised, with ordinary taxpayers footing the bill to protect private risk. At Artecology we ask the following question: If those who profit most are free to bend or break the rules when it suits them, then surely the rest of us are not bound to pretend the system is beyond challenge?
To this end, we believe that grassroots ecological, social, and economic regeneration, like the aforementioned rule-bending alternatives in economics, are also evidence that other ways are possible. However, unlike speculative finance, decentralised digital assets, and Ponzi schemes, our own work and interests are grounded in science, and in building resilience for all people, all places, and all wildlife.
What We Offer
Working this way comes at a cost. Choosing regeneration over business-as-usual means we often carry the financial and professional risks that most organisations avoid. Many organisations, however “alternative” their branding, are unwilling to step into that space. But at Artecology we think that facing those risks honestly and publicly is the only way to create authentic change, and to make it possible for others to join our projects without worry, because we can effectively de-risk alternative ways of working on their behalf.
Regeneration and Resilience
If regeneration is our guiding principle, then resilience is the outcome we are striving for. Whether it’s people, places, or wildlife, resilience, the ability to adapt, recover and thrive in the face of change, is what will be crucial in the years ahead. Every intervention, every partnership, and every project we deliver is designed with this in mind.
The Path Ahead
We don’t pretend to have all the answers. What we offer instead is a willingness to confront the difficulties of trying to create regenerative change inside a system that resists it at every turn. The move to not-for-profit is just one step in that direction, but it is a step that matters, one that gives us a platform to act with integrity, stay close to the science, and continue to build partnerships that can face the paradoxes of our time head-on.
The clue is in our name: Artecology has always recognised the role of the arts and creativity in shaping new ways of seeing and acting. Our work is deliberately interdisciplinary, combining creativity with real science, because we believe this combination is essential for genuine change. When linked with nature literacy, this approach strengthens not only ecological awareness but human resilience too. Art and creativity are not just a lens but a practical part of the regenerative action toolbox; helping to design, test, and unlock new forms of entrepreneurial action fit for these times. These connections are not abstract; they align with what health professionals are already telling us. From the NHS’s own Five Steps to Mental Wellbeing to countless studies on the benefits of time in nature, the evidence is clear: engaging creatively and scientifically with the living world fosters healthier, more resilient people as well as healthier places and wildlife.
So, where the financial world bends the rules to protect privilege, we choose instead to bear the risks ourselves, so that our collaborators can engage without fear. That, to us, is the kind of resilience and regeneration worth pursuing.
And Finally
Outwardly, nothing has changed: Artecology is still the brand delivering our eco-engineering and Nature-Inclusive Design projects, and all the research and innovations we’ve been shaping since 2013. Inwardly, though, the shift to not-for-profit makes sure our organisational structure matches our mission.
We look forward to working with you!