We launch the Regenerative Lifestyle Initiative

The project launched in May 2019 is a two-year project exploring what an attractive lifestyle well within planetary boundaries could look like and further, if scaling it could enable the Half-Earth Project of setting aside half of our planet to safeguard biodiversity, celebrate all life on earth and manifest the beauty and intrinsic value of nature.

“It is absolutely critical that companies realize their opportunity but also their responsibility to become stewards of the planet”

Eva Karlsson, Houdini CEO

Half-Earth is a call to protect half the land and sea in order to manage sufficient habitat to reverse the species extinction crisis and ensure the long-term health of our planet. The Half-Earth Project is bringing this goal to life. With the Regenerative Lifestyle Initiative we set out to assess how far our lifestyle solutions could take humanity towards the grand ambition of Half-Earth. As the author of Half-Earth, acclaimed biologist E.O. Wilson, has eloquently stated, “We can share this precious planet of ours. All life could prosper. It would be humanity’s greatest achievement.”

Examples of lifestyle effects that will be explored within the initiative:

• Having a significantly smaller wardrobe that lasts longer and caters to a wider range of needs, including spending time in the outdoors. 
• Accessing a shared wardrobe through product-as-a-service solutions, catering to an unlimited range of activities while being more resource efficiency.
• Being part of a connected community for peer-to-peer sharing of gear and experiences, open source innovation and sharing of knowledge and insights.    
• Multiplied outdoor experiences and encounters with nature with the well-being and connection to nature these bring as well as the decrease in advertising exposure this results in.
• Values orientation shifting towards less material consumption, more time spent being active and in nature as well as making walking, bike commuting and ski touring the preferred alternative to motorized mobility and local adventures or sustainable travel destinations the preferred choice when vacationing.
• Increased awareness and behaviors shifting towards less impactful and regenerative lifestyles.

Houdini will run this initiative in partnership with Cybercom, a digital consultancy company specializing in how digitalization can provide solutions to global challenges and drive business innovation. The company recently led the work of developing a roadmap for a Fossil Free Sweden on behalf of the digital consultancy sector.

Steps and updates planned within the initiative:

• Explore Houdini's existing and potential positive and negative effects on lifestyle and culture May – July 2019.
• Quantify and simulate the effects these bring to individuals, communities, society and the planet August – October 2019.
• Findings to be shared on Half-Earth Day, October 2019.
• Assess how far these regenerative effects could take humanity towards the ambition of Half-Earth when scaled November – April 2020. 
• Explore possibilities for how to exponentially increase these effects through further development, collaborations and partnerships May – September 2020.
• Full report to be published in October 2020.