Regenerative Business Isn’t a Buzzword — It’s a Blueprint

A new white paper by HEC Paris explores how regenerative strategies can help business leaders move beyond sustainability.

What if business models could not only minimize harm — but actively regenerate the ecosystems and communities they depend on? A new white paper from HEC Paris “The regenerative shift, 7 business attributes and 7 archetypes to inspire action”, produced by Laurence Lehmann-Ortega, Professor of Strategy at HEC Paris and Sarah Dubreil, founder of circl.earth, examines this question through the lens of 39 pioneering organizations. Combining field research with a rigorous academic review, the authors present a comprehensive framework to define and operationalize regenerative business.

The study introduces two key contributions:

• Seven core attributes that define regenerative maturity; and
• Seven archetypes that illustrate how companies can align business strategy with systemic renewal.

Key Findings

• The authors identify seven attributes — ranging from system-level impact to long-term governance — that signal a company’s regenerative capacity.
• Regeneration is framed not as a fixed identity but as a strategic capability that evolves over time.
• Seven actionable business archetypes demonstrate how regeneration is already being practiced across sectors and regions.
• This framework enables leaders to reimagine business not merely as a value extractor, but as a co-evolutionary actor in social and ecological systems.

Why Regeneration Goes Beyond Sustainability

The authors begin from a clear premise: doing less harm is no longer enough.
With six of nine planetary boundaries already breached and social inequalities widening, the study argues that businesses must evolve from efficiency toward ecological and social vitality. This shift is not only ethical — it is strategic, enhancing long-term resilience and value creation.

Drawing inspiration from Doughnut Economics (Raworth, 2012) and emerging scholarship on regenerative strategies (Hahn & Tampe, 2021), the research explores what regeneration looks like in practice — and how strategy can accelerate it.

The findings suggest that regeneration demands more than new indicators. It requires a fundamental reorientation of purpose, place, and time — and a willingness to operate in alignment with living systems.

The Seven Attributes of Regenerative Business

The authors define seven attributes that together form a pathway for strategic transformation:

1. System-Level Impact – Does the business shift its ecosystem toward systemic health?
2. Relationship to Ecosystems – Does it extract from or co-evolve with nature?
3. Elevation of Human Potential – Does leadership cultivate agency, care, and adaptability?
4. Rootedness in Place – Is the business deeply connected to its territory and communities?
5. Temporal Orientation – Are decisions aligned with long-term planetary cycles?
6. Business Design – Do ownership and governance mechanisms support regeneration?
7. Net Positive Outcomes – Can the organization demonstrate improvement in human and ecological well-being?

Each attribute is assessed along a continuum: Exploit → Restore → Preserve → Enhance. While few organizations reach full regenerative maturity, the research emphasizes that all can begin the journey.

The Seven Archetypes of Regenerative Business

To ground the framework in practice, the authors identified seven archetypes emerging across industries and regions:

1. Regenerative Providers Network – Redesigning supply chains to regenerate ecosystems and empower local producers.
   Example: Lush, through permaculture training and carbon-neutral distillation in Indonesia.
2. Pioneering Brand for Regeneration – Challenging industry logic with transparency and governance aligned with ecological goals.
   Example: Patagonia, which transferred ownership to a trust dedicated to the planet.
3. Market-Enabled Regeneration – Linking product sales to financing for community and environmental restoration.
   Example: Guayaki, supporting reforestation in South America through North American sales.
4. Regenerative System Convener – Shaping standards and narratives to drive systemic change.
   Example: The Savory Institute, certifying outcomes-based regenerative agriculture.
5. Regenerative Collective Capacity Builder – Facilitating peer learning and sector-wide transformation.
   Example: Convention des Entreprises pour le Climat, guiding French CEOs through regenerative roadmaps.
6. Regenerative Site – Creating place-based models that demonstrate regeneration as lived experience.
   Example: La Ferme du Rail in Paris, blending food, housing, and inclusion through circular design.
7. Regenerative Communities Enabler – Empowering local communities to self-organize for social and ecological flourishing.
   Example: Comfama, fostering regional resilience and inclusion in Colombia.

Each archetype represents a strategic entry point, adaptable to context and sector — yet all share a common mindset: regeneration as a continuous, systemic practice.

Building Regenerative Capacity

A central insight of the research is that no business is born regenerative. Regeneration is a process, not a status. It depends on how organizations build the capacity to restore the systems they rely on — and how they engage others in that effort.

This capacity may be direct (e.g., ecosystem restoration) or indirect (e.g., supplier transformation). It may begin locally and expand to industry-wide change. Across all forms, the shift requires leadership, experimentation, and long-term vision.

The white paper provides both a diagnostic tool and a strategic guide — helping leaders locate their current position and chart a path toward regenerative alignment. It is not a certification, but an invitation to conversation and transformation.

Designing for Systemic Health

The authors conclude that regeneration represents the next strategic frontier for business — critical not only for ethics, but for resilience, trust, and competitiveness in a volatile world.
Organizations that restore ecosystems, share value, and foster learning will gain lasting advantage and help shape a future worth inheriting.
This research invites leaders, policymakers, and entrepreneurs to move beyond mitigation — and to reimagine value creation itself. Because when business aligns with life, everyone thrives.

Download the report : https://www.hec.edu/en/regenerative-shift-business