Accidental Gods

Forking the Future: building routes to viable change with Tim Frenneaux of Pivot

Sep 18, 2024

Tim Frenneaux, a multifaceted entrepreneur and advocate for regenerative transformation, shares his journey from establishing a carbon-negative Local Industrial Strategy to leading community-driven initiatives. He discusses how public ownership of resources can foster sustainability and how the Leeds Donut Coalition is rewriting economic narratives. Tim emphasizes the interconnectedness of individual well-being and community health, and the importance of emotion in driving change. His insights inspire listeners to reconnect with nature and embrace innovative, sustainable practices.

01:09:06

Creator website

Episode guests

Tim Frenneaux

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Tim Frenneaux emphasizes the importance of emotional connections in driving regenerative transformation and sustainable economic practices.

The discussion highlights the potential of community-owned services, like water management, to create a more responsible societal framework.

Through the Pivot project, Tim promotes imaginative narratives to envision alternative futures, encouraging collective action towards regenerative practices.

Deep dives

A New Vision for Regenerative Transformation

The conversation introduces a people-powered movement aimed at fostering regenerative transformation in society. This movement emphasizes cultivating emotional connections to instigate positive change, as advocated by Tim Freneau. He shares insights from his experience as a regenerative designer and discusses the concept of Donut Economics, which aims to balance economic growth with sustainability. The discussion promotes the idea that genuine public ownership and community engagement can revitalize essential services, such as water management, creating a framework for a more responsible and connected society.

Intro

3min

Navigating New Beginnings: A Journey Towards Sustainability

13min

Connecting Individual Growth with Community Well-Being

4min

Embracing a Seasonal Approach to Literature

2min

Transforming Economies: The Leeds Donut Approach

8min

Reimagining Communities for Sustainable Futures

32min

Connecting Joy and Change

7min

My first guest after the summer break is Tim Frenneaux, whom I first met in his role as Source for the Piʌot project which is a thoroughly engaging and inspiring new concept, that he describes as a people-powered movement for regenerative transformation.

As you'll hear, Tim really understands what it is to live - to dance - at the inter-becoming edge of emergence. He's a multi-talented, multi-hatted entrepreneur, who once established England’s only carbon negative Local Industrial Strategy whilst working as Head of Economic Policy, and now specialises in regenerative businesses transformation.

Tim is a bookseller, regenerative business designer and rebel economist on a journey to understand his role in the great system of life.

Through his practice, he cultivates an emotional connection with this pivotal moment for life on Earth to create change and transformation that comes from the heart not just the head. Because of this work, the Doughnut Economics Action Lab have, called him a thought leader, though he prefers to think of himself as a thought weaver.

He also works as a consultant, facilitator and public speaker on regenerative design, and runs a monthly book subscription, Adventurous Ink, which helps people reconnect with themselves and the wider world.

In this wide-ranging conversation, we move from ideas of how to bring the UK's water companies back into genuine public ownership, to how we could build political consensus around bio-regions, to what it is to walk the doughnut of Doughnut Economics. This was a really encouraging, enlivening conversation to start our new season and I hope you find it takes you further in your own journey - it certainly helped me.

Adventurous Ink http://www.adventurousink.co.uk/
Tim's Website https://timfrenneaux.co/
Tim on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/timfrenneaux/

Links to organisations and books mentioned in the podcast
Doughnut Economics Action Lab https://doughnuteconomics.org/
Climate Action Leeds https://www.climateactionleeds.org.uk/

Kate Raworth 'Doughnut Economics' https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/doughnut-economics-seven-ways-to-think-like-a-21st-century-economist-kate-raworth/2694262?ean=9781847941398

Miles Richardson 'Reconnection' https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/reconnection-fixing-our-broken-relationship-with-nature-miles-richardson/7335558?ean=9781784274856

Jenny Odell 'How to Do Nothing' https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-do-nothing-resisting-the-attention-economy-jenny-odell/3185527?ean=9781612198552

James A Pearson 'The Wilderness that Bears your Name' https://www.everand.com/book/725658458/The-Wilderness-That-Bears-Your-Name

Manda Scott 'Any Human Power' https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/any-human-power-manda-scott/7637805?ean=9781914613562

Dan O'Neill et all 'Provisioning Systems' paper https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959378020307184