5 YEAR REVIEW

2

CONTENTS
4

Executive summary4

Key insights and learnings

6

Recommendations for other funders

6

Suggestions for growing and evolving the Spring Prize

7

Introduction

7

What is the Lush Spring Prize?

8

What does regeneration mean?

9

Prize recipient feedback

9

Prize recipient achievements

19

How has funding from the Lush Spring Prize supported this work, if at all?

21

What difference did it make that the funding was unrestricted?

25

What have projects learnt from their achievements and the work that led up to them?

43

How has the Lush Spring Prize supported organisations to develop?

53

Has the Lush Spring prize brought projects extra publicity, interest, support or funds
from other groups and organisations?

58

Have projects maintained contact or built connections with people or organisations
that they met through the Spring Prize process?

60

Context

60

External context: What major changes outside of organisations have affected(positively or negatively) progress since receiving a Spring Prize?

72

Internal context: What issues inside organisations/projects have affected progress(positively or negatively) since receiving a Spring Prize?

80

Plans for the future

80

What are projects’ plans for the future?

87

What training or other support needs do organisations have?

92

When reflecting on their Spring Prize experience, what recommendations would
respondents share for improving the Spring Prize process going forwards?

98
101
106
108

How has the Lush Spring Prize evolved?
Has the Spring Prize progressed its original aims?
Suggestions for growing and evolving the Spring Prize
Appendix: Spring Prize recipients - who are they?

3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Lush Spring Prize is a biennial £200,000+ prize fund and other support activities thatseeks to build capacity for those repairing the earth’s damaged systems, leaving the world
lusher than they found it. Why? Because sustainability is no longer enough in the context
of the multiple, interconnected challenges people and ecosystems face.
The Lush Spring Prize is a joint venture between Lush Cosmetics and the Ethical Consumer Research Association, withboth organisations shaping the development and coordination of the project, whilst integrating feedback from thosethat participate in its processes.
The project has run for five prize cycles; has received and analysed nearly 2000 applications; distributed £1,055,500
to 67 regenerative projects around the world; and has hosted five co-learning events that have explored the topic
of regeneration with prize recipients and others. It has also supported learning visits, financed representatives fromprojects to attend strategic national or international events, and birthed two sister organisations: Regenerosity: www.
regenerosity.world and Re-Alliance: www.re-alliance.org.

For every Spring Prize pound spent, approximately 57p has gone
directly to grassroots regenerative projects, 20p has gone on bringing
projects together through prize and skill-sharing events and learning
visits, 3p to storytelling, and 20p to runninga deliberative prize process.
This five-year review pulls together survey data from prize recipients and feedback from the five Spring Prize years
in order to:•

Pull out key learnings and insights.

•

Reflect on how the Spring Prize has progressed its original five aims and evolved in the process.

•

Suggest recommendations going forward for both the Spring Prize and for other funders that wish to support
holistic and regenerative social and environmental justice work.

Key insights and learnings
The following aspects of the Lush Spring Prize are valued, working well and hold potential for further development:•

The unrestricted and grassroots nature of Spring Prize funding.

•

The global recognition and credibility offered from the Prize.

•

The networking, co-learning and skill sharing opportunities offered through in-person events and the Spring Prizedecision-making processes.

•

The exploration of regeneration through project stories and in multiple languages.

•

The emergence of a supportive ecosystem around the Spring Prize.

4

When analysing project responses, it was astounding to understand how much can be achieved by theseorganisations. Collectively, projects support community building, learning, and campaigning alongsidepractical landscape restoration, e.g. through holistic reforestation approaches, seed saving, and producing foodusing truly regenerative principles. Whilst strengthening their foundations, many projects have also expanded andsupported many more people. Victories have also been won in the political sphere to strengthen food sovereignty
and land rights.
Many organisations do this work in the face of immense challenges – conflict, persecution, the increasing impactsof the climate and ecological crises, the global pandemic, and economic instability.
Despite these challenges, and in many ways necessitated by them, their collective vision for the future paints a pictureof ecosystems restored, cultures revived and celebrated, connections forged, movements strengthened,
and policies brought in line with the need to repair the earth’s damaged systems.
Spring Prize projects also understand the importance of internal strength and resilience. They show a desire to invest
time and effort into continuing to work regeneratively, and to participate in knowledge and skill sharing processes tostrengthen this further.
Although the Spring Prize will continue to support this work, much more support is needed. Many projects
highlight a lack of resources and funding as a major challenge. This forms the basis for some of this review’s key
recommendations: to increase the flow of money, other resources, and support into regenerative working.

“The root of the Spring Prize was to bringcoherence and alignment around the topic ofregeneration. What it has achieved is bringpeople from different movements together
to answer the question ‘what is regeneration’by living this question. The other elementsthat Spring Prize has offered is accessibility
and participation and a global platform forgrassroots groups. The more I talk to funders,the more I see how little money is getting
to the grassroots and the real work on the
ground. What Spring Prize does is special,
it gives unrestricted funds to support thecollective power of grassroots groups”.
RUTH ANDRADE, LUSH

5

◉ Recommendations
For other funders◉ Create unrestricted and flow funding opportunities for grassroots regenerative projects – those that are holisticallyworking around environmental and social justice issues – and in a way that enables emergence, responsiveness,
autonomy, empowerment, greater wellbeing, resilience, and innovation.
◉ Create more opportunities for investment in organisational capacity building, not just new projects and predicted
outputs.
◉ Join the Spring Prize as a collaborative funder and/or the wider Regenerosity network to invest in regenerative
work and approaches to giving. Regenerative processes take time and often require shifts in mindsets. This calls
for long-term relationships and support that goes beyond typical funder-grantee relationships. The Regenerosity
network offers the opportunity to undertake and support this learning journey.

Suggestions for growing and evolving the Spring Prize◉ Continue to offer unrestricted funding to grassroots regenerative initiatives and seek to leverage additional
support through collaborative prizes, media partners, Regenerosity, Re-Alliance, and other potential partners.
◉ Embed ongoing feedback cycles into the Spring Prize to facilitate development processes that are project-led andthat seek to address common power imbalances often embedded in funder-recipient relationships.
◉ Support outreach activities that welcome and integrate more funders, media partners, researchers, and others
into the Spring Prize network to support themed collaborative prizes, fallow-year activities, and shared learningand doing around regeneration.
◉ Host in-person prize and other events in collaboration with Spring Prize applicant(s) (and other organisations) thatembed a place-based approach, facilitate networking, knowledge, and skill sharing around regeneration.
◉ Offer skill shares and other requested support that enables capacity building for regenerative initiatives, including
within prize-recipient and shortlisted organisations.
◉ Support regenerative projects to attend strategic regional, national, and international events and raise theprofile of projects’ work in order to increase credibility and leverage additional support for holistic, grassroots,
regenerative approaches.
◉ Facilitate perennial storytelling around regeneration that is led by grassroots projects, in multiple languages, andwith support from media partners, LUSH PR, and LUSH shops.
◉ Invest in developing an active network, or alliance, that keeps connected through informal comms channels,
funded learning visits, skill shares, and knowledge exchange events across Spring Prize years and between prize
recipients and shortlisted applicants.
◉ Develop the Spring Prize website as an accessible educational resource that profiles a diversity of regenerative
projects and partners and identifies ways to support/get more involved.

If you are interested in learning more or collaborating around the development of the Spring Prize and any of therecommendations listed above, please email the Spring Prize coordination team at: lushspringprize@gmail.com

6INTRODUCTION
What is the Lush Spring Prize?
The Lush Spring Prize is a biennial £200,000+ prize fund and other support activities,
that seeks to build capacity for those repairing the earth’s damaged systems. It is a joint
venture between Lush Cosmetics and the Ethical Consumer Research Association, withboth organisations shaping the development and coordination of the project, whilst
integrating feedback from prize applicants, shortlisted projects and prize recipients,
shortlisters, judges, event attendees, media partners, and collaborative prize partners(organisations that have contributed support, solidarity, and funds towards themed
prizes, e.g. Permaculture Magazine and Be The Earth Foundation).
Initiated in 2017, the Lush Spring Prize has now run for five prize cycles; has read and analysed nearly 2000
applications; distributed £1,055,500 to 67 regenerative projects around the world and has hosted five co-learning
events that have explored the topic of regeneration with prize recipients and others.
This has resulted in a diversity of shortlisted projects and prize recipients – as highlighted through project profiles andcase studies at springprize.org – and in the ‘Spring Prize Projects: who are they?’ table in the Appendix.
This in turn has led to a diversity of stories that explore the concept of regeneration in a variety of contexts and in
multiple languages.
The Spring Prize has also supported learning visits, financed representatives from projects to attend strategic national
or international events, and birthed two sister organisations: Regenerosity: www.regenerosity.world and Re-Alliance:
www.re-alliance.org.

The Spring Prize’s aims (updated in May 2024 following this review) are:
1. To help develop and increase the integrity of the ‘regenerative’ movement – by awarding, celebrating, andprofiling those that are engaging in the process of regeneration and by facilitating ongoing co-learning and theemergence of an active network that keeps connected through informal comms channels, funded learning visits,
skill shares, and knowledge exchange across Spring Prize years.
2. To provide unrestricted funding and other support – to build the collective power of grassroots groups whilst
enabling capacity building of both organisations and the network as a whole.
3. To raise the profile of regeneration and its potential to move livelihoods and economies beyond the sustainable– by holding inspiring, participatory, inclusive, and regenerative gathering(s) and prize events and throughfacilitating perennial storytelling around regeneration that is led by grassroots projects and with support frommedia partners, LUSH PR, and LUSH staff.
4. To be used as a vehicle of discovery that could lead to direct relationships between all partners, and a deepeningof people’s radical understanding of regeneration.
5. To attract additional resources into the regenerative movement by way of contributions to the prize from otherorganisations, to support the Spring Prize in creating a win-win-win process.

7

What does regeneration mean?
Prize recipients and applications collectively offer insights into what regeneration means to a diversity oforganisations and projects, whilst sharing barriers, successes, learnings, and challenges to working towards
regeneration in a variety of different contexts.
As part of the application, all Spring Prize applicants are asked: ‘What does regeneration mean to you?’ The word
cloud below was created by inputting all of the applicants' answers to this question and pulling out the top 100
repeated words used in answers.

This word cloud offers some insight into what is needed to facilitate regenerative approaches. Some words give direct
pointers as to the kinds of tools or approaches that might be useful, for example we see words like Permaculture,systems, and holistic. It is also interesting to see words such as sustainable, sustainability, and conservation included
which could suggest that, rather than being replaced with regeneration, these approaches can form part of aregenerative system, and that these words mean different things to different people. The everyday meaning of words
like sustainable may have been lost because of how corporations have used them.
It is also clear that nature is a key stakeholder, with numerous words relating to the natural world (ecosystems,
biodiversity, soil, forest, water, nature, wildlife ...). Humans are also central: We can see both people and human in theword cloud and also examples of specific groups such as women, children, farmers, and Indigenous. The fact that theword community is prominent, with other words such as healthy, social, and together, suggests that bringing people
together, inclusively, and building healthy relationships are important aspects of any regenerative approach.
These sorts of insights and other learnings have informed the development of the Spring Prize as a project, and otherwork and organisations that have emerged along the way. These are explored under the ‘How has the Lush Spring
Prize evolved?’ section of this review (page 98).

8

PRIZE RECIPIENT FEEDBACK
Who responded?
Over five Spring Prize years, 67 projects have been awarded at least one Lush Spring Prizeand prize money totalling £1,055,500 has been distributed. After receiving prize funds,
projects are contacted ten months later with a light touch progress report (the questions
from which are reflected in this five-year review).
All 67 projects were sent a Spring Prize five-year review survey in autumn 2023, with 57 (85%) completing the survey,1
the findings from which are shared below. In reading this review, it should be noted that it captures a static momentin time. For example, during the writing of this report, some projects’ circumstances have changed dramatically –especially those of projects working in Gaza and the West Bank where violence toward Palestinian communities has
intensified to catastrophic levels.

Prize recipient achievements
Their answers were cross referenced with their answers to the question ‘How would
you spend the prize money to overcome your challenges and move towards your goals?’from the projects’ original application to the Lush Spring Prize. 57 projects answered thequestion ‘What has your project achieved since receiving a Spring Prize?’.
Did prize recipients achieve their original aims?
All the respondents shared achievements and progress related to their projects.

56% of all respondents, 32 projects, had achieved what

they suggested they would in their application forms. 18 of these
also highlighted other achievements they had made.

28% of respondents, 16 projects, demonstrated they had

achieved some of the aims from their applications and half of these
also highlighted other achievements they had made.

16% of respondents, 9 projects, did not specifically refer to the plans laid out intheir application forms but did provide examples of other achievements they had made.
1 66 projects were sent a Spring Prize five-year review survey in autumn 2023 and one project was sent the review survey inJanuary 2024. 57 projects (85%) completed the survey, with all projects from 2023 responding and all from 2021 responding
except one that wishes to remain anonymous.
An additional five projects (7.5%) got in touch but did not complete the survey, two of which are no longer running and three of
which intended to complete the survey but just never got round to it. No response was received from five projects (7.5%), one ofwhich no longer appears to be active.

9

A few of SOIL’s staff of nearly 100 in
Northern Haiti.
© Tony Marcelli“We asked the Lush Spring Prize for support to go towards

operations and infrastructure at our two composting facilities inorder to ensure we could keep providing safe, regenerative sanitation
access to the 1,000 families we served at the time while also adding
additional new families to the service to increase our impact. We
are pleased to report that since our progress report in June 2019,
SOIL removed over 2150 metric tons of human waste from thecommunities we reach with our toilet service. Over the same time
period, SOIL’s composting sites produced over 550 metric tonsof compost that has been used to support reforestation, cultivate
climate resilience, and grow school gardens.” SUSTAINABLE ORGANICINTEGRATED LIVELIHOODS (SOIL)

10

“The funding managed tomake great strides in pursuing
the awareness and visibility ofAgroecology to communities andstakeholders. We have managed
to initiate new platforms for the
dissemination of information toa wider range and solidify ourposition as the Agroecology hubof not just Zimbabwe but of subSaharan countries.” FAMBIDZANAIPERMACULTURE CENTRE
Members of Fambidzanai
Permaculture Centre receive theirbanner and award in 2021.

“Permatil now has made a lot of progress since receiving the Spring

Prize. Permatil has restored over 300 water springs and is now
working in over 500 communities across Timor-Leste. Have trained
over 1,000 young people with another five PermaYouth camps in five
districts.” PERMATIL

Permatil Tree Planting.

11

What have projects achieved since receiving a Spring Prize?
The activities and achievements that respondents shared could be categorised as follows:

72%
67%
61%
42%
30%

Sharing knowledge and skills (41 projects).
Movement building, networking and outreach (38 projects).
Achieving practical aims (35 projects).
Organisational strengthening (24 projects).

Creating politicalchange and advocacy (17 projects).

18%

Scalingout (10 projects).

16%

Gaining knowledge
and skills (9 projects).

Beejvan regenerating landin Maharashtra, India.

Practical aims

61%

of respondents discussed the practical regenerative work they had achievedsince receiving a prize. This included things like regeneration of soils, land and forests; using
techniques like agroecology and agroforestry to grow and provide food to communities; setting
up or expanding herbal medicine centres; setting up solar energy capabilities for remotecommunities; saving seeds; setting up community toilets; and restoring springs.

“We definitely achieved what we aspired to with the award. Our core goals

were creating a biodiverse plantation on the demonstration farm, working
with groundwater recharge structures, and accessibility and networking to aworldwide network of regeneration warriors. All of which were implemented
thanks to the intentional award. We also created a community toilet at the farmfor farmers, since the village has no sanitation facilities. Work on water is slow
but steady and will be a gradual process to witness results. Over 200 varieties ofplants have been planted.” BEEVJAN
12

“Guba hasdeveloped a very
successful herbal
wellness service,focussing on tailor
made herbal tea
blends to assist
people livingwith some of themost common
health issues:
type II diabetes,
hypertension,
stomach ulcers &more.” GUBA

Eswatini based Guba’s Bonginkosi
Mndzebele and Sam Hodgson.

Creek restoration
work by INSO in
Oaxaca, Mexico.

“The permaculture program has widened to other sustainableactions, such as water harvesting and reforestation – our Creek
regeneration initiative – involving 20 communities. Now, thousandsof people benefit from the improvement of their social and natural
conditions.” INSTITUTO DE LA NATURALEZA Y LA SOCIEDAD DE OAXACA (INSO)

13

Political change and advocacy

30%

Alongside practical work, 30% of respondents had also been pushing for political changeor advocating for regenerative practices or the rights of the communities they represent.

“ZIMSOFF strengthened its direct

political and social developmentof organized smallholder farmers’organizations that promoted
developing living examples ofagroecology and farmer-led seedsystems that increased local
mobilization and collaboration
within and among members. The
living examples acted as a catalyst
to engaging and dialoguing withstakeholders across the board andpolicy makers for policy shifts. The
movement is gradually growing,emphasizing collaboration withdiverse like-minded stakeholders andallies whereby smallholder farmers
have space to showcase their living
ecological agriculture examples
and also to contribute to dialogues.”

Nelson Mudzingwa from ZIMSOFF
2019 Spring Prize event.

ZIMSOFF“ECVC managed to be very present

in several public debates over the pastmonths. Working against the proposal toderegulate new GMOs and reform of seedmarketing legislation in the EU, ECVC ismobilised to raise our members’ concerns
and avoid the adoption of two legislative
proposals which would have long-lasting
consequences for farmers and their rights
to seeds in the EU.” ECVC“The money

has allowed us
to energize ourpresence inthe scenariosof consultation
with the National
Government,
since a lack ofmoney limited ourpresence in thecapital.”MUSU RUNAKUNA

14

Sharing knowledge and skills

72%

of respondents discussed how they had been sharing their regenerative knowledge and skills
with their communities or other organisations through training programmes or resource creation.

Yice Uganda“Our Regenerative farming program has grown to impact over 3,000

small holder farmers from the 1,200 we had at the time we received
the Spring Prize award. We have also scaled to work with refugees in
Uganda and specifically have reached over 800 refugee households in
Nakivale refugee settlement. We have continued to provide practicaltraining in regenerative farming, providing farming tools, indigenous
seeds, and fruit trees for planting. Our beneficiaries has reported
positive results in good security, increased incomes and improved
adaptability to climate change effects” YOUTH INITIATIVE FOR COMMUNITYEMPOWERMENT (YICE UGANDA)

15

Members of Alianza Ceibo including Hernan
Piaguaje who attended the 2019 event.

“Trained 200 members of our communities

belonging to 17 Indigenous territorial guards
with advanced technologies to protect 800,000
hectares of primary forest through participatory
territorial monitoring and mapping [...] Throughan innovative intercultural education model,
we increased access to quality education for
hundreds of Indigenous youth and children in 3
of our nations, strengthening the resilience of ourcultures.” ALIANZA CEIBO“Our initial focus was on empowering young people and adults

with disabilities through planting and harvesting, but the journey
expanded as they inspired us with their profound questions, leading
us to offer various artistic workshops and share our knowledgeof agriculture with disadvantaged communities through training
courses in spaces occupied by open-air rubbish dumps and setting
up the vegetable garden with community leaders.” INSTITUTO COMPASSOS

16

16%

of projects also shared how they had been working on gaining more knowledge or skills,
with some also mentioning the Spring Prize event as an example of where this had happened.

“During the award ceremony we have been able to learn about newexperiences, form new alliances and plan new projects.” ASHINIAWKA

Alessia and Gloria accept
Ashiniawka’s award.

Movement building, networking and outreach67%

38 projects discussed progress they had made around movement building, networking andoutreach. Ten projects also discussed significant scaling-out of their projects (e.g. expanding into new areas).

“When we applied for the Spring Prize, our ambition was tostrengthen our community and implement initiatives on the
ground. [We have been successfully] mobilising new members of
the community: we’ve succeeded in attracting new members to ourcommunity, strengthening our team and our capacity for action.”
TANIALA REGENERATIVE CAMP

17

“We have managed to grow as anorganization, establish ourselves and givelife to our first four networks, including thebirth of the "Our Park" network in which
the project submitted to the Lush Spring
Prize is located.” TEKIO

Women planting
at Mount Oku.

“Since receiving the Spring Prize, thecenter has become active and has realized
projects within and without the target
location for her activities and has built alot of collaborative networks spreading
regenerative practice across the North West
Region of Cameroon.” MOUNT OKU CENTRE FORWOMEN EMPOWERMENT

18

How has funding from the Lush Spring Prize supported this work, if at all?
Did funding from the Spring Prize support projects in their achievements?

100%

Of the 57 projects that responded, all stated that the funding
from the Spring Prize had supported them in their achievements.

14%

Eight of these projects suggested the funds had been extremely importantor crucial to them achieving their aims or continuing their work at all.

2%

One project stated that the funding was only somewhat helpful due to it being
a comparatively small amount compared to their budgetary requirements.

“The prize strengthened our outreach and technical capacities ina very critical moment: the beginning of the pandemics; without
the Spring Prize, we would have probably been forced to close
our organisation. We mean financial support, of course, but also
inspiration and reassurance, for example during the fantastic
meeting in GB.” INSO

Pedro, Juan and Laurafrom INSO at 2019 event.

19Permaqueer event
in Australia.

“The impact for us was huge. We have been bottlenecked in ourcapacity and had no investment into what we were doing so weren't
able to activate the structural and systemic change we knew we
could. This funding opened a space for deep and considerate
development of our processes, structure, and approach so that we
could re-approach with more impact. I don't know where we would
be without this funding, times have been extremely tough and if we
had not had this funding injection, I fear we may have folded as anentity and suffered deep personal and emotional harm.” PERMAQUEER

20

What difference did it make that the funding was unrestricted?

49%

Of the 57 projects which responded to the survey 28 (49%) indicated that theunrestricted nature of the funding was important for them being able to achieve their aims.

19%

11 of these projects (19% of total respondents) indicatedthat it was very important or crucial for them.
While the remaining 29 projects did not directly refer to the unrestricted nature of the funding intheir answers, none of the projects stated that it was not useful or that it posed any problems.

What unrestricted funding enabled:•

Responsiveness – Allowed projects to respond quickly to changes and switch direction to address shifting needs.

•

Empowerment – Meant they were less reliant on forms of funding they found restrictive or disempowering.

•

Wellbeing – Reduced stress and burden – not having to provide excessive paperwork or having to ask permission
before spending funds meant projects could focus more on the actual work they were doing.

•

Resilience – Projects could use funds for core costs or keep it as a reserve. This has enabled some projects to gain
more funding from elsewhere.

•

Innovation – Allowed projects to experiment with new ideas and creative projects.

"The ripple effect ofEriel Deranger Heather HorsefallMilton from Indigenous Climate
Action at the 2017 event.

unrestricted funding issignificant and cannot be
understated. It strengthens
organisational capacity,enhances the ability torespond to emerging needs,
and drives innovation withinprograms and services."
INDIGENOUS CLIMATE ACTION

21

"The unrestricted nature of the funding is radical and cannot be

undervalued. Utilising these funds carefully and considerately but
without the bureaucratic restrictions of normal donor funding
allowed us to respond to the Guba team's development needs,
investigate our strategic direction and perhaps most significantly use
these funds as a springboard to raise additional funds." GUBA

Training at the Guba
permaculture site.

"Unrestricted funding greatly contributes to our ability to pursue ourwork amidst a challenging context marked by extreme colonial oppression,
structural inequality, ecological degradation, and many interconnecting forms
of injustice. It provides us with flexibility to respond to changes on the ground;
it lets us rely less on disempowering forms of funding that impose conditions
and limit local decision making; and it passes onto the community the feelingthat more solidarity and trust-based forms of support are possible." RAWA FUND

22

"Unrestricted funding

is critical in allowing
organisations to beadaptive and responsive
to the needs of thecommunities served. Thisis particularly essential
in fragile states such as
Haiti where the ability topivot is key to providing
uninterrupted basic
services. Unrestrictedfunding also builds
morale by establishingtrust-based relationships."

Natalie Miller and Wisner Jean Louis from
Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods(SOIL) at the Spring Prize event.

SOIL"The funding allowed us

to break out of the funding
moulds that are very
restrictive when doing workthat is deeply interconnected,
it allowed us to follow ourhearts, and this is importantin regenerative work."

SOFT FOOT ALLIANCE

Soft Food Alliance’s first rain jar. Localbuilders Charles Nyoni and Alfred Sibanda
plastering the rainwater collection jar alongwith permaculture trainees.

23

Diego Ferraris, Karina Salazar
Venegas and Nicola Di Giulio from
teKio recieve their award fromLush Staff member Alex Unwin.

"The fact that there was freedom in the use of the funding and there

was no time limit on its use makes all the difference in the world.
It has given us time to organise, talk to our population, respect ourtimes and those of the communities with which we work. It is surely
one of the aspects that makes the Spring Prize a true support for
projects planned in difficult contexts like the one where we live."
TEKIO◉ Recommendation◉ Continue to offer unrestricted funding to grassroots regenerative projects and seek
to leverage additional opportunities for other support through collaborative prizes,
Regenerosity and Re-alliance.

24

What have projects learnt from their achievements and the work that led up to them?

57

projects shared their key insights and learnings since having received a Spring Prize Award.
Answers could have been grouped in multiple ways, including under the following common themes:

•
•
•
•
•
•
•

46% Importance of building good communication, reach, and depth of relationships. (26 projects)
35% Regenerative processes take time as they require shifts in mindset. (20 projects)
11% Importance of embedded monitoring and evaluation. (6 projects)
9% Working at different scales to build International solidarity. (5 projects)
9% Approaches to training and learning. (5 comments)
28% Funding approaches and investing in capacity building. (16 comments)
18% Emergence and the importance of adaptation. (10 comments)

Importance of building
good communication,
reach, and depth ofrelationships.

46%

26 projects shareddifferent learnings around theimportance of building goodcommunication and reach(internally and externally andat different scales), whilst also
deepening relationships andtrust within the communities
that an organisation isbased in and serves.

Interesting insights were sharedaround the importance of honest
communication; in developing anorganisation’s own commitments
and strategy and then using this toinfluence policy makers and funders;
and the importance of partnerships,
collaborations, alliances, andultimately healthy relationships inbringing about regenerative work.
A couple of organisations also
shared the benefits a prize can bringin raising the profile of their work
amongst different partners.

African Biodiversity Network“Global recognition (through a prize)

catalyses wider action amongst partners andcommunities in the regeneration of natural
ecosystems and healing of communities
as they connect to their land and cultural
practices.” AFRICAN BIODIVERSITY NETWORK

25

“It is worth being bold and standing firm in our

principles as we work to de-exceptionalize Palestine in
the progressive philanthropy space”. RAWA FUND

Instituto Janeraka – Mother and son, Matuja
and Time’i Assurini exchanging affection basedon sacred geometry in body painting.

“Writing the application helped us to better articulate and process

our ideas and activities, strengthening our relationships internallywith our group, and with close partners that were already supporting
us before this prize. The strengthening of these relationships,
and our deeper understanding of our roles as a group, allowed us
to become more confident and prepared to start our fundraising
campaign following the prize.” INSTITUTO JANERAKA

26

“Transformation is held in relationships. None of theseachievements could be achieved without the deep tending toregenerative relationships and growing trust and capacity”. PERMAQUEER“We have

ECOLISE event.

continued tostrengthen ourcore strategy andto advocate among
policy makers
and funders andwe can now see ashift in perspectivethat is helping us
to refocus on ourcore vision”.
EAMON O'HARA,
CODIRECTOR AT ECOLISE

Alianza Ceibo.

“Among the most outstanding achievements, our deep appreciation of theimportance of exchanges between the diverse territories and communities
that make up our alliance stands out. The exchanges organized between the
territorial guards of different territories have been extremely rewarding andinspiring. These positive experiences have led to the creation of the Regional
School of Territorial Defense in 2023, a project that currently involves 45
representatives from 30 guards and 22 communities belonging to six indigenous
nationalities” ALIANZA CEIBO

27

Regenerative processes
take time as they require
shifts in mindset.

35%

20 organisations(35% of respondents) referenced
learnings linked to regenerative
processes taking time, sustained
effort, and commitment as they
involve shifts in mindsets. Thisis true for both an organisation
itself and the wider networks
and systems they are part ofand, ultimately, funders such
as LUSH and the Spring Prize.
If regenerative work is slow,
long-term work, it raises theneed for funding that also
shows commitment and takesa slow, long-term approach.

“Work around upscaling and outscaling

Agnes Chirima completesa Diploma in Agroecology
course with Fambidzanai
Permaculture Centre

Agroecology should be a long-term process,not a one-off activity, that works on shifting
mindsets across value chain actors.”
FAMBIDZANAI PERMACULTURE CENTRE“Transition has to be in phases, it cannot be done overnight. We

experienced how change can be achieved with a combination ofgood ideas and practical experience; curiosity for new approaches
and long-term consistency up to the targets are achieved”.
AMRITA BHOOMI

28

“Being in the field of social and ecological transformation, there is a pacewith which trust travels, and it has been very clear which spaces are notlistening to this pace. Our achievements are bound in the slowing of our pace
and trusting that economic and social transformation will benefit from thiseven if in the moment we aren't rewarded for it. This has been a struggle as
we're working predominantly on paradigm shifts for regeneration. We havelearned to do this best we must accept lateral outcomes and not be driven by
KPIs or OKRs but rather leading the right experiences that communities needto have. The quality of relationship they then seem to want to bring to our andother relationships seems to ignite the deeper work of building capacity forpattern and systems change. It has been a pretty backwards learning but as
designers of queer theory, that couldn't be more aligned”. PERMAQUEER

Guy Ritani at Permaqueer’sorganic veg stall.

“I have learnt to slow down a bit more. Enthusiasm helps, but letting

things take their own course, and observation of small but impactfulmeasures is important. That's how one grows. Patience is key.” BEEJVAN

29

“We learned to value the effort, the dedication, the time that has

been invested in the reforestation work and above all to value our
Pachamama (Mother Earth).” SACHA KUYRANA MALTAKUNAS

Maritza from Cooperativa
Tonanzintlalli presents
ceremonial cacao to Bella from
Jupago Kreká Collective.

“In our culture we say ‘To reap, you must first sow.’ And I feel that we havereaped the harvest of 10 years of hard collective work. The prize was therecognition and gratitude of other conscious and generous human beings with
our sacred mother Earth and her children who carry out the work of guardians
for the good of humanity. We reaffirm that working collectively in the long termbrings benefits and well-being for everyone. It invites us to continue taking
care of our forests, our common home, and our ways of relating to the diverse
lives that coexist in our community”. COOPERATIVA AGROPECUARIAS DE SERVICIOSTONANZINTLALLI R.L“Initially, we saw ourselves as 'us' and 'them', but today we understand that weare all part of a single 'us'. This journey has transformed us into more aware andhopeful individuals. Now, we seek to strengthen projects that promote a cultureof sustainability, empowering everyone to unite in the fight against climatechange and for socio-environmental justice” INSTITUTO COMPASSOS

30

Importance of embedded monitoring and evaluation.

11%

Six projects (11%) directly mentioned monitoring and evaluation and the importanceof embedded approaches in increasing impact and influencing policy. One project also shared how
monitoring and evaluation can be hard when working with decentralised networks, perhaps highlighting
the need for a skill share around approaches to working in this context with limited capacity.

“Evidence-based really influence the policy makers on water

restoration, environmental rehabilitation and Permaculture Youthmovement” PERMATIL

Kenyan Peasants League Political Education.

Working at different scales to build International solidarity.

9%

Five projects (9% of respondents) shared learning around working atdifferent scales and the importance of international solidarity. The following quotes
from projects show insights into the different perspectives shared:“Collaboration is critical both locally, regionally,
and internationally”. KENYAN PEASANTS LEAGUE

31

“That transnational

permaculture
networks are
best served andmost effective forcollaborative working
at global region
scale (e.g. Europe;
Australasia & SE Asia;
Africa; etc) rather
than full global
scale)”. INTERNATIONALPERMACULTURE EDUCATION

Guba’s Bonginkosi Mndzebele and Sam Hodgsonpresenting their work at Spring Prize event in 2019.

NETWORK (IPEN)© Taya Black“We've learnt of the ever-increasing relevance of permaculture to thedevelopment of individual, family, and community resilience in eSwatini. In
an environment with high levels of unemployment, low standards of essential
service delivery from the state, political repression, and state violence against
those calling for change the value of self-reliance and community scaleinterdependence is central to people's wellbeing and quality of life. Bringing
the focus of action back to self, home, family, and immediate community allows
people to action real tangible change at a level that is minimally encumbered by
the wider issues at national level.” GUBA

“Giving eachother words ofencouragementthat we needso much, andcondensing
everything to
be a network ofbrotherhood thatour planet needs.”
Tejiendo
Futuros.

TEJIENDO FUTUROS ONG

32

Approaches to training and learning.

9%

Five projects discussed insights and learnings around training and what they havefound to work. Responses highlighted the importance of identifying ‘leverage points’ for change
unique to each context when shaping approaches to education, with peer-to-peer knowledge, skill
sharing, and demonstration sites being emphasised over more formal ‘expert’ training.

Rawa Fund.

“Grassroots initiatives in Rawa networks

want peer-to-peer connection, knowledge
and skill sharing (including aroundchallenges) rather than receive professional
technical workshops from so-called‘experts’.” RAWA FUND

“To strengthen the movement, and experience through advocacy workwith institutions, ECVC decided to provide dedicated general politicaltraining among members, especially for young farmers, ensuring financial
indemnities to guarantee farmers’ presence at political and institutional level;strengthening the communication and administrative secretariat in Brussels;enhancing members’ engagement in the governance of the organisation
via bilateral conversations and training; and increasing outreach to newmembership”. ECVC33

OWAP – Silvana Nihua Yeti atthe Spring Prize 2023 event.

“A thriving, collaborative, and dynamic educational approach has beeneffectively implemented, largely thanks to the invaluable support and insights
contributed by our esteemed elderly community members. Both parents
and grandparents enthusiastically engaged in every educational workshop,
demonstrating their commitment to nurturing their children's learningand embracing these innovative methods. Community engagement ineducation is key to transfer traditional knowledge and practices to the newer
generations. Food sovereignty: we have identified an exciting opportunity toenhance community skills in the preparation of hygiene and health products
derived from traditional food and medicine gardens established across
our communities. While previous attempts faced challenges due to limited
knowledge of food sovereignty, promoters in basic mathematical operations
and proportions, starting this October, we will engage 30 Waorani high school
graduates supported through our education program in the production ofhygiene and health products, including soaps, tinctures, ointments, andsyrups. High school graduates will collaborate in groups, embarking on
research with elders on medicinal plants and creating innovative products,
such as ‘floripondio ointment’ and ‘wild garlic syrup’, as part of theirgraduation project. This initiative not only elevates the skills of our youth but
also fosters intergenerational knowledge exchange, creating a positive ripple
effect in our communities.” WAORANI ORGANIZATION OF PASTAZA (OWAP)

34

“There are emerging ‘centres of excellence’ in agroecology that areproviding a framework for understanding ‘levels’ for the transition tosustainable food systems. Grassroots organizations and movementsof smallholder farmers are consciously embracing this tension asa dance of creativity and appropriation. They are struggling forautonomy and ecological integrity for specific social and culturalcontexts that anticipates the goal of achieving a foodsovereigncommunity whose social and cultural diversity are respected.”
ZIMBABWE SMALLHOLDER ORGANIC FARMERS FORUM (ZIMSOFF)

Nelson from ZIMSOFF.

35

Emergence and the importance of adaptation.

18%

The importance of taking emergent, flexible, and adaptive approaches and toseize opportunities, was mentioned by ten projects (18%) as being key to their success. Two
projects directly mentioned the role unrestricted funding can play in supporting this.

Volunteers and staff at
Taniala Regenerative Campin Madagascar.

“We have learned that effectiveness can be achieved at different scales,that adaptability is essential to overcome unforeseen challenges, and thatvisibility and impact are crucial to playing a major role as an innovator andleader in our field of action .... Efficiency in size: We've realised that efficiency
doesn't necessarily lie in the size of our projects. Our initial aim was to provethat significant achievements can be made with limited resources. However,once in the field, we were confronted with unforeseen circumstances that
required us to adapt our ambitions. Readjusting expectations: the obstacles weencountered taught us the importance of flexibility. It is essential to know how
to readjust our expectations when unexpected challenges arise. This ability toadapt is crucial if we are to persevere and succeed in complex environments”.

TANIALA REGENERATIVE CAMP

36

Members of Alianza Ceibo
mapping their territory.

“Adaptability and flexibility in the face of unexpected challenges have

proven to be key elements to our continued success. Although we are not ahumanitarian organization by nature, the 2020 pandemic motivated us tointervene in this context. We distributed more than 1,000 emergency kits in
our communities, promoted health and safety practices, facilitated accessto reliable pandemic information, and fostered community solidarity. In
addition, we highlighted our adaptability in providing direct support to the
Kichwa Indigenous nationality, which, although not formally part of the
Alliance, received our assistance during a significant crisis triggered by aspill during the pandemic”. ALIANZA CEIBO“Our achievements are examples and lessons of how smallorganisations with limited resources can seize real opportunities toinfluence political decision-making spaces that are typically biased
towards industrial agriculture actors. ECVC

37

Funding approaches and investing in capacity building.

28%

16 projects (28% of respondents) discussed various learnings around grant funding and capacity
building. Economic security and financial resilience were clearly important for allowing organisations to invest
in capacity building, to have space for creativity and innovation and to dedicate themselves to their core work.

Approaches shared for building financial resilience included modular approaches to fundraising, using unrestrictedfunding for capacity building and to leverage additional resources, partnering with funders aligned with regenerativevalues, developing income streams, and offering market assurance for agroecological produce. Insights also
highlighted the potential impact of unrestricted funding.
Investing in organisations that have the energy and commitment to do the work already, that are not reliant on fundingor perhaps have never received grant funding before, can also lead to ongoing work rather than stop-and-start projects.

“Unrestricted funding played a role in

ICA’s growth and success by allowing us toallocate resources where we needed it most.
It provided flexibility to adapt to changing
circumstances and emerging needs. [Itallowed us to invest] in organizational
capacity building. Building a strong teamand infrastructure is essential for sustained
growth and impact in the field of climate
justice”. INDIGENOUS CLIMATE ACTION“We have learned

the importanceof adaptation
during ongoingcrises, supporting
our staff, being
responsive tothe needs ofour clients andrisk mitigation.
(Unrestrictedfunding enabled
this adaptive
approach).” SOIL

“Our minimum achievement on food production and supply to the community
would have still been a dream to this very day had we not received the Lush
Spring Prize 2021. This affirms that funding is a critical obstacle to many
dreams in local community settings and organisations like Lush Spring Prizeshould continue touching thousands of lives around the globe to support
community aspirations for a better world for everyone to respect People Care,
Earth Care, and Fair Share.” YICE UGANDA

38

“Modular approach to funding: The

total project is modular and has separate
modules (school gardens, tree nurseries,
small scale urban farming) that can function
independently. For each school and module,
it is possible to find individual and groupdonors. In this way, the larger project is notdependent on a large sum and the results
are an accumulation of successful initiatives
based on the FSSA entrepreneurial andsustainable model”. FOOD SECURED SCHOOLS“To keep looking

for support
from those whohave a heart forregeneration as
to work in a truly
regenerative way
we need to do thiseven from thefunding level”.
SOFT FOOT ALLIANCE

AFRICA. (FSSA)Soft Foot Alliance Ndawonye
Herders Mp3 Ncube and Tedious
Ncube making mobile predatorproof livestock stokades, along with
Mathilda Moyo and Sharai Munkuli.

“A lot of great conservation and regeneration work is done by passionate

individuals serving in a professional capacity in different groups. But manytimes, this work can be compromised by funding and projects that come and go.
The continuity of the Brigadas and the way it has grown organically has to dowith many people doing what they love to do (together), and keeping it simple
has allowed it to thrive and adapt to many different places, rhythms, and waysof becoming engaged” BRIGADAS DESEUCALIPTIZADORAS

39

“An economic

base, notnecessarily alarge one, allows
grassroots
movements
like ours not tolose energy, butrather to acquire
more for eachnew project we
aim to organise”.
COMUNITÀ FRIZZANTE:FARE BEVANDE PER FARE

Comunita Frizzante –Mulberry picking.

COMUNITÀ (MAKINGDRINKS TO MAKE
COMMUNITY)

Malawi Schools Permaculture
Clubs – Chinguluwe primaryschool in their 2nd year of MSPC.

“Lack of capacity of coordinators hinders the project,and lack of capacity within clubs hinders thriving/
innovation”. MALAWI SCHOOLS PERMACULTURE CLUBS

40

Other learnings shared:
Other learnings shared included the importance of tools for empowering individuals to take action, of working withyoung people and the role of spirituality, and the challenges of accessing passports for indigenous peoples.

“The untapped potential and active engagement of young people

in and out of schools towards land regeneration and nature
conservation. We have learnt that young people are sidelined
in development work, and especially in matters to do with land
regeneration and ecosystem conservation. This has been a wakeup
call for SCOPE Kenya, development partners and government torethink on how best this potential can be tapped and put into gooduse.” SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES PERMACULTURE PROGRAMME (SCOPE) KENYASCOPE Kenya – Sharing
local seeds at the Spring
Prize local event 2021.

41

Associação Centro de Cultura
Sabuká Kariri Xocó.

“Human development and spiritualconnection are the great driving force forresilience and climate justice.” ASSOCIAÇÃO
CENTRO DE CULTURA SABUKA KARIRI-XOCÓ

“We have learned that many people want to be collaborating agents in theregeneration of their ecosystems, but they do not know how to do it. That is
why it is so important to continue the development of this project, so thatit becomes a pro-solution tool for the climate crisis and the deteriorationof ecosystems. Thus, inspiring more young people and inhabitants ofterritories to empower themselves in their action for the Regeneration of theirterritories.” FUNDACIÓN CUIDEMOS PARAÍSOS

◉ Recommendations◉ Develop Spring Prize’s ability to raise the national and international profile of projects’ work in order tooffer credibility and attract additional support.
◉ Consider running skill shares and offering other requested support in fallow years that enables capacity
building within prize recipients and shortlisted organisations.

42How has the Lush Spring Prize supported organisations to develop?

57 projects answered the survey question around ‘How has the Lush

Spring Prize supported organisations to develop?’ Answers were grouped
under the following themes which are listed in order of the number of times
organisations mentioned them. Some comments fell into multiple categories.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

68% Built organisational capacity. (39 projects)
37% The Prize gave groups a confidence boost and credibility. (21 projects)
25% Increased the visibility of projects/organisations. (14 projects)
23% Unrestricted funding offered autonomy to focus on mission/dream/needs. (13 projects)
19% The Prize supported groups in becoming better connected. (11 projects)
11% The Award attracted other funding. (6 projects)
7% The Prize process (application and discussions at the event) supported organisations in gaining clarity/
setting new intentions. (4 projects)••

7% Learnings from work funded by the Prize money has informed other work. (4 projects)
7% The Prize process offered some organisations the opportunity to help mainstream regeneration in theirown contexts and sparked curiosity to explore this concept further. (4 projects)

Built organisational capacity

68%

of projects
referenced different ways
the Spring Prize had helped
build organisational capacity,from building the capacity of
individuals that then supported
the organisation’s development,
and giving a financial andconfidence boost, throughto enabling organisational
development and raising the
profile of an organisation
which in turn increasedorganisational capacity.

“One of the highlights of the Spring Prize was

the opportunity to have several members of ourorganization travel to receive the prize. The chance
to bring two people meant we were able to pair amember of the development team with our humanresource manager in Haiti, who at the time did not
speak English. Wisner, our HR Director, is still withthe organization four years later and he is part of
the Executive Team. His engagement with the Lush
Spring Prize network gave him an opportunity to
see how the organization is viewed by partners andsupporters outside of Haiti and this was incrediblyinspiring and impactful”. SOIL

“We were able to institutionalise our work by registering ourorganisation as a not-for-profit company”. BEEJVAN

43

Confidence boost and credibility

37%

of projects directly stated that the prize has boosted their profile, confidence,
boldness, or credibility, as highlighted in some of the following quotes:“The recognition and credibility that receiving this award has offered me has

been invaluable to Mycorama's development, and I think this has been almost
as valuable as the funds for equipment and training. It has also provided a kindof accountability and sense of responsibility to my fellow recipients and tocontinue doing the work I think is important, because as an intentional project,
it's very easy to lose momentum before you've begun. If I think about it, before
the Spring Prize news, Mycorama was a set of experiments taking place in alittle Greek village with a big dream, and now it's a project with momentum,that people interact and share with and is contributing to the development of afungi culture and regenerative culture in Greece”. MYCORAMA

Resguardo Indígena Musu
Runakuna. Concluding ameeting at the casa de Cabildo.

“We have managed to make visible in consultation scenarios withthe government our dream of rebuilding Musu Runakuna as a small
town that will place special emphasis on its own architecture, its own
health and others that will allow us to strengthen the Inga culture,
which is recognized as a culture in Ways of extinction. On the other
hand, our struggle has made us visible to the point that I was elected
President of the ZONAL INDIGENOUS ORGANIZATION OF PUTUMAYO– OZIP, which represents 11 Indigenous peoples in our department.”
RESGUARDO INGA MUSU RUNAKUNA

44

“Receiving the Lush Spring Prize has served as a powerful reminder to ourorganization of the remarkable achievements we have accomplished throughout
our history. It has reaffirmed our potential to further enhance and scale ourmodel, allowing us to better support our communities in their efforts to address
mounting threats and thrive within our precious rainforest territories. This
prestigious award has not only provided crucial financial support but has
also granted us a renewed sense of purpose and validation for our mission.
With this backing, we are inspired to continue our journey of empowerment,
conservation, and community unity, leveraging our collective strength to createa lasting positive impact in the lives of the Waorani people and the preservationof our rainforest home”. OWAP“The face-to-face visit, the invitation to get together, was a turning

point for the leadership that was there. It really showed that it pays topersist”. ASSOCIAÇÃO CENTRO DE CULTURA SABUKA KARIRI-XOCÓ

Group photo at
Spring Prize event.

45

Increased the visibility of projects/organisations

25%of organisations referenced how the Spring Prize had given grassroots
networks, small-scale farmers, and organisations visibility and a digital presence.

“This [Spring Prize] has, to“The publicity KPL got bya large extent, contributed to
ABN profiling thus attracting
additional funds from boththe existing and new funders
making it possible to widen
its reach on partners andcommunities across the region,
creating awareness on the
resolution …” AFRICAN BIODIVERSITY

winning the prize has enabled
us to get access to otheropportunities. For example, in
our suit against the lifting of
the ban on GMOs in Kenya, it
was easy to rally international
support for our suit due to the
publicity.” KENYAN PEASANTS LEAGUENETWORK

Walking through woods,
2018 Spring Prize Event.

“The Spring Prize gave much needed visibility to the Organization which is alocal grassroots Organization. This helped in augmenting the networking of theOrganization especially in community conservation. The prize is mentioned in
our annual reports and main project proposals causing credibility on a global
platform and probably attracted financial assistance. We also encountered
the possibility of being part of making regeneration a mainstream concept.”

TIMBUKTU COLLECTIVE

46

Unrestricted funding offered autonomy to focus on mission/dream/needs

23%

The value of the unrestricted nature of the Spring Prize funding is discussed in other sectionsof this review and was once again highlighted in answers to how the Spring Prize had supported projects.

“The Spring Prize came at theperfect time in our organization
and allowed us the flexibility
to explore innovative ways ofsocial movement building,strengthen our core farmer
network as well as strengthen
the evidence base”. SUSTAINABLE
AGRICULTURE TANZANIA

Janet Maro from Sustainable
Agriculture Tanzania.

“The funding had a huge impact on our viability. This seed investment was

definitely what kept us alive for a while as we were testing some very emergent
theories of change and social development. Beyond that the validation andrecognition of the prize and the following media attention enabled us to geta lot of publicity, build more of an audience and get our message out moreinternationally. We have been contacted now by communities and organisations
all over the world. We were able to present at the World Community
Development Conference where the global CD leaders said the work was theinnovative edge of community development and also at permaculture andclimate conferences. It's incredible how much this support empowered us totake the message out to the world, and more incredibly, how this frameworkand methodology holds up across many different global stages. We're a complex
organisation but we have only had one major injection of funds and that was theLush Spring Prize. We are considered thought leaders in a lot of spaces, we havebeen approached to present, consult and advise on many intersectional issues
and contexts due to the frameworks we've developed, and we would not be here
if the Spring Prize didn't resource us financially and socially to overcome someexistential threats to our org’s viability”. PERMAQUEER
47

The Prize supported groups in becoming better connected19%

of projects described how the Spring Prize had enabled them to become better connectedat both a policy, national, and community level – through the events and media exposure.

“Through the Prize, we have been includedin the Re-Alliance network which isproviding us with immense knowledge andnetworking. We have been able to secure
additional funding through this networkand have expanded our influence to support
internally displaced persons’ settlement
through introduction of regenerative urban
gardening”. MOUNT OKU CENTER FOR GENDER AND
SOCIOECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT“The Prize

supportedZIMSOFF todevelop the centerpin that is pivoting
movement
building foragroecology andfood sovereignty
in Zimbabwe”.
ZIMSOFF

The Award attracted other funding

11%of projects discussed how the Spring Prize process had enabled them toattract other funding: through forming funding relationships at prize events, throughthe Re-Alliance network or through a raised profile following media exposure.

“The impact of the Spring Prize on our organization has been remarkable,

especially in terms of international visibility and recognition. This award
has played a key role in raising our credibility as an Indigenous organization,highlighting the effectiveness and significant impact of our projects. Thanks
to this distinction, we have experienced a substantial increase in interest
from donors and partners, consolidating our positioning and facilitating the
expansion of our initiatives”. ALIANZA CEIBO

48

The Prize process (application and discussions at the event) supported organisations in
gaining clarity/setting new intentions

7%of organisations described how the prize process itself had supported them in gaining
clarity and a renewed sense of process, as highlighted by the following quotes:“Strengthening our vision: the award gave us the opportunity to takea step back and consolidate our vision. We are now convinced that our
project has a promising future, reinforcing our determination to work
towards the regeneration of the planet”. TANIALA REGENERATIVE CAMP

Tahina delivers training at
Taniala Regenerative Camp.

“The writing exercise was the first learning for this prize. To collectively write
for this prize helped us to become more aware of how we express ourselves,
how to process and integrate our visions and our activities in what we share,strengthen our relationships with our existing partners, and made us become
more intentional in how we present ourselves to the world outside of ourcommunity”. INSTITUTO JANERAKA

49

“When we won the Spring Prize and, more importantly, when we participatedin the dynamics and interactions with other participants, our vision andunderstanding expanded significantly. This impact manifested itself tangibly
when we started participating in other calls for proposals. We noticed aremarkable change in our approach. We began to look for more quality in our
proposals, prioritising elements such as originality and innovation, coherence,and consistency, as well as the impact and relevance of our projects. The Lush
Spring Prize encouraged us to raise our standards and align our initiatives witha clearer focus on environmental regeneration and the promotion of mental
health. The exchange of experiences and ideas with the participants motivatedus to explore more innovative and effective approaches. In short, the Lush
Spring Prize not only recognised our efforts, but also pushed us to mature andimprove our ability to create a lasting positive impact on our community andthe environment.” INSTITUTO COMPASSOS

Learnings from work funded by the Prize money has informed other work (4)7%of projects shared examples of how learnings from Spring Prize funded work had
informed how their work had developed/other work had emerged. For example:“Significantly. The feeling of failing to deliver on our intentions in

the earlier stages was hard – this has eventually been balanced byachieving significant outcomes through a circuitous route in the longterm. The learning from IPEN for Lachlan has contributed to thinking
for Permatil Global; for Steve it has contributed to his lead role in
output coordination for the iACT project, as well as helping inform
PAB's new international coordinator on opportunities and challenges
for working to promote and support permaculture internationally”.
IPEN

50

The Prize process offered some organisations the opportunity to help mainstream
regeneration in their own contexts and sparked curiosity to explore this concept further“[The Spring Prize] has“Lush has stimulated ourcontributed to the developmentof a fungi culture andregenerative culture in
Greece”. MYCORAMA

curiosity by encouraging us tolearn more about regeneration.
We're keen to keep learningand exploring new ways tohelp restore the planet”. TANIALAREGENERATIVE CAMP

Maritza from Cooperativa
Tonanzintlalli sets up a traditional
cacao ceremony at the event inBerlin with her mother Lucia.

51

Other comments shared:“The fabric banner that was given to us too is a very

good promoting material. It is unique, beautiful, andenvironmentally friendly. The extra mile work you put into make the banner is well-appreciated, and it captured theattention of our participants and visitors.” THE BLUE RIBBON GLOBAL

Blue Ribbon Global, E4CAP –The Garden Spring team.

“We would appreciate it if we could link up

with different people who could volunteer withus on the ground and co-design together ourregenerative demonstration sites while sharing
their wisdom to strengthen our capacity building
in different aspects for example in syntropic,
agroforestry, etc., we also believe that regeneration
takes time for people to see the lasting change andfor this to happen, we need to make follow-up andget extra funds, thus we call upon your help toprovide or recommend us to others opportunities,
organizations, or donors who could support ourefforts.” UNIDOS SOCIAL INNOVATION CENTER52“It has helpedme expand my
open-mindedness,have greater selfawareness andbecome more
resilient.” TEJIENDO
FUTUROS ONG

Has the Lush Spring prize brought projects extra publicity, interest,
support or funds from other groups and organisations?

57 projects answered the survey question “Has the Spring prizebrought projects extra publicity, interest, support, or funds from othergroups and organisations?”. Participants were given the option to click‘Yes’, ‘No’ or ‘Sort of’ and then provide more comments if they wished.
•••

61% 35 chose ‘Yes’
28% 16 chose ‘Sort of’
11% 6 chose ‘No’.

52 of the projects provided further information which was also analysed. Many gave examples of what the Lush
Spring Prize had brought them in relation to this question. These could be grouped as follows:••••

21% Funding (14 projects )28% ublicity or increased visibility (29 projects)
18% Collaboration opportunities (18 projects and increasing)
18% Credibility (10 projects).

Funding

21%

of projects clearly stated that the prize had led to them being able to gain more funding. Twofurther projects implied that this was the case although their answers were not as clear. This was due toprojects having more financial stability as well as increased credibility. In some cases, projects had received
further funding from sources affiliated with the Spring Prize, such as Lush Charity Pot or Regenerosity.

“We are certain that the Spring prize has contributed to ourfundraising requirements over the last six years.” TIMBUKTU COLLECTIVE

53

“We were able to use a part of our prize money as the starting point

to raise further funds to buy a portion of wetland next to our farm.
This unrestricted funding that we committed to the purchase wasvital in attracting further support. Without this we would’ve been
starting from zero, a much harder sell to other supporters.” GUBA

However, it should be noted that the majority of respondents did not state that they had received further funding
due to the Spring Prize. Some did point out that it was not possible to always know whether the prize had impacted afunding decision or not, one project was more sceptical that it would impact at all.

“It is not easy to obtain funding from other actors by winning otherprizes.” COMUNITÀ FRIZZANTE

On the whole it shows that in some cases projects could use their status as a Spring Prize recipient to gain more
funding, but that this is also an area where the Lush Spring Prize might be able to provide further support to projects
to help leverage this effectively.

Publicity and increased visibility

51%

of projects clearly stated that receiving a Spring Prize had led to them gaining more
publicity or greater visibility. One further project implied this, but their answer was not as clear.

“The prize came just a year after the project started, and it gave a lotof notoriety and helped expand the base of volunteers even further.
It also brought quite a bit of academic interest” VERDEGAIA (BRIGADASDESEUCALIPTIZADORAS)

54SCOPE Kenya – Look and learn
field visit at 2021 local event.

“After winning the Lush Spring Prize Award, SCOPE Kenya gained

increased publicity at the local and international level. This brought
about the recognition of the organisation based on the work on
integrating permaculture education in schools, addressing land
regeneration, food security and climate change mitigation.”
SCOPE KENYA“The Spring

Prize has certainly
helped to raise
our profile andgenerate interestin our initiative”
TANIALA REGENERATIVE
CAMP“Being awarded the Lush Spring Prize hasenhanced our visibility and garnered increased
interest from other groups and organisations.
It has also served as a catalyst for broader
engagement and has reinforced the importanceof our work across our communities, enabling
us to further our mission of protecting Waorani
communities and our rainforest territories
internally.” OWAP

55

Collaboration Opportunities

28%

of projects mentioned collaboration opportunities as another benefit of receiving
the prize. A further two projects implied this, but their answers were not as clear.

“The connections made at the Lush Spring Prize event havefacilitated ECVC's work in a number of ways. By introducing ECVC toa network which is related to the sustainable food systems, creating
new relations and collaboration, ECVC has been able to strengthen
and widen its holistic and participative approach.” ECVC

Jupago Kreká Collective.

“We are starting“We have become engaged in other active

a project with the
FAO for Biocentric
Restoration basedon the visibility
we received at
the awards in
Berlin” JUPAGO KREKÁ

networks that support global sustainability
through regenerative practices. For
example, we are now a member of the ReAlliance network. We were also included in
the UNDP Tadamon Accelerator program
and this has helped us build a businessmodel for our activities.” MOUNT OKU CENTER FOR

COLLECTIVE

GENDER AND SOCIOECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

56

Credibility

18%

of projects mentioned how the award had given their project extra credibility or acted as a
useful endorsement of their work. One further project implied this, but their answer was less clear.

“We always use“This recognition has certainly put us in a

the referenceof the award
as something
to be proud of,something thatvalidates ourwork.” ASSOCIAÇÃO

privileged position to negotiate additional
support from the government and otherfunding agencies. Has also meant a quite
attractive international endorsement for
our work, very useful for networking,outreaching, disseminating” INSOCENTRO DE CULTURA“The award demonstrated the beauty and

SABUKA KARIRI-XOCÓ

influence of ABN’s work.” AFRICAN BIODIVERSITYNETWORK (ABN)“The Spring Prize has been

listed among our supporters
and its acknowledgement was
an element of recognition of
our work” AMRITA BHOOMI

Women leaders at
Amrita bhoomi.

◉ Recommendations◉ Develop the Spring Prize core aims
to include supporting attendees toattend strategic regional, national, andinternational events.
◉ Develop the Spring Prize core aims toinclude perennial storytelling aroundregeneration and Spring Prize projects(during prize years and fallow years)
externally through media partners and
LUSH, and internally through LUSH Staff
comms, training channels and shop floors.

57

Have projects maintained contact or built connections with people
or organisations that they met through the Spring Prize process?

“Two of our team members plus a

57 projects answered the question“Have you maintained contact or
built connections with people ororganisations that they met throughthe Spring Prize process and events?”.
Participants were given the option to
click ‘Yes’, ‘No’ or ‘Sort of’ and thenprovide more comments if they wished.
•••representative from an agroecology
initiative that received a grantfrom our organisation attended
the awards ceremony and madeconnections with the other Prizewinners as well as staff and jury
members who have reached out
to know more about the work orother work in our area. We would
like to see how we can deepen someconnections to the current andpast prize winners particularly inways that can bring some of our
supported initiatives (initiatives
who received grants from Rawa)
together with other global
movements to share strategies andtools, bridge capacities, and build
solidarity.” RAWA FUND

56% Yes (32 projects)
30% Sort of (17 projects )14% No (8 projects).

28%of all respondents, either stated thatthey had met others in person since the event,currently had plans to meet in person or were on thelist of projects that the Spring Prize was funding tomeet in person as part of its fallow-year activities.

“Contacts are maintained with the co-winners from Zimbabwe. They

made a visit to the Collective to see our work especially in community
conservation. We also learned from them about savannah ecosystems.
Discussions with them were also helpful for us for conceptualisingand setting up the Timbaktu Bush Camp.” TIMBUKTU COLLECTIVE

58

"One of the major benefits from

While we did not ask specifically, many projects provided
examples of barriers to them staying in contact. Not
having the time and capacity to maintain connections
was the most common reason given (nine projects (16%)
of all respondents), others also mentioned distance, poorinternet connections and language barriers.

being a recipient of the Spring
Prize was being invited to themajor event in London, UK. Therewe were able to profile ICA to adiverse audience and came awaywith new donor relationships aswell as strategic partners whom wehave worked with on shared media
and communications strategies.
Further, we were able to meetother movement organisations
and strengthen intersectional
connections and understandings forthe value of centering Indigenous
rights within strategies for social
justice." INDIGENOUS CLIMATE ACTION

It was also interesting to see that some projects
highlighted the fact that they had not attended an eventin person (either due to the pandemic forcing the 2021
event online or due to not getting a visa). A number ofprojects reiterated the importance and impact of being
able to meet fellow prize recipients in person.

"The experience ofmeeting other prize-winning
organisations at the event wasincredibly special to myself
and my colleague Bonginkosi.
The learning and inspirationthat came from hearing
other people's stories andother organisations work isinvaluable." GUBA

“It is important to emphasisethat the lessons learned andconnections made during theSpring Prize were enriching
and continue to shape ourwork and direction.” INSTITUTOCOMPASSOS

It should also be noted that 23 prize recipients are now members of Re-Alliance, a sister organisation of the Spring
Prize. Re-Alliance is a coalition of field practitioners, policymakers, educators, community leaders, and humanitarianand development workers, sharing skills and experience to grow the influence and impact of regenerative
development in the humanitarian field. This is currently only accessible to English-speaking participants and was notreferred to directly by any non-English speaking groups.

◉ Recommendations◉ It appeared that most projects were keen to stay in touch and the Spring Prize could do more tofacilitate this. For example, in the 2023 prize cycle a WhatsApp group was created for participants. One
group could be created for all recipients or a number of groups based on language and/or locations.
Shortlisted projects could also be included.
◉ Develop the Spring Prize core aims to include the development of an active network that keeps
connected through informal comms channels, funded learning visits, skill shares, and knowledge
exchange across Spring Prize years and between prize recipients and shortlisted applicants. As partof this aim to financially support the actual time it takes for recipients to maintain connections or visit
other projects.

59

CONTEXT
External context: What major changes outside of organisations haveaffected (positively or negatively) progress since receiving a Spring Prize?

57 projects answered the question “What major changes outside of organisations

have affected (positively or negatively) progress since receiving a Spring Prize?”

The answers were analysed and categorised into groups for both positive and negative changes. Please note projects
were not given categories so their answers reflect what they consider to be the most important changes or factors
rather than everything that might have changed (for example, we know from question 5 that more than two projects
received more external funding since receiving a prize).
Answers could also fall into multiple categories.

External changes with negative impacts:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

28% Covid-19 and associated lockdowns. (16 projects)
23% Lack of access to resources, loss of funding, poverty. (13 projects)
18% Politics, e.g. lack of government support or opposition from government. (10 projects)
16% Conflict, war, violence, or political unrest. (9 projects)
16% Climate crisis or extreme weather. (9 projects)
11% Structural inequality and marginalisation. (6 projects)
9% Unstable economy and inflation. (5 projects)
5% Lack of understanding from local community. (3 projects)
5% Bureaucracy or restrictive environment, (3 projects)

External changes with positive impacts:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

21% Increased government alignment (12 projects)
16% Increased community alignment (9 projects)
12% Increased interest/reach/network (7 projects)
5% Increased security (3 projects)
4% Increased funding (2 projects)
2% Reduced conflict (1 projects)
2% Reduced impacts of pandemic. (1 project)60

Covid-19
This was by far the most mentioned external factor and clearly had a big impact. It should also be noted that as
we asked for changes since receiving a prize, none of the 17 prize recipients of the 2023 prize cycle mentioned theCovid-19 pandemic which likely reflects the fact they received a prize well after the height of the pandemic rather
than because it did not have a significant impact. One project (which received a prize in 2021) also highlighted thelessening impacts of the pandemic as a key change.
A number of those that mentioned the pandemic spoke of the fact that its impacts were felt in multiple ways.
Alongside the direct impacts on ways of working were the less direct impacts it had on the funding, political, andcommunity environments the projects work within.
It was also notable that many projects, while acknowledging the difficulties, also pointed to how they had managed
to adapt to the situation and find some positive outcomes such as learning new ways of working or reaching more
people through online events.

“The outbreak of COVID-19 and its subsequent consequences affected

our ability to grow and scale our impact rapidly. Movement of our staff wasaffected, donor funding areas changed, and others cut off their funding. For
example, we had a grant approved, agreement signed and completed all thedue diligence through the UKAID, but this was not paid as UKAID changed its
funding priorities.” YICE UGANDA“Perhaps thebiggest change being
the pandemic andits political, socialand economicalconsequences,some of them stillin progress, mostnegative: crisis,
fear, attempts ofpolitical control,
infodemics, etc., butalso exploration of
new styles of work or
the realisation of theabsurd way of life inmodern societies.”“As can be expected, COVID19 was an

unexpected situation that drastically impacted ourplanning and programming. The global pandemic
shifted our work quite drastically, especially inregards to the gatherings and in-person training
at the time. We have had to learn a lot about
how best to pivot to online engagement for
programming that would normally be in person.
Though the change was very challenging, we wereable to reach more people through online trainingthat would not have been able to attend in-person
sessions. We are now offering in-person training
in addition to our online offerings.” INDIGENOUS
CLIMATE ACTION

INSO

61

Politics and governments

18%of the projects highlighted a lack of government support or active opposition from theirgovernments as a significant challenge. However, at the same time twelve projects also stated thatthey have seen an increase in government support or a more favourable political environment.

“The victorious referendum held on 20th August2023 in Ecuador, which permanently banned
oil drilling in the national park Yasuni in the
Ecuadorian Amazon which overlaps Waorani
ancestral territory, provides a potent tool for
safeguarding the Yasuni, and simultaneously
bolstered our mission as OWAP to protect ourancestral lands. This park holds both ecologicaland ancestral significance, as it is the home of
the Waorani people of Tagaeri and Taromenane,
who are found to be in voluntary isolation. As
OWAP, we supported the successful referendum
campaign and continue to advocate for its
implementation. However, the Ecuadoriangovernment is currently defying the referendum
result. The President's refusal to abide by theoutcome and intention to expand oil extraction
poses a grave threat. Urgent collective efforts
are needed to defend Yasuni, and we remaincommitted to this cause to protect our heritage,
lands, and the Yasuni for future generations.”

OWAP“The Government of Zimbabwe has developed a National Strategy andAction Plan for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (2022-2032)
that takes into account the contributions by the indigenous communities
and considers issues of resilience and sustainability in food and nutrition
security. The strategy and action plan is strengthening ZIMSOFF's vision
towards developing a national farmer-led movement for agroecology and foodsovereignty through promoting smallholder farmers participation, decision
making, and contributions to plant genetic resources conservation andsustainable use.” ZIMSOFF

62

Fundación Cuidemos Paraísos
meeting in the forest.

“In Chile, an Ecological Constitution was on the verge of being approved, but

unfortunately it was rejected, in an unusual event that was a very hard blow to
the global climate emergency and environmental movements. And by rejecting
the possibility of this new constitution, the political right has positioned itself
strongly in power in Chile, generating many obstacles for environmentalist
movements and actions. Decision makers have zero interest in these relevant
issues, but despite this, as an organisation we continue working hard to makevisible the importance of caring for the nature we inhabit and generating a
Forest culture. We are swimming against the current. And it's hard. But weremain firm in the cause.” FUNDACIÓN CUIDEMOS PARAÍSOS

“Malaysia's bipartisan“There [is a] continued

parliamentary body for SDGs
appointed us to provide
permaculture training andsolution providers for foodsecurity in urban settings.”

recognition of culture andapplication of indigenous
knowledge and traditional
practices in the national laws
and policies of most of [the]governments in countries ABN
is operating.”

THE BLUE RIBBON GLOBALAFRICAN BIODIVERSITY NETWORK

63

Conflict, violence, and unrest

16%of the projects discussed the impacts of conflict and violence. In some cases, this is experienced
indirectly, such as the impacts the invasion of Ukraine has had on supply chains. A number of projects are
impacted by conflict, violence or unrest in their countries including in Ethiopia, eSwatini and Mexico.

“The eSwatini context and“Our country is still having

the global context has shiftedradically between May 2019 and
September 2023. Globally Covid-19,
accelerating climate emergency
and in eSwatini in 2021-2022 andongoing political unrest and state
violence have been major factors ofchallenge in our reality. Collectively
these macro forces have reduced
opportunities for people in eSwatini
to find employment, weakened
the formal state delivered service
provision (health care, education,etc.) and created an increased
atmosphere of fear regarding theruling political elite.” GUBA

different kinds of conflicts
and tribalism consuming
us and political instability[is] affecting our work.” FOOD
SECURED SCHOOLS AFRICA“Violence between ‘gang’groups in the city has forced
citizens to remain locked up on
several occasions. We do notgive up and we are acting to
weave and defend peace.” TEKIO

A number of Indigenous groups also spoke of targeted attacks and violence. Some of these projects have asked fortheir comments not to be made public due to safety concerns.

“Indigenous peoples face daily threats in the defence of the

Amazon rainforest. In 2021, more than 40% of fatal attacks onenvironmental defenders were against Indigenous leaders, such as
Eduardo Mendua, a Kofan leader and our ally, killed for opposing oil
operations.” ALIANZA CEIBO

64

Two projects from Gaza filled out the survey before October 2023 when Israel launched a full-scale invasion of Gaza,
and while both still cited an increase in Israeli violence in their answers, the scale of this is now significantly worse.

“Palestinian communities“The evolution of local andcontinue to face extreme violenceand oppression and limited accessto resources (including clean water,
land, pesticide-free food, etc.)from the Occupation and fromthe Palestinian Authority. The
Israeli government has increased
raids of Palestinian villages andcamps, which include extrajudicial
killings, and supports increased
land dispossession and settler
attacks. There is only a continuing
shrinking Palestinian civil space,especially after the increased Israeli
targeting of Palestinian and otherhuman rights organisations whoreport on Israeli war crimes andprotect civil society. This context
makes it challenging for us andour partners to plan ahead andmaintain progress on specificinitiatives, since a settler attack or
occupation force raid can quickly
destroy work that took months
to achieve. At least our and ourpartners' work to build community
resilience and solidarity support
helps keep up a sense of hope andunity amidst the ongoing colonialviolence.” RAWA FUND

global direction towards
strengthening local foodsystems, localization, andlinking them with the SDGs
and indicators has created
opportunities for GUPAP tobuild new partnerships at
the local, international, andglobal levels; however, theconditional funding and thelack of financial options isundermining its progress;
besides, the shrinking ofNGOs due to internal division
is representing a challenge;
also, the continuous Israeli
escalations is causing security
concerns to the staff andwomen agriprenuers andbreaking the efforts towards
resilience and development
interventions; in addition to
the environmental factors,
climate change, and COVID-19
implications is threatening
the mandate of enhancing theresilience of the women-led
MSEs.” GUPAP

65

Climate crisis and extreme weather

16%of the projects stated that extreme weather events, often attributed to theworsening climate crisis, had also had a significant impact. Wildfires, drought, desertification,
heatwaves, cyclones and hurricanes, flooding, and landslides were all mentioned.

“In September 2022, our region, Santa Catarina, was impacted by an

extratropical cyclone that brought with it intense rainfall and devastating
windstorms. Our city, Florianópolis, suffered particularly badly from the effectsof this weather phenomenon. Winds with speeds of over 100 km/h, together
with heavy rain, triggered landslides, flooding, falling trees and rising riverand sea levels. The electricity supply was interrupted and our vegetable garden,
which was fundamental to our activities, was completely destroyed, as was theoutside toilet that was washed away. As a result, we faced the arduous task ofrebuilding our garden and facilities from scratch.” INSTITUTO COMPASSOS“From 2021 and 2023, Kenya has experienced prolonged drought,

which has affected SCOPE Kenya work in schools especially in semiarid areas, due to lack of adequate water to irrigate the gardens. Thishas compromised the organization work.” SCOPE KENYA“Haiti has experienced a series of ongoingcrises since the award was received in 2019
ranging from natural disasters (earthquakes
and hurricanes), deadly disease outbreaks(cholera), insecurity, unprecedented
inflation, gas shortages, and humanresource constraints due to increased
emigration.” SOIL

“Climate change.

Our village is in aregion that will belargely affected by
the desertification
process, and thisis worrying us
a lot.” ASSOCIAÇÃO
CENTRO DE CULTURASABUKA KARIRI-XOCÓ

66

While many projects were having to deal directly with these effects, it was also noted that some had witnessed anincrease in engagement due to more people realising the pressing need for regenerative work.

“Fires continue to be a big issue in Galicia and Portugal. While these

are tragic, they have also awakened people to become engaged, andthis explains one of the most interesting recent developments, whichis the growth of the Brigadas project [from Spain] into Portugal in
2022.” BRIGADAS DESEUCALIPTIZADORAS“The mounting evidence of climate change and the ongoing policy

responses, albeit too slow, are leading to greater recognition andsupport for the work we are doing. But again, it is unfortunate thatmuch of this is too little, too late!” ECOLISE

Project banners made by Kibale Association for Ruraland Environmental Development (KAFRED) Seeds &Stories hanging in the event space in Berlin 2023.

67

Resources, funding, and the economy

23%of the projects highlighted increased problems accessing resources, such as
land and water, as well as loss of funding or reduction in funding opportunities.

“This year the Guatemalan elections were held, and this year has beenvery controversial due to the persecution of the elected candidate by thecorrupt government. Many foreign organisations do not want to invest in
Guatemala. And this has made it more difficult to get donations and help
from abroad. Another is that Panajachel is considered a municipality thatcannot be prioritised by tourism, but the reality is there is a high percentage
of multidimensional poverty. So many organisations are not helping the few
organisations that work in this area and there is no help from the government.”

TEJIENDO FUTUROS ONG“Funding remains a constant challenge for organisations such as

ours and some key funders have stopped funding organisations suchas the LWA while they review their positions regarding how they
have received their wealth. We are fully in support of this work thatfunders are doing, however wish that it was not to the detriment oforganisations that are doing active anti-racist and anti-colonialist
work.” LANDWORKERS ALLIANCE“Our pressing need is the lack of sustainable water supply to theproject as we are currently using tap water supplied by a local
company on a monthly bill. We need a solar-powered borehole forsustainable water supply and be able to expand our food production
operations to feed more families. Although our minimum efforts insupplying fresh vegetables is appreciated, we are not near to meeting
community demand due to water constraints hindering project
expansion.” ANONYMOUS

68

9%

of the projects (four not included in the aforementioned thirteen) also highlighted the worsening
economic environment and the impacts this had on their communities and/or beneficiaries.

“Hyperinflationary environment

which limits buying power and healthconsumption.” FAMBIDZANAI PERMACULTURE CENTRE“[The] cost ofliving is veryhigh” FOOD SECUREDSCHOOLS AFRICA

Some projects did, however, highlight increased funds and three projects gained important security in terms of land.

“Our territory

was threatened bya lawsuit broughtby ex-farmers
who had stolen
our land in thepast, threatening
to remove 150
families from theirhomes in which
they had lived
for more than 30
years. Fortunately,
we won this legal
case.” JUPAGO KREKÁ

Jupago Kreká Collective – Bella andRaianire watching the Boa Vista.

COLLECTIVE

69

“We are super excited to see this project bring more change and open-

minded farmers to start shifting from traditional agriculture to regenerative
one. Farmers are now able to assess their land before planting crops andapply organic fertilizer and animal manure in their farm. This encourages us
and gives us confidence that we are stepping ahead to Shift Towards Organic
Farming, and we can’t wait to witness a promising shift in the cultivationof organic food within the community. Waste food recycling from different
markets around Nakivale is ongoing to be able to increase the productionof worm or organic fertilizer to meet the growing demand from the refugeecommunity. We are excited to report again that the Office of the Prime Ministerin Uganda (OPM) offered us another plot of land that will be our demonstrationsite in Juru village we have started exploring ways to co-create with thecommunity of Juru different regenerative designs of agriculture and assess theland fertility.” UNIDOS SOCIAL INNOVATION CENTRE

Unidos Paulinho Muzaliwa– Harvesting time on thedemonstration site near
the center.

“Am happy that what was“Having achieved a prize with

INSTITUTO MESOAMERICANO DEa challenge to me has beensolved. It [Rwamwanja Rural
Foundation] was using the landof OPM and now it is solved.
We have secured land for the
project. There will be no morechallenge over land”

PERMACULTURA (IMAP)RWAMWANJA RURAL FOUNDATION

the Lush Spring Prize places us
at another level in which other
donors have known of ourachievements, which is why
they do not hesitate to trustwith their donations.”

70

Community support

5%16%

3 projects highlighted a lack of understanding from the community

However, more projects spoke about increased support from the communities they
were working in. Nine projects stated this as a positive change in their internal context.

“A strong bond with the agroecological farmers has been built witha group of supportive consumers, media representatives, committed
activists from different sectors, local and state bureaucrats.”
AMRITA BHOOMI“Engaging in the local seed movement made a big change for us.

Nowadays we are leading a Bolivian network of seed guardians. We
believe this is possible because we kept the focus on putting theseed-saving topics in the agroecological agenda in our context.”
SUYARI SEMILLAS ORGÁNICAS (TERRENA)“We have had good acceptance in the places where we have come towork, thanks to the work we do, several people are impacted since in
our Province there are no groups of young people who work for the
improvement of climate change.” SACHA KUYRANA

It should be noted that the three projects which discussed potential issues with the wider community were all
Indigenous and/or grassroots projects and the issues were not caused by trying to impose on an existing communityof which they were not part. This has been noted because the Spring Prize aims to fund projects which demonstratestrong connections and involvement of the beneficiary community in the design, implementation, and direction of
the project. It would therefore be a concern to see issues arising due to a project or organisation imposing their work
onto a community of which they are not part.

71

Internal context: What issues inside organisations/projects have affected
progress (positively or negatively) since receiving a Spring Prize?

The review asked the question ‘What issues inside organisations/projects have affected
progress (positively or negatively) since receiving a Spring Prize?’. One project left thequestion blank, and others simply wrote ‘no’, which was taken to mean that no majorchanges had happened within their organisations.
Answers were analysed and the issues that projects suggested were posing challenges fell into the following
categories:
•
•
•
•
•

28% Funding and resource issues. (16 projects)
25% Staff or stakeholder retention, change or shortage. (14 projects)
4% Overwork or burnout. (2 projects)
4% Internal divisions. (2 projects)
4% Managing growth. (2 projects)

Projects also highlighted positive changes in their internal context. These could be categorised as follows:•

26% Internal stability or a strong team – respondents who simply answered ‘no’ or left this question blank were
included here (15 projects).

•

21% Organisational strengthening and improvement of internal systems. (12 projects)
11% Growth or expansion. (6 projects)
11% Opportunity from crisis. (6 projects)
11% Increased collaboration. (6 projects)
7% Diversification. (4 projects)

•
•
•
•

72

Funding and resource issues

28%

of projects highlighted funding and resource issues. Despite the vital work
being carried out by regenerative projects and organisations, there is still a huge gap in
the amount of funding available and what needs to be done to repair the earth’s damaged
systems. There is also a need to provide longer term, sustainable funding.

"Since we received the prize,

we have achieved a lot but themoney we received was notenough to cover all schools in
Addis Ababa alone – still there
are a lot of schools with hugeareas of unused land, we want
to regenerate the land." FOOD
SECURED SCHOOLS AFRICA
Eskender Mulugeta – Food
Secured Schools Africa.

"In addition, we are facing

financial challenges. It has
become clear that we cannot
rely solely on what we growand produce and on calls
for proposals to sustain ourorganisation. The financial
difficulties are reflected in ourhigh turnover of agronomists,
due to low salaries and theintensive nature of ouractivities during the week. This
makes it complex to maintaina team dedicated to discussing
and creating solutions to theseissues." INSTITUTO COMPASSOS“Since the Green Spot project,

and the support of the Spring
Prize, the organisation has
strengthened its bases, its teamis well cohesive, inspired, andmotivated. And we are justlooking for funds to continue
this work.” FUNDACIÓN CUIDEMOSPARAÍSOS73

Staff or stakeholder retention, change or shortage25%

of projects highlighted difficulties with having enough people involved
or being able to retain staff or ensure adequate cover when key people were notable to work. This is also linked to issues with financing this work.

GUPAP's geographically limited scope to the Gaza Strip remains a challenge, although it is benefitting from its local,
national, regional, and global networks' membership to share knowledge and experience and learning. Also, GUPAP'slack of core funding is causing job instability, noting it has divided roles and responsibilities within three main units
under the supervision and leadership of its General Coordinator, considering adaptive management.” GUPAP“The internal problem isdirecting the project alone, that
is, I am the community contact
in the city, but many times
working alone on a project asimportant as this can be a little
overwhelming, especially whenmost of the work is voluntary.”
RIPANU
Gloria and Ruben, Ripanu.

Overwork and burnout

4%of answers suggested signs of overwork or burnout.

“We've been working other intersecting jobs that support this work andcreating larger structures to support the viability of our organisation. This isvery challenging though and we will be seeking further funding to help mature
through our seeding/startup phase. With the compounding reality of climatechange, the housing crisis and rising cost of living it has been challenging
financially and emotionally to maintain PermaQueer, that being said we havegrown so much and are adapting to the challenges” PERMAQUEER

74

"Internally this prize had an

impact since we continue to be
an important reference in ourcommunity, allowing us to havemore support locally, but wehave been experiencing workand emotional overload still."
INSTITUTO JANERAKA
Members of Musu Runakuna,
Instituto Janeraka and Ashiniawka
receive their prize in 2023.

Internal stability and strong teams

26%

of projects indicated that they had actually experienced periods of stability sincereceiving a Spring Prize. Projects which answered ‘no’ or similar to the question were also includedin this number, however the below quotes also illustrate the importance of strong teams here.

“Since the Green Spot project, andthe support of the Spring Prize, theorganisation has strengthened its bases,
its team is well cohesive, inspired, andmotivated” FUNDACIÓN CUIDEMOS PARAÍSOS

"Through all of the external"Being able to start thecrises listed above [referring
to question 7] our team has
remained committed to one
another and our mission.
Our work has brought us
inspiration and motivation inwhat would otherwise be very
dark times." SOIL

Youth Internship Program andstarting to have the residentgroup of young people has
injected their positive energy
in our team work.” AMRITA BHOOMI

75

Organisational strengthening and improvement of internal systems.

21%of respondents (12 projects) had invested time in strengthening
their organisations and improving internal systems.

“The motivation among staff, which was brought about by the Lush

Spring Prize award, has enabled the organization to strengthen, andremain focused in integrating permaculture education in schools, tobenefit more young people.” SCOPE KENYA

Kenyan Peasants League –working on the land.

“KPL is currently undergoing“Since receiving the award, ourorganization has been dedicatedto offering an increasing varietyof training to our members,
focusing on technologies and skills
fundamental to organizational
management. While we have madesignificant progress, we recognize
the need to implement more
focused training to highlight andconsolidate internal organizational
strengthening.” ALIANZA CEIBO

Institutional Strengthening
which is aimed at making the
movement more efficient.
[We have also] establishedFinance and Communication
Departments" KENYAN PEASANTSLEAGUE76

Growth and/or expansion

11%of projects indicated that they had managed to grow or
expand their operations since receiving a Spring Prize.

“Internally, our team has“I have resigned from mycontinued to grow and theircapacity to deliver on the
programs has improved.
We have built a motivatedteam over time that offers
exceptional services to thecommunities we serve.”

corporate work to focus on
TBR's work since Jan 2023.
Garden Spring has progressed
tremendously since then and weare expanding to another state.”
BLUE RIBBON GLOBAL (E4CAP)

YICE UGANDA
Two further projects also discussed difficulties in managing a growth in interest in their work.

“Growth of the project (=more schools wanting to join and start clubs) has

proven challenging to fund year on year, as more schools = greater cost, andadditionally the joining schools tend to be further from our base and more
remote. That means longer travel times (and higher transport costs) so visits
are trickier, and it has been harder to implement the full programme at thoseschools.” MALAWI SCHOOLS PERMACULTURE CLUBS

Malawi Schools Permaculture
Club members working on
their tree nursery.

77Collaboration11%of projects
discussed the importanceof new collaborations orstrengthening existing
collaborative work with thoseoutside of their organisation.

"ABN through the sub-regional nodeapproach, partners and other allies inthe same region are keen on building
collaborations and synergies and arejointly planning and influencing actions
at the country and regional level " AFRICAN
BIODIVERSITY NETWORK“We decided not to continue to promote IPEN, but also not to shutit down, so that we could work in more tactical ways, through small,targeted activity that allowed more substantial work to happen
through partnerships and connections.” IPEN

“The main element that will bring

Diversification

7%

about a big change in the internal
structure of Comunità Frizzanteis the fact that the people whohave followed the project for thesefour years will be engaged in new
projects in 2024. This is why we aretrying to expand our team, looking
for a way for Comunità Frizzante
to expand, also in terms of productofferings, beyond sparkling drinks,
by involving local actors engaged
in experimental food initiatives.
Certainly, the new partnership with
the BIO Debiasi farm will play a key
role.” COMUNITÀ FRIZZANTE

of projects discussed diversifying. This
included diversifying what they offer and/or
increasing diversity amongst stakeholders.

“A positive development

within the organization isa growing implication ofyoung farmers within theorganizational structure. Thisis certainly due to additional
training opportunities throughwhich ECVC was able to attract
more young farmers frommember organizations and toincrease their understanding of
ECVC's political representation
work." ECVC

78

Opportunity from crisis

11%

of projects indicated they had taken this approach. It was interesting to see how
projects would discuss adapting to challenges and creating opportunities from crisis.

“In 2022, our long-standing fiscal sponsor, Polaris Institute, made thedifficult decision to dissolve their organization. As much as it could have beena challenging time, we leaned into it as an opportunity to explore and expand
ICA’s organizational structure and model. In consultation with our National
Steering Committee, Executive Steering Committee, and the ICA team we madethe decision to incorporate as a non-profit organization in so-called Canada
and aligned with the Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples as a new
501(c)3 partner south of the medicine line.” INDIGENOUS CLIMATE ACTION“We went through a huge internal crisis: lack of money, change of

personnel, adjustments in our working style related to restrictions(and also opportunities) of the pandemic. We have learnt from it all
and became stronger as an organization and strengthened our links
with partners, particularly communities.” INSO

Other
A number of organisations mentioned their current priorities and time being focused on improving a current
situation, e.g. transitioning to a new fiscal sponsor, restoring a village, deciding on a business structure that functions
now whilst being fit for the next economy.

"As all of us at the Soft Foot Alliance live and work in our own

community and develop skills from within, this takes time andunderstanding and people-people relations and building peace arejust as, if not more, important than people-wildlife." SOFT FOOT ALLIANCE

79

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
What are projects’ plans for the future?

57 projects responded to the question ‘What are your plans for the future(for example, the next five years)?’. The answers were analysed and categorised
under the following themes (most answers fell into multiple categories):
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

56% Practical regenerative work. (32 projects)
56% Network strengthening and movement building. (32 projects)
42% Sharing knowledge and skills. (24 projects)
39% Organisation strengthening and increasing resilience. (22 projects)
35% Outreach and publicity. (20 projects)
26% Scaling out or expanding operations. (15 projects)
18% Lobbying or campaigning for political change. (10 projects)
18% Gaining knowledge and skills. (10 projects)

We can see that the values of the Spring Prize – fostering connections, increasing the profile of regeneration, sharing
knowledge, building resilience – are well represented in respondents' future plans. These things appear as equallyimportant to the more practical sides of regenerative work, and all are key to ensuring a regenerative movement that
continues to grow and flourish.

“Ultimately, our vision is to co-create a new renaissance where regenerative

agriculture serves as the foundation of a flourishing civilization. We believe
that, through sustainable farming practices, refugees can not only improvetheir own lives but also play a pivotal role in revitalising the local economy andcontributing to a more sustainable future. In summary, three years from now,
our group aims to be at the forefront of a regenerative agricultural movement
in Nakivale, fostering self-sufficiency, empowerment, and economic growthamong refugees while nurturing the land and environment. We are committed
to bringing about lasting change and envision a brighter future where
regenerative agriculture thrives, benefiting both the refugee community andthe broader society.” UNIDOS SOCIAL INNOVATION CENTRE◉ Recommendations◉ Ensure that the Spring Prize continues to fund and support all of the aspects listed above, as well as
continuing to collaborate with other funders and stakeholders to generate more support.

80Practical regenerative work56%

of respondents told us about the practical, on-the-ground regenerative
work they had planned. This included regeneration of land and forests but also
included the creation of places for cultural and social regeneration.

“Buy 7 hectares of land that is currently very damaged and valued at 70,000

dollars, with the intention of regenerating it and converting it into an ecologicaland regenerative agricultural school that is accompanied by a spiritual healing
center. This is a great dream, the area with the intention of purchasing iscurrently for sale and is located in the highest part of the community andwhere water recharge is generated.” COOPERATIVA AGROPECUARIAS DE SERVICIOSTONANZINTLALLI“Continue with theregeneration of the forest
in areas affected by climatechange through agroforestry
and continue with the rescueof traditional uses of the forest.
We have a plan to make aretreat house for women andyoung people for our Sapara
community movement”

Women taking part in
Ashiniawka workshop.

ASHINIAWKA“Our goal for the next 5 years“Continue engaging young

people to restore natural water
sources, replanting native trees,
strengthen local food production
through annual district PermaYouthcamp. Continue implementing
Permaculture garden in every
Primary Schools across TimorLeste.” PERMATIL

is to create field schools forthe center, organize each
community into a cooperative
and to setup access to solarpowered internet serving
women and girls in over 15
villages around Mount Oku
Region.” MOUNT OKU CENTERFOR GENDER AND SOCIOECONOMICEMPOWERMENT (MOCGSE)

81

Network strengthening and movement building

56%

of respondents were looking to strengthen their networks or stakeholder groups.

“We believe in the power“Within the next years INSO

of collaboration, we willcontinue to cultivate local andinternational collaborations
from which we can learn, scaleand create sustainable impact
for our target beneficiaries.”

plans to remain deeply grassrooted while its Oaxacan Water
Forum gets stronger to bringcommunity stakeholders
together with NGOs, theprivate sector, government,
and academic institutions. We
see ourselves keeping on reweaving” INSOYICE UGANDA

Sharing knowledge and skills

42%of projects discussed processes for sharing their knowledge and skills
with others (e.g. educational programmes, demonstration sites, etc.).

“[Over the] next five years

I will have train[ed] morethan 20,000, and in five years
my farm will be the firstecotourism and learning
farm ever across EA refugeesettlement” RWAMWANJA RURAL
FOUNDATION
Bemeriki and Peruth from Rwamwanja Rural Foundation
find their organisation displayed at a Lush Shop in Berlin.

“Building a regenerative skills hub for Hwange and KAZA to teachpermaculture and holistic management in connection to developing
other skills and economic opportunities based on life.”
SOFT FOOT ALLIANCE

82

“A stronger body of“Establishing a research andknowledge is gathered, cocreated, documented andused by farming communities[...] Practising farmers aresupported to lead in spreadingand promoting practice inagroecology, food sovereignty
and climate justice” ZIMSOFF

resource centre with financial
autonomy and sustainability tohost researchers, students andlearners from across subjects
from around the world.” BEEJVAN

18% A further ten projects also outlined plans for learning from others

to gain the knowledge and skills needed to move their projects forward.

“After the learning programme, I plan to reflect on the year's learnings andachievements, all the activities I'm doing, and start to focus on one area within
mycology where I can really make an impact on my community. And perhaps
help a partner start a project in a different area which I have knowledge andskills but cannot focus on for the time being. I hope to continue learningand growing, and sharing with my community everything I've learnt aboutmycology, mushroom growing, and regeneration over this year.” MYCORAMA

Emily Antoniadi,
founder ofMycorama, witha mushroom.

83Organisation strengthening and increasing resilience39%

of projects spoke about strengthening their organisation through improving
internal systems, securing funding, or gaining financial independence. This was seenas actions taken to improve the long-term resilience of organisations.

“The LWA are currently
developing our five-year
strategy with our members. As
our membership has grownsignificantly since we wrote ourlast five-year strategy, we aredeveloping systems to enablegrassroots engagement in thisstrategy development. This ismaking the process of setting
our strategy a bit longer andslower, but extremely valuable.”“Establishing organisational
best practices for good
governance, staff management,
and mentorship for secureand thriving teams.” INDIGENOUS
CLIMATE ACTION“GUPAP pays attention to
institutional sustainability;
it aims to consolidate its
functioning and sustainability;
for that, GUPAP focuses ondeveloping its organisational
systems, building its staff andvolunteers capacities, andstrengthening partnerships andcooperation at the institutionaland community levels.” GUPAPLANDWORKERS’ ALLIANCE“Our commitment to sustainability is not just restricted to environmental
issues; it extends to financial and organisational sustainability. We arereviewing and reformulating our fundraising strategy, seeking out new
partnerships and diversifying our sources of funding. This proactive approachaims to ensure that we have the necessary resources to keep our projects andprogrammes running. [...] Our vision for the next five years is to build a solid
foundation, extending partnerships, which will allow us to expand our impact
and continue to serve communities.” INSTITUTO COMPASSOS

84

Outreach and publicity

35%

of projects discussed plans to increase outreach or
generate more publicity or awareness of their work.

“Establishing KPL [Kenyan“National recognition as

Peasants League] TV and Radio
that broadcasts across thecountry” KENYAN PEASANTS LEAGUE

regeneration experts: We
aspire to be recognised as
an organisation specialisingin soil regeneration andregenerative development
at a national level. This will
enable us to play a leadingrole in promoting regenerative
solutions nationally.” TANIALA“We will launch thepermaculture music project,including a crowd funder andsee what happens.” IPEN

REGENERATIVE CAMP

Evolution of The Spring Prize.

85

Lobbying and political aims

18%

of projects had plans to continue to influence the policy landscapeto protect or support regenerative systems or ways of life.

“The Ceibo Alliance has ambitious plans to strengthen the protection andsustainability of indigenous communities and ecosystems in Ecuador andPeru. We are working on ongoing titling claims and collaborating on reforming
policy frameworks to secure land tenure for indigenous peoples on 4.5 million
hectares of forest in both countries. Among our key actions, we plan to takelegal action and launch an international campaign with the Siona peopleof Buenavista to defend Siona forest defenders and protect 58,000 hectaresof rainforest in the midst of armed conflict and expanding oil extraction in
Colombia.” ALIANZA CEIBOGeneral Assembly of ECVC
in Viseu Portugal in 2022.

“To continue to put peasant agriculture at the centre of public policies

which are based on social, economic, and environmental sustainability andthe agroecological farming model as a response to the needs of small- andmedium-sized farmers and European society as a whole. To continue to workat a policy level to achieve changes in public policies that support peasantagriculture and the necessary processes of change towards agroecology. To
continue to work on achieving recognition of the concept of Food Sovereignty
as a real alternative that farmers and European society need in the face of themany global challenges we face. The UN declaration of the Right of Peasants’rights and other people working in rural areas (UNDROP) will remain oneof the priorities and we will continue to work on achieving progress on theimplementation of the Declaration” ECVC

86

What training or other support needs do organisations have?

57 projects responded to the question ‘What training or other support

needs do organisations have?’. Answers were analysed and categorised
as follows (answers could fall into multiple categories):
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

35% Fundraising, funding, and more resources. (20 projects)
28% Practical skills. (16 projects)
25% Governance, strategy, and organisational management. (14 projects)
25% Networking, collaborations, and co-learning. (14 projects)
23% Publicity, communications, and storytelling. (13 projects)
12% Monitoring and evaluation, demonstrating impacts and research. (7 projects)
7% Lobbying, campaigning, and politics. (4 projects)
4% Psycho-social/psycho-emotional support. (2 projects)
7% Other. (4 projects)

Fundraising35%

of projects stated they needed more funding or support with fundraising.

“Access to stable and adequate funding is crucial for sustaining theorganisation's work and achieving long-term impact. The availabilityof funding sources, competition for grants, and shifting funding
priorities can present obstacles to financial stability and resource
allocation.” INDIGENOUS CLIMATE ACTION“Establishment [of a] sustainability fund and unrestricted fundreserves to support [our] partners’ initiatives and development oflearning centres.” AFRICAN BIODIVERSITY NETWORK (ABN)87

Practical skills

28%of respondents, mentioned specific practical skills they needed training in.

This included ecology and conservation, sustainable land management, permaculture, reforestation, herbal medicine,seed saving, natural building and bioconstruction, biological plant protection, IT, soap-making and essential oils,
syntropic agroforestry, mushroom cultivation, languages, beekeeping, and vegan cooking.

“Our organisation, the Ceibo Alliance, identifies two key areas inwhich we require support and training. First, we need to strengthen
the technical skills of our team, especially in the use of computersand other office tools. Training in these technological capabilities isessential to improve our operational efficiency and optimise project
management.” ALIANZA CEIBO“Practical and technical training: We are very interested in practical andtechnical training. In particular, we would like to attend organisationalcoaching sessions to move our organisation towards a regenerative approach.
• Strengthening language skills in English and Brazilian Portuguese: inorder to better interact with other actors on an international scale and seize
opportunities, it is essential to strengthen our language capacity in English andPortuguese, especially for Taniala's office members.
• Training in syntropical agroforestry: practical training in syntropicalagroforestry, whether in Brazil, New Caledonia, or elsewhere in the tropics,
would be a valuable opportunity for our technicians. This would enable us toacquire advanced skills in this essential area for our regeneration projects.
• Training in mushroom cultivation: we are convinced that mushroom
cultivation can solve many problems in Madagascar. We would therefore like toreceive practical training in this field in order to develop this expertise within
our organisation.
• Vegan cooking: to make the most of the vegetables and cereals available in
Madagascar and to promote a vegan diet among our fellow citizens and project
beneficiaries, we would like to develop our vegan cooking skills. This will alsoenable us to offer vegan menus to visitors to our Camp.”

TANIALA REGENERATIVE CAMP88

Governance, strategy, and organisational management25%of all respondents, stated they were in need of support withgovernance, strategy, organisational and financial management.

“OWAP is dedicated to continuously enhancing

the skills and organisational capacity of our teamand leadership, vital for effectively addressing the
intricate challenges confronting our communities
and territories. As we navigate the multifaceted
terrain of environmental conservation, territorial
defence, and sustainable development, theneed for elevated expertise in areas such as
monitoring and mapping technologies, legal
advocacy, community mobilisation, andsustainable land management is evident.
Moreover, as our organisation continues toexpand its reach and influence, fortifying ourorganisational capacity becomes paramount. This
encompasses the improvement of our resource
management, collaboration facilitation, andadaptability to evolving circumstances. Throughprecisely targeted training and capacity-building
endeavours, OWAP is committed to equipping
both our team and community members withthe knowledge and skills required to safeguard
our heritage and nurture sustainable growth forgenerations to come.” OWAP

89

“Training incommunicationand media toincrease visibility
and impact
reporting. Supportin crafting
strategic thinking/planning that puts
sustainability at
the heart of theorganisation.”
FAMBIDZANAIPERMACULTURE CENTRE

Networking, collaboration, and co-learning opportunities

25%

of respondents, highlighted a need for support with networking
and collaboration, often to support co-learning opportunities.

“Anything that strengthened our – and our partners – autonomous

capacities would benefit the project. We especially value networking,experience exchanges, and expertise.” INSO

“Networking and“It would be great to be able

Partnerships: building
connections with like-mindedorganisations and seeking
partnerships for knowledge
exchange and resource sharing
will be a priority.” UNIDOS SOCIAL

to organise international
exchanges: bringing people
from areas affected by similar
projects to get to know theBrigadas on the ground, andalso to go and share the projectexperience in other places”

INNOVATION CENTRE

BRIGADAS DESEUCALIPTIZADORAS

Publicity, communications, and storytelling23%of respondents, highlighted a need for support
with publicity, communications, and storytelling.

“We would also benefit deeply from marketing

training or access to in-kind marketing/financial
management support. We're trying to put together
a revamped PermaQueer Branding suite sothat our values, messaging, and framing are
consistent but currently they are not so if there's
any support/training that can be offered here thatwould be so great.” PERMAQUEER

90“We also look

for training for
public speaking,to become betterat presenting
what is needed
to decolonise thebehaviour of thecolonised people.”
INSITUTO JANERAKA

Monitoring and evaluation, demonstrating impacts and research12%of respondents, stated they needed support with monitoring and evaluation or
research that would help them understand and demonstrate the impacts of their work.

“We would like to have training in Monitoring and Evaluation: We want toestablish a robust monitoring and evaluation system to track the impact of ourvermicomposting initiatives, ensuring that our efforts are effective and making
necessary adjustments when needed.” UNIDOS SOCIAL INNOVATION CENTRE“Permatil does need more

“Monitoring Evaluation &training in data collection
through the Monitoring,
Evaluation and Learning team.”

Learning (MEL) support tocreate documentation of casestudies, stories and data”

PERMATIL

HIMALAYAN PERMACULTURE CENTRE

Lobbying, campaigning, and politics

7%of respondents, highlighted a need for more support with lobbying or campaigning for political change.

“Second, we recognize the importance of political training for our team.

We seek to develop skills that will enable us to make informed and strategic
decisions in the context of various political junctures. We aspire to besolid political references for our communities and local authorities, thus
contributing to informed and effective leadership on critical issues for theregion.” ALIANZA CEIBO“Effective policy dialogues“Engagement with local,

and engagements for proactive
policy shifts.” ZIMSOFF

regional, and international
instruments to enforce
peasants’ rights.” KENYAN PEASANTSLEAGUE91

“Find more support

Psycho-social and psycho-emotional
support4%of projects stated they needed psycho-social
or psycho-emotional support. Both of these requests
were from Indigenous groups that have been greatly
impacted by colonial violence. One of these requested
to remain anonymous due to safety concerns.

with structures that offer
social psycho-support andpsychological therapy forindigenous people and activistsof the forest.” INSITUTO JANERAKA

When reflecting on their Spring Prize experience, what recommendations would
respondents share for improving the Spring Prize process going forwards?

57

participants shared their recommendations on how to improve the Lush Spring
Prize process going forward. The following were the most common suggestions.

•••

42% Network building. (24 projects)
21% Hosting the event at a recipient project and/or in the Global South. (12 projects)
18% More post-prize support for projects.
(10 projects)•◉ Recommendations

12% Improve/increase links to other funders.
(7 projects)•◉ Lush Spring Prize, sister organisations,and other partners consider offering a
programme of skill sharing and mentoring
support for Spring Prize recipients andshortlisted projects that addresses raised
training and support needs.

9% More continuous comms around projects andprogress. (5 projects)

Network building42%

By far the most suggested area for improvement was to do more work on ensuring an active
network of Spring Prize projects. Some suggested this could be by theme/focus (e.g. Indigenous groups).
It was also suggested to include applicants and shortlisted projects as well as prize recipients. A number ofpeople suggested virtual meetings could work and many projects also stated they would value in-person
exchanges with other projects. This is something the Spring Prize has already started facilitating in fallow
years, but it shows that it is needed. Another common suggestion was to invite former recipients to theevent to help build a network across different prize years and provide more opportunities for learning.

“The Spring Prize should“It would be beneficial for the

Spring Prize to serve as a bridge
between organisations with similargoals, especially in the years
following receipt of the award, inorder to encourage the creation ofstrategic alliances.” ALIANZA CEIBO

strengthen connections
between prize winners toenhance experience andknowledge exchange.” ZIMSOFF

92

Hosting the event at a recipient project and/or in the Global South

21%

This is something the Spring Prize has been considering but it is also clearly something
many projects are keen to see happen, with 21% of respondents making this suggestion.

“It could be interesting to have previous Prize winners host thenext award ceremony gathering and include site visits to deepen theconnection to place.” RAWA FUND

“It was sad that we could not get“We are looking forward

the visas to attend the Spring PrizeAward in person. We believe theprocess of securing a visa to the UK
is a hectic one and there are higher
chances that participants from low
developing countries would get an
opportunity to attend the events.
We would recommend that Spring
Prize hosts some of these events
away from the UK; possibly fromcountries in the Schengen region orother African regions whose accessis easier. We hope we will attend
a spring prize event one day.” YICE

to the event coming todeveloping countries. We
also hope former recipients
could be invited during theaward to share testimonies. It
is also important to provide
mentorship to recipients sothat they can grow.” MOUNTOKU CENTRE FOR GENDER AND
SOCIOECONOMIC EMPOWERMENTUGANDA

Mount Oku display
certificate withhandmade crafts.

93

“Holding the event in the country of a prizewinner: an important suggestion
would be to hold the Spring Prize in one of the countries of the prizewinners.
This approach would enable participants to experience a more hands-on
immersion by visiting the activities of a Spring Prize-winning organisationin the field. This would enhance understanding of the projects and create
invaluable opportunities for sharing experiences.” TANIALA REGENERATIVE CAMP

Tekio – Neighbour looking at the new
bio-construction in the Cuxtital Park.

“It might be a good idea to have the celebration take place on adifferent continent each year. The logistics would probably be more
complicated for you, but for the majority of the projects that receive
the award, being in Latin America, Asia, Africa or Oceania would be,on the one hand, a learning experience, and on the other, not having
to feel the impact of a celebration with characteristics – despite thewonderful and effective effort made by the team to make it more
inclusive – very Western.” TEKIO

94

More post-prize support for projects

18%of projects felt that more active support of projects after the prize would be beneficial,suggestions included mentoring, training, assisting with funding and providing more on-going funding.

“Long-term support: extended long-term mentorship and support

for recipients beyond the initial award could include access toresources and networking opportunities to help recipients sustain
and expand their work.” INDIGENOUS CLIMATE ACTION“Compared to other funders, we were pretty 'hands off' once the prize wasawarded. We loved the unrestricted nature of the funds and the freedom thatafforded us and appreciated the trust placed in us to use that money as we
saw fit. We would have welcomed being connected with a suitable mentor tohelp us navigate the potential shift from being tiny and surviving (struggling)
on a shoestring to being recognised, larger scale, and adequately funded(which we still haven't achieved the latter). There is also potential to utilise
and strengthen the network of prize winners. A helping hand to nudge moreconnection and collaboration and sharing of challenges and good practicedirectly between prize winners could be extremely fruitful. The Spring Prize
Family Facebook group is/was good but there could be much more networking
and connection, e.g. sharing a list of email addresses of winners (sorry if
we missed that) but also some facilitation to get a network established. Also
linking winners with the amazing network of wise and wonderful people andorganisations. More nurturing of winners? One other suggestion would be tooffer to work with winners to develop their project futures and strategies (orlink them to people who can help with that). This could be via mentors or othermeans.” MALAWI SCHOOLS PERMACULTURE CLUBS“Continue monitoring those“It would be wonderful to haveorganisation already received
the Spring Prize. Provide some
sort of management training
to strengthen the capacity oforganisations.” PERMATIL

a platform where all the awardwinning projects could interact
more. And perhaps follow up
and provide greater support towinning projects, to help themachieve their full potential,
before generating morewinners.” FUNDACIÓN CUIDEMOSPARAÍSOS

95

12%

Improving and increasing links to other funders“While we already had the opportunity toconnect with some individuals during the Prize
process, we believe that further increasing thepresence of philanthropists within the audiencewould be highly beneficial in future instances.
This would offer awardees an even greater
chance to connect and engage with philanthropic
individuals who share a profound commitment
to supporting initiatives like ours. We are deeply
grateful to the Lush Spring Prize Team for all youreffort put into the event and process.” OWAP“For organisations
that are growing
and spreading intruly regenerative
ways to nurture
support fromother regenerative
donors/foundations to see
the work flourish.”
SOFT FOOT ALLIANCE“It was an excellent experience, well organised and thought out.

Inspiring and moving. Only need not met was to be able to directly
create links to funding sources, but that hopefully may gradually
happen” HIMALAYAN PERMACULTURE CENTRE

9%

More continuous comms around projects and progress“Oh, we think it would be“I think the prize fund iswonderful if the Spring Prize(like spring itself ) could be moreperennial in terms of raising thevisibility of awardees. Such a
positive global brand and sharing
awardees updates on social
media and through news reports
would be incredibly valuable for
implementers. We are honoured to
be associated with and would love
more opportunities to share that.
We also welcome the chance forour staff, especially those based in
Haiti, to travel and learn from otherawardees through conferences orlearning exchanges.” SOIL

probably not as importantas the recognition. I would
encourage you to strengthen
the recognition aspect, and to
make visible the amazing work
being done by organisations
and individuals.” ECOLISE

96

Other suggestions“Increase the Lush Spring“Perhaps you could experimentwith a participatory or flow funding
method of awarding the Prize, oroffering follow-on funding, so thewinners are also more engaged in
the funding aspect. We would love
to see more conversations amongst
the Prize community about funding– how movements can use different
community-driven funding andresource mobilization models togrow and sustain their work inways that increase independency,
resilience, and autonomy.” RAWA

Prize budget to touch more lives
around the world and be able
to cover most if not all fundingneeds from prize-receiving
projects.” ANONYMOUS“Spring Prize to keep close touchwith prize recipients after the
ceremony. This could be throughhaving virtual meetings for
updates or where possible havephysical visits to some of the award
recipients, just to verify progress
and nature of work on the ground.
Spring Prize team to identify key
people who can work on a voluntarybasis in the various regions of theworld, in verifying the work on the
ground before selections of thewinners is done. Lush Spring Prizeteam to also link up the recipientswith potential funders, who can
support the recipients in raisingmore money to support the workwith schools’ community.” SCOPE

FUND“It was amazing to see thebreadth of spring prize winners
at the awards ceremony. I think
this awards ceremony was a reallyinteresting event, and interesting
to hold in during COP26. I think
there’s some potential there to linkup Spring Prize awards ceremonies
with major international events likethis to help groups with advocacy
and potentially access to events like
COP.” LANDWORKERS ALLIANCE“Research on

KENYA◉ Recommendations

contemporary
issues affecting
the communities”◉ Host the final in-person events in collaboration with Spring
Prize applicant(s) and embed a place-based approach into
designing the events that facilitates networking, knowledge,
and skill sharing around regeneration.

AFRICAN BIODIVERSITY◉ Support outreach and engagement activities that welcome,onboard and embed more funders and media and research
partners into the Spring Prize network to support themed
collaborative prizes, fallow-year activities and shared learningand doing around regeneration.

NETWORK97

HOW HAS THE LUSH SPRING
PRIZE EVOLVED?
In 2016, Ethical Consumer completed a feasibility study to help inform the initial designof the Lush Spring Prize. This work involved conducting interviews with stakeholdersaligned with the regenerative movement, along with a survey and desk-based research.
Since the feasibility work, the Spring Prize process has continuously evolved through an annual review process andin response to feedback. This has been guided by five key aims and has resulted in an application process, decisionmaking process, and final events that receive praise and have been adopted and adapted by the Permaculture
Magazine Prize and the African Food Sovereignty Network Prize.

What language should and do we use?
Due to misunderstandings of what regeneration means and who it is relevant to, in 2016 it was initially suggested
by ten interviewees (67%) that neutral and simple language be used to describe what regeneration is, but without
necessarily having to use the term. ‘Tribal’ languages specific to any one movement such as Permaculture should be
avoided, and simple language should be backed up by stories, examples, and images.
This has resulted in project profiles being created, developed, and publicly shared for all shortlisted projects in eachprize year – to collectively explore the different faces and approaches to regenerative working. Prize recipient stories
and their different understandings and experiences of regeneration are now shared through videos and with thesupport of Lush PR teams and Spring Prize media partners and during workshops and skill shares at Prize events andother aligned events e.g. Lush Showcases, at Re-Alliance events and other international events e.g. COP.
Spring Prize stakeholders have also participated in various skill shares around ‘regenerative storytelling’ in order toinform how stories are shared, by whom and using what language.

Prize Themes
In 2016, it was recommended that prize themes should emphasise how a project works or its stage of evolution, rather
than what a project is, keeping the projects whole and showing growth and development rather than fragmentation.
Applications should draw out a project’s holistic approach, that they are engaging with the process of regeneration,and that they are willing to share and support learning, adaptation, and replication.
This has resulted in a Spring Prize application that draws out the holistic nature of projects and their willingness
to support others through a series of specific questions. Prize categories focus on the age of a project (Intentional,
Young, Established), plus an Influence category which seeks to support projects that are working to shift the wider
context we all are working in.
Themed categories were added from 2021 onwards to complement the above approach and in response to otherfunders wanting to collaborate with Spring Prize but having a specific funding interest, e.g. Ancient and Indigenous
Knowledge or Permaculture.

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Designing the Spring Prize project to be regenerative in itself
2016 feasibility interviewees emphasised the importance of the project itself evolving in response to feedback andthat everyone should gain something from entering the application process or engaging with the project. Examples
included:•

Embedding feedback loops into project processes to support constant learning and adaptation.

•

Events emphasising networking, co-learning, and participatory activities.

•

The application process is designed to offer benefits to projects such as the opportunity for self-reflection or
promotional opportunities.

•

Offering projects support before, during an event, or after, to identify where they are on the regenerative continuum
and what they need to do to move towards regeneration.

•

Events should be inclusive and benefit the place it is held in and should model the principles of regeneration.

Many of the above suggestions are now part of the Spring Prize’s culture.
Reflection sessions are now held at every stage of the Spring Prize process to ensure feedback is captured andintegrated into the project’s design as it evolves. Feedback from applications has shared how valuable the application
process has been for their project or group to gain clarity and a deeper understanding of their purpose. The decisionmaking process – at both the shortlisting and final decision-making stage – has supported co-learning about
regeneration and, in some cases, shifted decision makers’ own practices, whilst developing relationships amongst
decision makers.
Spring Prize events have been designed to support networking, relationship building, skill sharing and knowledge
sharing, whilst forming connections with aligned venues, caterers, musicians, artists, and projects in the locality of the
final event venues. Events and the whole Spring Prize process have been run in multiple languages, with interpretersaligned with the values of the prize. Facilitation processes have been designed to actively build inclusion andemergence into events, allowing space for the event programme to adapt and change to meet emerging needs/wantsof participants.
Storytelling around the Spring Prize shortlisted projects and prize recipients has developed over the years with thesupport of Lush’s PR team and Spring Prize media partners. Fallow years have started to be used to support ongoingco-learning and networking for example by supporting learning visits between projects and supporting projects injoining strategic events or training.

Seeing beyond ‘judges’ and ‘winners’?
“A broad coalition of people, especially those from groups who are often most poorly represented in discussions on
regeneration. The judging should preferably be done in stages with those drawn from the skill area involved in judging thecategories and those from the social group judging categories based upon social grouping”. 2016 survey applicant.
“Inevitably the environment should be the winner, coupled with an improvement in well-being and capacity to contributeto those who the project identifies as ‘chief beneficiaries.’” 2016 survey applicant.
During the 2016 feasibility work it was advised that the judging panel contain individuals with backgrounds in:•

Whole systems thinking.

•Regenerative and permaculture design networks.

•

Specialists in proposed category areas, including someone with good business skills and someone who
understands social justice issues and group dynamics.

It was also advised that the panel contain a mix of ages and ethnic groups in addition to a couple of strategic wild cards,
e.g. someone from the United Nations Committee of Sustainable Development Goals.
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In response, the Spring Prize judging panel has been designed using a complex matrix that ensures maximum
diversity and representation of a wide range of movements aligned with regenerative approaches and ways of being.
The main Spring Prize categories have a decision-making panel of 12 people (including one Lush customer and one
Lush staff judge). The themed, collaborative prizes, have a smaller decision-making panel of 5-7 people, two of which
are linked to the main Lush Spring prize judging panel, and the rest are specific to the theme. Profiles of all Spring
Prize judges can be found on the website: springprize.org/about/judging-panel
In order to support meaningful connections and to facilitate group learning amongst decision makers, groups ofjudges serve for three years with the exception of a Lush staff and customer judge which are rotated annually and are
selected using an open recruitment process. After three prize years, two judges continue to share the group’s learningwith a new panel of judges – ensuring new connections continue to be cultivated and the reach and understanding of
the Spring Prize increases through the judge’s networks.
Similarly, the shortlisting stage designs co-learning into the process: bringing a wide range of staff from across Lush’sbusiness together with the Ethical Consumer team to read, discuss, question, and shortlist applications.
To move away from binary ‘winner and loser’ mentalities, over time the Spring Prize has moved away from the term
‘winner’, using ‘prize recipient’ instead, and it increasingly has held the intention to support as many applicants (andespecially shortlisted projects) as possible each year, whether financially, through comms work, or by offering otherrequested support. As part of this exploration, in 2021 the prize money was made more flexible and judges were given
the power to distribute and split it in different ways. Although this meant more projects were funded, it meant lessmoney per project and more admin work for both the coordination team and projects where they received only asmall amount of money. We received feedback from some organisations who received smaller grants that the prize
didn’t cover their administrative costs.
The intention to create a win-win-win process has also led to the creation of sister organisations Re-Alliance andRegenerosity, media partnerships, increasing numbers of collaborative prizes and fallow-year activities.

Participants eating lunch at a Spring Prize event, including one of Lush’s co-founders
Rowena Bird; Spring Prize judges Filipa Pimentel (Transition Network) and Andy Goldring(Permaculture Association); and Geraldine Ovando from Spring Prize recipients Apthapi.

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HAS THE SPRING PRIZEPROGRESSED ITS ORIGINAL AIMS?
The Spring Prize’s Aims 1, 2 and 3 (to develop and increase the integrity of the‘regenerative’ movement; to raise the profile of regeneration and its potential to move
livelihoods and economies beyond the sustainable; to bring together diverse stakeholders
in order to develop a greater understanding of regeneration amongst participants and thewider public), have progressed as evidenced by the following:
The first three Spring Prizes were run annually in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and the last two were run on a biennial basis in
2021 and 2023. Each year has been run in 5+ languages and has seen an increase in reach through website visits andpress coverage around Spring Prize recipients and shortlisted projects and their approaches to regenerative working.
Each Spring Prize received hundreds of applications from regenerative projects and practitioners around the world,
resulting in a diversity of shortlisted projects and prize recipients being highlighted through press and comms work.
Prize recipients are highlighted in the Appendix, and all can be explored through the map, project profiles, and casestudies at springprize.org.
Prize recipients and applications have collectively offered insights into what regeneration means to a diversityof organisations and projects, whilst sharing barriers, successes, learnings, and challenges to working towards
regeneration in a variety of different contexts. These have been analysed and shared via project reviews (such as thisfive-year review), at events and through communications work during prize cycles.
Insights and other learnings have informed the development of the Spring Prize as a project, and other work andorganisations that have emerged along the way, including:•

Regenerosity: www.regenerosity.world. This initiative is a partnership between the Lush Spring Prize and the
Buckminster Fuller Institute’s Fuller Challenge, www.bfi.org/challenge, and other partners. It welcomes
all shortlisted Spring Prize applicants, with their consent, into a network that aims to source further funding
and resourcing for them. Regenerosity connects regenerative projects to funders, and also flows funds throughfrom generous donors. In doing so, it aims to move as much capital as possible over the next ten crucial years insupport of the regenerative movement.

•

Re-Alliance, www.re-alliance.org, is a network of regenerative practitioners working in the humanitarian anddevelopment sectors. Re-Alliance asks the question, ‘how can we create resilience and abundance, even in timesof crisis?’ The organisation acts as a network convener for grassroots practitioners, and also has been contracted
by several humanitarian agencies to host Permaculture and Regeneration capacity building programmes, andpeer-to-peer learning sessions.

•

A Closing Loops REconomy project, foodfutures.org.uk, in North Lancashire seeks to cultivate a regenerative
economy and distribute funds, using participatory budgeting approaches, to new and emerging regenerative
enterprise ideas and community-led initiatives. The feasibility work for this project directly drew on an analysis of
Spring Prize learnings.

Each Spring Prize year has also seen a multi-day event bring together representatives from Spring Prize projects,
judges, Lush and Ethical Consumer staff, aligned organisations and networks to support knowledge and skill sharing
around regeneration. All have been held in person with the exception of 2021, where the main prize ceremonyand skill shares were held online due to restrictions posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic, and local celebrations were
financially supported instead of one international gathering.

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Fallow years (the years between prize years) have started to be used for rest and for offering other support toapplicants, e.g. paying for learning visits, attending strategic events, training, and mentoring. Some of the emergent
outcomes and learnings are highlighted in the graphics below.
This ongoing learning and support around regenerative approaches has also been supported by welcoming applicants
into the Re-Alliance network.

FALLOW YEAR

learning Visits
LEARNINGS
LUSH SPRING PRIZE RECIPIENTS,
FAMBIDZANAI PERMACULTURE
CENTRE (FPC), ATTENDED COP28
Lush Spring Prize funded FPC’s
attendance at COP28 as part of theaward’s fallow year program. This
gave FPC the opportunity to learn andadopt new insights and initiatives, aswell as interact with like-minded
regenerative organisation leaders.

At COP28, FPC became a member ofthe Agroecology Coalition and shared
information about their school ofagroecology. FPC received scaleability
recommendations and were exposed
to financing opportunities, particularlyaround funding a new generation ofyoung female leaders in climatechange initiatives.

FPC MAKING A
PRESENTATION AT
THE COP28
LOSS & DAMAGE
CONFERENCE

Our visit to COP28 opened doors forknowledge and enabled us to form linkages,
partnerships, and friends among others. It
paved the way for the ignition of new ideas,
perspectives, and views on Climate Change
mitigation.
FAMBIDZANI PERMACULTURE CENTRE

FALLOW YEAR

learning Visits
LEARNINGS
THE LUSH SPRING PRIZE FUNDED
ASSOCIAÇÃO CENTRO DE
CULTURA SABUKÁ KARIRI XOCÓTO VISIT FELLOW PRIZE
RECIPIENTS JUPAGO KREKÁ
COLLECTIVE AND MEET THE FAO(FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED
NATIONS)The FAO signed a pilot
project with Associação
da comunidade indígena
xukuru (Jupago Kreká)

The visit allowed the opportunity for the groups
to strengthen their relationship and learn fromone another. The visit was also timed tocoincide with an FAO visit to Jupago Kreká(having met at the Spring Prize 2023 event) so
the representatives from Sabuká Kariri Xocó
had the opportunity to meet them as well.

102

Our visit to the Xucuru of Ororuba was pureinspiration. We went in a group of young
people - Kayane, Kawer, Kayra and Verena - andwere able to meet the political leaders andtheir policies for the development of the
Xucuru territory, more specifically the actionsin the area of agriculture and restoration of theterritory. We also had the opportunity to meet
the FAO and give their representatives apresentation on the urgent needs of our
Caatinga.Sabuká Kariri-Xocó.
ASSOCIAÇÃO CENTRO DE CULTURASABUKÁ KARIRI XOCÓ

FALLOW YEAR

learning Visits
LEARNINGS

THE LUSH SPRING PRIZESUPPORTED MEMBERS OF RAWA
FUND TO JOIN THEIRCOLLEAGUES AT EDGE FUNDERSGATHERING

Rawa Fund members benefited from visiting
one of two major international funderconferences. They moved donor advocacy
and networked with similar global
community/grassroots movements andparticipatory grant-makers. Rawa Fund had theopportunity to amplify their work at the eventby contributing to one of the sessions

FALLOW YEAR

learning Visits
THREE GROUPS MET IN
GUATEMALA - TEKIO NETWORKWEAVER FROM MEXICO AND
GUATEMALAN ORGANISATIONSTEJIENDO FUTUROS AND
INSTITUTO MESOAMERICANO DE
PERMACULTURA (IMAP) WHICH
ARE BOTH LOCATED NEAR LAKEATITLÁN.

LEARNINGS
The visit provided the opportunity formembers of teKio and Tejiendo Futuros to
cement the connections made at the 2023
event. It also allowed members of IMAP tomeet fellow Spring Prize recipients in person
as they only attended an online event due tocovid restrictions in 2021.

The session we co-organized with A
Growing Culture and Regenerosity, featuring
Yara and Soheir from Rawa and movement
comrades from Brazilian and South African
landless people's movements, went
exceedingly well. It was incredibly wellattended and there was great engagementfrom the audience, highlighting land-based
struggles in the Global South, how toincrease South-South power building, andhow funders can better commit to
supporting and being in such struggles,
rather than containing or disrupting them.”
RAWA FUND

The experience was very enriching. In particular, as a
newborn association, it was nice to see the trajectory ofcivil associations that were formed in the past in a social
context very similar to tekio's, to listen to and learn about
the challenges they have encountered along the way andthe ones they still face, to see how their spaces havetaken shape thanks to the presence and the constantaffection of their population, how they have managed tocreate economic sustainability and how they receive loveand support on a daily basis from the beneficiaries of
their projects.
This visit is surely the beginning of a more direct andconstant collaboration with these collectives. The timespent together has brought us together and given us theopportunity to explore themes and connections that canunite and strengthen us.
TEKIO

teKio, Tejiendo and IMAP applied in the
Intentional, Young and Established categories
respectively. This means they’re all at different
stages. teKio is just starting out, while IMAP
has been running for over 2 decades

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Aim 4 (to be used as a vehicle of discovery that could lead to direct relationships between
Lush and prize winners, and a deepening of Lush’s own understanding of regeneration)
has progressed as evidenced by the following:
The Lush Spring Prize has grown its engagement within Lush during each prize cycle and has supported the learningof Lush team members.
Growing from 17 Lush guests in 2019, to 94 Lush attendees in 2023, The 2023 event was run in partnership with theLush Events team, as a trial of a Lush Socials concept, focused on building Lush’s post-pandemic community.
For the first time ever, in 2023 the Lush Spring Prize was featured in Lush shop windows, in partnership with the
Rewild Your Routine campaign. This highlighted the Lush Spring Prize to customers and staff with more visibility thanever before. 2023 prize recipients Peruth and Bemeriki from Rwamwanja Rural Foundation are shown in the photo on
page 82 – both were happy to see their organisation highlighted in the Berlin Alexanderplatz shop window.
In a review of Lush staff attendees over the years, participants commented:“I found it to be the most“The knowledge exchange

rewarding experience, and I
learned so much.”

and peer-to-peer connection issuper important.”

Fire gathering at a
Spring Prize event.

“It provides tangible real-world application of genuinely

regenerative practices, and I love getting to meet all the prize
winners and hearing from them directly.”

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Aim 5 (to attract additional resources into the regenerative movement by way ofcontributions to the prize from other organisations, to support the Spring Prize in creating
a win-win-win process) has progressed as evidenced by the following:
Lush Cosmetics is the primary funder of the Lush Spring Prize, and Lush’s financial contributions have started to besupported by other organisations. For example:•

Abundant Earth Foundation contributed £10,000 towards a Youth In Permaculture Prize in 2021.

•

Be The Earth Foundation contributed £10,000 in 2021 and 2023 towards an Ancient and Indigenous Wisdom Awardand have committed to ongoing support, including in the fallow years.

•

The Permaculture Magazine contributed £15,000 towards a Permaculture Magazine Award in 2023 and has also
committed to an ongoing partnership.

All funders have also fed into the development of the Spring Prize as a project through sitting on decision-making
panels and feeding into reflection and re-design processes.
The Spring Prize has also started to become a filter, screening applicants and recommending projects to other funders
connected to Lush, Regenerosity, and Re-Alliance.
Non-financial support has been offered through the Re-Alliance and Buckminster Fuller Institute, who have offered
forums for ongoing co-learning around regenerative approaches and storytelling.
nRhythm also partnered with the Spring Prize in 2023 to pilot offering subsidised places on its Re-design Lab for
Spring Prize recipients.

Spring Prize 2017 event
attendees applause a performer.

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SUGGESTIONS FOR GROWINGAND EVOLVING THE SPRING PRIZE
In response to project feedback raised during this five-year review process, the Spring
Prize should consider the following:•

The current application process, decision making, feedback, and storytelling processes are working well. Continue
to build on these and make tweaks in response to feedback; including inviting more Lush staff to participate in the
shortlisting process.

•Continue to offer unrestricted funding to grassroots regenerative initiatives and seek to leverage additional
support through collaborative prizes, media partners, Regenerosity, Re-Alliance, and other potential partners.

•

Embed ongoing feedback cycles into the Spring Prize to facilitate development processes that are project-led andthat seek to address common power imbalances often embedded in funder-recipient relationships.

•

Support outreach activities that welcome and integrate more funders, media partners, researchers, and others
into the Spring Prize network to support themed collaborative prizes, fallow-year activities and shared learningand doing around regeneration.

•

Host in-person prize and other events in collaboration with Spring Prize applicant(s) and other organisations thatembed a place-based approach, facilitate networking and knowledge and skill sharing around regeneration.

•

Facilitate perennial storytelling around regeneration and Spring Prize projects externally through media partners
and LUSH, and internally through LUSH Staff comms, training channels and shop floors. As part of this, learn from
Campaign windows to do non-commercial Brand exercises for Spring Prize that manifest Spring Prize in the day to
day lives of shop staff and customers.

•

Develop an active network that keeps connected through informal comms channels, funded learning visits,
skill shares, and knowledge exchange across Spring Prize years and between prize recipients and shortlisted
applicants. Consider setting up a Spring Prize WhatsApp group and inviting prize recipients from past years tofuture events and skill shares; consider providing funding for the actual time it takes for recipients to undertake
learning visits or maintain connections.

•

Offer skill shares and other requested support that enables capacity building for prize-recipients and shortlistedorganisations.

•Support regenerative projects to attend strategic regional, national, and international events, to support shifts
in the wider context they are working in. Develop further the Spring Prize’s ability to raise the national andinternational profile of projects’ work to offer credibility and attract additional support for holistic, grassroots,
regenerative approaches.

•

Develop the Spring Prize website as an accessible educational resource that profiles a diversity of regenerative
projects and partners and identifies ways to support/get more involved.

•

Consider language and structural changes that reframe ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ and ‘judges’ to create win-win-win
situations that build a supportive community of advisors and mentors.

106

Marino Peña Jamioy from Musu Runakunapresents Spring Prize judge Gamelihle Sibanda
with his traditional headress to symbolise him
becoming an ambassador of their poject abroad.

Recommendations for other funders•

Create unrestricted and flow funding opportunities for grassroots
regenerative projects – those that are holistically working aroundenvironmental and social justice issues – and in a way that enables
emergence, responsiveness, autonomy, empowerment, greater wellbeing,resilience, and innovation.

•

Create more opportunities for investment in organisational capacity
building, not just new projects and predicted outputs.

•

Join the Spring Prize as a collaborative funder and/or the wider
Regenerosity network to invest in regenerative work and approaches
to giving. Regenerative processes take time and often require shifts inmindsets. This calls for long-term relationships and support that goesbeyond typical funder-grantee relationships. The Regenerosity network
offers the opportunity to undertake and support this learning journey.

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APPENDIX: SPRING PRIZE
RECIPIENTS: WHO ARE THEY?
Prize recipients are highlighted in the table below, and can be explored through the map,
project profiles and case studies at springprize.org.
Prize recipient name Prize received Description of their work
& location
The Timbaktu Collective(India)2017 Established
Prize: £25k

MontBio (Spain) – nolonger running2017 IntentionalAward: £10k

Instituto Compassos(Brazil)2017 IntentionalAward: £10k

The Timbaktu Collective works for sustainable development in the droughtprone Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, India. The Collective works
in over 172 villages of Chennekothapalli, Roddam and Ramagiri mandals,
reaching and serving about 20,000 marginalised families.
2017 Established
SAT works with small-scale farmers face-to-face, in a holistic way,
Sustainable Agriculture
Prize: £25k
to facilitate, exchange and refine agroecological methods throughTanzania (SAT)
dissemination, application and research, to strengthen livelihoods.
2017 Influence Prize: LVC is an autonomous, pluralist, and multicultural movement that
La Via Campesina (LVC)£25k
promotes agroecology as a path to social justice and dignity. It represents
International
millions of peasants, small- and medium-size farmers, landless people,
women farmers, indigenous people, migrants, and agricultural workers.
ICA is an Indigenous-led initiative that inspires Indigenous-led climate
Indigenous Climate Action 2017 Young Prize:£25k
justice, supporting Indigenous communities to be drivers of climate(ICA) (Canada)solutions. It equips Indigenous communities with tools, education, andassets to ensure Indigenous knowledge is driving climate solutions thatwork for everyone.
2017
Young
Prize:SFHC is a non-profit organisation in Malawi that works to support
Soils, Food and Healthy£25ksmallholder farmers to build healthy, equitable, and resilient communities
Communities (SFHC)
using farmer-led participatory research, ecological approaches to farming,(Malawi)local indigenous knowledge, and democratic processes.
2017 Young Prize:
Mining Watch Romania was a monitoring network designed to organise
Mining Watch Romania –£25kcivil society and local community actions on proposed mining projects in
no longer running
Romania.
2017 Intentional
The Soft Foot Alliance is dedicated to improving the lives and landscapes ofSoft Foot AllianceAward:£10k
people living on the boundary of Hwange national Park, Zimbabwe, while(Zimbabwe)
achieving a sustainable coexistence with wildlife. They use permaculture
design and holistic land management to apply long-term solutions that areregenerative and uplift people whilst protecting the environment.
2017 Intentional
Benaa aims to empower Arabian youth to build sustainable development
Benaa (Egypt)Award: £10k
projects and create an interactive enabling environment in the MENA
region.
2017 Intentional
Regeneration Project: Granada aimed to grow a collective of refugees,
Regeneration Project:
Award: £10k
migrants, local people, and international participants who work together
Granada (Spain) – noto develop a project that seeks to find new ways to respond to migration.
longer running2018 EstablishedCenter for Justice andPrize: £25k
human Rights in the
Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua(CEJUDHCAN) (Nicaragua)

MontBio sought to recover ‘waste’ wood from forestry operations thatwould otherwise be burned, in order to create biochar; bringing back theancient tradition of making charcoal in the coastal mountains of Montnegre
i El Corredor natural park.
The Compassos Institute debates ideas related to the marginality ofyoungsters and adults with special needs that cannot enter the labour
market. It is multidisciplinary and works in different spheres, the main one
being biodynamic agriculture.
CEJUDHCAN secures indigenous land rights and promotes sustainable land
management with communities on Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast.

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Prize recipient name Prize received Description of their work
& location
Sustainable Organic
Integrated Livelihoods(SOIL) (Haiti)

2018 Established
Prize: £25k

International
Permaculture Education
Network (IPEN) (United
Kingdom)
Malawi Schools
Permaculture Clubs(MSPC) (Malawi)
AAQ – Agentes
Agroflorestais
Quilombolas (Brazil)

2018 Young Prize:£20k

IPEN is a member project of the UK Permaculture Association. It aims
to increase the coherence and effectiveness of permaculture education
globally.

2018 Young Prize:£20k

MSPC empowers primary teachers in rural northern Malawi to run afterschool student permaculture clubs. Each student works on an individual
permaculture plot and collectively they implement a school design.

EkoLakay is SOIL’s growing household sanitation social business.
Customers pay an affordable monthly user fee which covers waste
collection and maintenance. All wastes from SOIL’s toilets are collected
and safely transformed into compost, which then returns back to land
restoration projects.
2018 Influence Prize: ABN has 36 active partners in 12 countries across Africa, and has incubated
African Biodiversity£25k
a number of important regional initiatives, including the Alliance for Food
Network (ABN) (Kenya)
Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA). It grew out of a commitment to nurture a
new leadership in Africa, dedicated to enhancing biological and cultural
diversity, and social and ecological justice. It uses exchange programs,
training, and knowledge-sharing to strengthen rights, policy, andlegislation.
2018 Influence Prize: Amrita Bhoomi is a peasant agroecology training centre. It was launched
Amrita Bhoomi Peasantin 2013 by Indian farmers to find solutions to the agrarian and ecologicalAgroecology Centre (India) £25k
crises in India. It carries out training for farmers on Zero Budget Natural
Farming and has a special focus on youth.
2018
Young
Prize:
AGROECOPOLIS was the first Greek grassroots NGO to focus on food
AGROECOPOLIS (Greece) –£20ksovereignty, access to land, and agroecology.
no longer running

Guaracy (Brazil)

Jewels in the Desert(Algeria) – no longer
running
Terrena, Cocreating with
Nature (Bolivia)
Guba (eSwatini)

INSO (Mexico)

ECOLISE (France/Europe)

Zimbabwe Smallholder
Organic Farmers Forum(ZIMSOFF) (Zimbabwe)2018 IntentionalAward: £10k

AAQ aims to recover the ciliary forest of the Igarape Simauma, in the
Quilombola territory St. Rosa dos Pretos, through the planting of native
trees. It also seeks to collectively develop an agroforestry system in close
dialogue with subsistence farming practitioners of the Quilombo.
2018 Intentional
Guaracy focuses on the production of sustainable food products throughAward: £10k
syntropic agriculture (planting like nature does in the forest). It connects
the producer to the organic marketplace and provides socioeconomic
opportunities for the new generation of rural youth in agriculture.
2018 Intentional
Jewels in the Desert aimed to support the creation of enterprises thatAward: £10k
leverage existing waste streams, close loops, and nurture collaborative
growth while stimulating the local economy of Sahrawi people living in‘temporary’ camps in the Sahara Desert.
2018 Intentional
Terenna is developing a system that trains producers on the technical andAward: £10k
management skills needed to organise a Bolivian organic seed guardian
cooperative.
2019 Established
As a permaculture training centre, Guba offers education programmes
Prize: £25k
for children, youth and adults on homestead agriculture, food security,
ecological capacity building and income generation, with a view topromoting increased resilience and wellbeing in eSwatini (Swaziland).
2019 Established
INSO was founded in 1991 to support communities with regenerative social
Prize: £25k
and ecological initiatives in the diverse state of Oaxaca, Mexico. It takes
an integrated approach by combining traditional wisdom and community
organisation with modern knowledge and techniques.
2019 Influence Prize: ECOLISE facilitates a collaborative platform for knowledge sharing£25k
and developing awareness of existing initiatives, advocating for policy
development that will nurture, not hinder, grassroots, community-led
action for climate and sustainability.
2019 Influence Prize: ZIMSOFF is farmer-owned and farmer-led and envisions improved£25k
livelihoods of organised and empowered smallholder farmers practisingsustainable and viable ecological agriculture. It is using farmer-to-farmer
training to hone and spread proven techniques, whilst campaigning
to influence policies and public awareness towards agroecology andsmallholder farmers’ rights on access to healthy soils, clean water, and
seed.

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Prize recipient name Prize received Description of their work
& location
Alianza Ceibo (Ecuador)

2019 Young Prize:£20k

Alianza Ceibo is comprised of members from four indigenous nations in thewestern Amazon that are together building a holistic movement to preventthe destruction of their cultures and rainforest territories.
Diritti a Sud (DaS) is an Italian association that promotes a multicultural
Sfruttazero (Diritti a Sud) 2019 Young Prize:£20k
society through encouraging the meeting and exchange of different(Italy)cultures – through public events, living libraries, language school for
migrants and more! Sfruttazero aims to change the system with a direct
alternative: a tomato sauce that is grown using agro-ecological farming
methods, that is produced by DaS in collaboration with the Association
Solidaria in Bari. A proportion of sales from Sfruttazero goes towards afund for supporting the struggle of migrants that still live in Southern Italy’s
ghettos.
2019 Young Prize:
YICE Uganda works with refugees in Bukompe refugee settlement and the
YICE Uganda (Uganda)£20k
neighbouring communities, providing smallholder farmers with access toregenerative agricultural training and flexible financial services to reduce
hunger and poverty.
2019
Intentional“Escuela del Vivir Bien” (School of living well) is an initiative of four
Apthapi Comunidades delAward:£10korganisations that are combining their experiences to carry out activities inVivir Bien (Bolivia)
the districts of Achocalla, El Alto and La Paz in Bolivia.
2019 Intentional
Laboratorio Sicilia 2030 seeks to actively support individuals andLaboratorio Sicilia 2030
Award: £10korganisations in Sicily to regenerate and grow sustainably following the UN(Italy)2030 Agenda.
2019 Intentional
Ripanu is exploring the role of ecological tourism as a strategy for halting
Ripanu (Ecuador)Award: £10k
oil drilling on their lands. They are co-developing a centre based in Sapara
lands, that is focused on the conservation of the rainforest, the teaching ofcontrolled dreaming, and the emotional, mental, and spiritual healing andrejuvenation of visitors using ancestral and natural medicine.
2019 Intentional
Verdegaia is based in Vigo, Galicia’s largest city. It started the “Brigadas
BrigadasAward:£10k
deseucaliptizadoras” (or “De-eucalyptization Brigades”) as a grassroots,
Deseucaliptizadoras/
environmental activism project that emerged after a catastrophic wave of
Verdegaia (Spain)
forest fires desolated Galicia and Portugal in 2017, killing over 120 people
and burning over half a million hectares. The Brigadas have grown in
numbers and show how people working together can bring about change
in restoring landscapes and natural habitats.
IMAP was created by a group of Maya Kakchiquel folk with the desire to
Instituto Mesoamericano 2021 Established
Prize: £25k
use native seeds, permaculture, traditional Indigenous knowledge andde Permacultura (IMAP)
education to create social healing after 36 years of internal armed conflict(Guatemala)that wiped out hundreds of communities and displaced millions from theirland and disrupted the transfer of their culture and ancestral knowledge.
IMAP’s work revolves around providing communities with access to land,
seeds, and excellent permaculture education.
2021 Established
Permatil has been empowering people through community-driven
Permatil (Timor-Leste)
Prize: £25k
permaculture projects since 2001. Their work includes training of future
trainers – including NGO and government staff, community leaders andlocal farmers – in water and soil conservation, agro-ecology, agro-forestry,
aquaculture, and organic farming; establishing a national farmer’s foodsovereignty network and producing the Tropical Permaculture Guidebook.
Fambidzanai Permaculture 2021 Influence Prize: Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre was established in 1988 in Zimbabwe to£20kpioneer climate sensitive multifunctional agriculture in the region such as
Centre (Zimbabwe)permaculture, agroecology, and other sustainable practices.
2021
InfluencePrize:GUPAP aims to enhance resilience, build institutional capacity, andGaza Urban and Peri£20k
support collaboration amongst its eighty-member Community Based
Urban Agriculture
Organisations; including advocacy and policy influencing campaigns andPlatform (GUPAP)
sharing of knowledge, success stories and experience at local, regional, and(Palestine)
global levels.

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Prize recipient name Prize received Description of their work
& location
Landworkers’ Alliance(LWA) (UK)2021 Influence Prize: LWA is a grassroots, member-led union of farmers, growers, foresters,£10k
and land-based workers. It was set up in 2012 to fill the gap in the
representation of small-scale agro ecological landworkers in the UK– creating a better food and land-use system for everyone based on
agroecology, food sovereignty, and sustainable forestry that furthers socialand environmental justice.
Comunità Frizzante is a diverse network of organisations and informal
Comunità Frizzante (Italy) 2021 Young Prize:£15kgroups who are passionate about the Vallagarina valley in the ItalianAlps. The group mobilises the participatory production of fizzy drinks tochallenge individualised ways of life and alienation from the mountains
they are based in, focusing on ecological respect.
2021 Young Prize:
E4CAP was birthed in October 2019 to combat adverse climate change
Education for Climate£15k
and to provide sustainable living education and livelihood preparedness
Action for Peace (E4CAP)
training to refugees and stateless teens and youths that don’t have access(Malaysia)
to mainstream education and cannot work legally in Malaysia.
2021
Young
Prize:FSSA offers technical support and seedlings to low-income parents who
Food Secured Schools£15k
access the unused land of schools to produce chemical-free vegetables andAfrica (FSSA) (Ethiopia)
fruit. Their work becomes a source of income for parents and a source offresh and nutritious food for the children enrolled in education programs.
Instead of handing over aid or charitable giving that is typical for the NGO
approach, FSSA looks at people and resources and makes the best of them.
2021 Young Prize:
KPL is a social movement of Kenyan Peasant farmers, fisherfolk,
Kenyan Peasants League£15k
pastoralists, and consumers, whose main aim is to promote smallholder(KPL) (Kenya)
farmer agroecology and resist neoliberal policies that threaten local
agriculture. This is done by conducting political education, people’s
research, technical training, and national advocacy. KPL promotes
indigenous seeds, livestock and plant varieties and the creation of analternative economy that is driven by provision for livelihoods.
2021 Intentional
Fundación Cuidemos Paraísos is an organisation that is made up of young
Fundación Cuidemos
Prize:£10k
people determined to work in balance with nature, that strives to actively
Paraísos (Chile)collaborate in the recovery of native forests by raising awareness of the
intrinsic natural and cultural wisdom of a territory.
2021 Intentional
PermaQueer’s community education unpacks systems of consumerism,
PermaQueer (Australia)
Prize: £10k
white supremacy and colonial binaries to restructure communal systems ofresilience. They are collaborating on a decolonising and re-indigenising cellfor the global permaculture movement with @LiberationPermaculture.
Sacha Kuyrana Maltakuna plan to buy a one-hectare property, build a
Sacha Kuyrana Maltakuna 2021 Intentional
simple office with local materials, and map, design, and plant an ancestral– Young Kichwa Defenders Prize: £10k
home garden with dozens of fruit, nut, palm, medicinal, and hardwoods,of the Forest (Ecuador)
including traditional species which help to improve soils, and short cycle
plants and fungi, such as edible mushrooms collected from the forest. They
will develop an online Kichwa vegetarian recipe book, full of traditional
foods and recipes, to share with young people in the region.
2021 Intentional
The centre serves as a platform to market food and household items locally
The Mount Oku
Prize:£10k
produced by women, as well as for self-help microfinance services. Key
Centre for Genderactivities involve training and community investment activities such as
and Socioeconomic
bee farming, forest regeneration, and medicinal plant processing. In time it
Empowerment
aims to become a registered women’s cooperative.

(Cameroon)
2021 Ancient and
The Centro de Cultura Sabuká Kariri-Xocó was born with the mission of
Associação Centro deIndigenous
Wisdomfighting for the preservation of their life and that of all the beings that
Cultura Sabuká Kariri Xocó
Award:£4.5k
live there. It gathers children, young people, and elders to be together, as(Brazil)

The Marginalized Mirror(Namibia)

2021 Ancient andIndigenous Wisdom
Award: £3ktheir ancestors did. In addition to nurturing culture, they plant community
gardens, harvest and feed themselves in groups of up to 100 people a day,and hold their Torés, dialogues, games, football, and other activities.
The Marginalized Mirror provides knowledge sharing around responsible
investments in agriculture and food systems for the marginalized
Ovazemba communities in Namibia to produce their own organic food
through regenerative agriculture for resilience to climatic instability.

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Prize recipient name Prize received Description of their work
& location
Anonymous project

Education for Climate
Action for Peace (E4CAP)(Malaysia)
Malawi Schools
Permaculture Clubs(Malawi)
Sacha Kuyrana Maltakuna– Young Kichwa Defendersof the Forest (Ecuador)
SCOPE Kenya (Kenya)

2021 Ancient andIndigenous Wisdom
Award: £2k2021 Youth in
Permaculture Prize:£2k

Anonymous project2021 Youth in
Permaculture Prize:£3k

Malawi Schools Permaculture Clubs (MSPC) trains teachers in northern
Malawi to run after-school student permaculture clubs. Through the clubs,
students learn permaculture concepts and skills and apply them directlyon their school grounds and create polyculture garden patches to growindigenous food crops.
See description on page 111 (2021 Intentional Prize)

2021 Youth in
Permaculture Prize:£2k

See description on page 111 (2021 Young Prize)

2021 Youth in
Permaculture Prize:£3k

Schools and Colleges Permaculture Programme (SCOPE Kenya) is alocal capacity building and networking development organisation,that promotes permaculture/agroecology education, in schools andcommunities.
2023
Established
HPC is a grassroots, permaculture-led NGO operating in remote, poor,
Himalayan Permaculture
Prize:£25k
and resource-depleted farming communities in Western Nepal. It is run byCenter (HPC) (Nepal)
farmers from Surkhet and Humla districts.
2023 Established
The Jupago Kreká Collective was born in 2005 after the indigenous Xukuru
Jupago Kreká Collective
Prize: £25k
people reconquered their traditional territory. The collective took on the(Brazil)challenge of regenerating both the environment and the mind based on theprinciples of Lymolaygo Toype (Living Well) with the commitment to breakaway from the system of land exploitation left by the colonisation process.
2023 Influence Prize: Rawa works to advocate for and strengthen an emancipatory, resilient
Rawa Fund (Palestine)£25k
Palestinian grassroots social ecosystem capable of resisting the Israeli
colonial regime, strengthening the social fabric, and demonstrating thepotential of creative community-led change.
European Coordination Via 2023 Influence Prize: ECVC is a grassroots collective of peasants farmers across Europe. ECVC
£25k
fights for food sovereignty, agroecology, and peasants’ rights.
Campesina (ECVC)

Cooperativa Agropecuaria 2023 Young Prize:de Servicios Tonanzintlalli £20k
R.L (Nicaragua)
Organización Waorani de 2023 Young Prize:
Pastaza (OWAP) (Ecuador) £20k

Rwamwanja Rural
Foundation (Uganda)

2023 Young Prize:£20k

Mycorama (Greece)

2023 IntentionalPrize: £10k

Cooperativa Tonanzintlalli was founded by 23 indigenous Matagalpa
women to cultivate and add value to organic regenerative coffee grownunder the tree canopy, in the right relationship with the land and thepeople in the community.
OWAP unites 30 Indigenous communities of the Waorani territory of
Pastaza in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Under the leadership of Waorani
activist Nemonte Nenquimo, OWAP’s global campaign and legal battle
resulted in a historic legal victory against the Ecuadorian government,
protecting ancestral territory and setting an important legal precedent in
the region.
Rwamwanja Rural Foundation is a Ugandan based, refugee-led grassroots
organisation. It works specifically with communities in refugee camps andother marginalised communities affected by climate change in East Africa.
It brings together permaculture, Indigenous farming techniques, local
languages, and modern, affordable, easily accessible digital technologies
to enhance reach and overall impact; empowering refugee youth to fulfil
their potential and enable them to transform their lives.
Mycorama’s work centres on “the infinite potential of fungi to restore ourdamaged earth systems, reduce animal suffering and support humanhealth.” The project began by growing oyster and shiitake mushrooms
on logs, and soon expanded to Lion’s Mane and Reishi. It is exploring theopportunities mycelium provides for degrading plastic cigarette butts (abig pollution problem in the area). It is also exploring ways to create fully
circular products out of Reishi e.g. a lampshade prototype has been made.

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Prize recipient name Prize received Description of their work
& location
teKio (Mexico)2023 IntentionalPrize: £10k

Beejvan (India)

2023 IntentionalPrize: £10k

Taniala Regenerative
Camp (Madagascar)

2023 IntentionalPrize: £10k

Ashiniawka – Asociaciónde Mujeres Sapara(Ecuador)

2023 Ancient andIndigenous Wisdom
Award: £7k

Instituto Janeraka (Brazil) 2023 Ancient andMusu Runakuna(Colombia)

Sol Haven (UK)Tejiendo Futuros NGO(Guatemala)Unidos Social Innovation
Centre (Uganda)

Indigenous Wisdom
Award: £7k2023 Ancient andIndigenous Wisdom
Award: £7k2023 Permaculture
Magazine Award:£5k
2023 Permaculture
Magazine Award:£5k
2023 Permaculture
Magazine Award:£5k

teKio is committed to setting up and nurturing “everyday-life purpose
networks”. This includes local networks of people and organisations
wanting to work collectively to achieve a rapid, tangible, and sustainable
impact in their neighbourhoods. This fosters autonomy and improves
living conditions for the most vulnerable population in the communities
and working-class districts.
Beejvan is a farmer-led community based in the tribal village of Khanand,in Karjat, Maharashtra, India. Beejvan aims to promote three basic ideas
and principles of Permaculture – Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share –through its seed conservation, regeneration, and livelihood projects,
securing food and nutrition security.
The Taniala Regenerative Camp promotes regenerative land use practices
in Madagascar that are locally adapted, accessible, and sustainable. It
aims to support the forest to regenerate through sustainable agriculture
techniques, and to bequeath living soil to future generations in
Madagascar.
Ashiniawka – Asociación de Mujeres Sapara (Sapara Women’s Association)is an association of indigenous Sapara women in Ecuador. It has beenworking to defend the Amazon, and the rights of indigenous peoples andwomen, for more than ten years.
The Janeraka Institute was born in the Amazon region, Altamira, from the
Awaete ancestry in the resistance of a population with less than 50 years ofcontact with the global society.
Musu Runakuna is a Resguardo of the Inga people, made up of 43 families
and 170 people. Their first ancestral territory dates back to the 19th
century in the department of Cauca. It is in the process of setting up thefirst Ancestral Environmental and Entrepreneurial Village; Returning to theInga Origin to recreate the millenary lifestyle of their ancestors.
Sol Haven’s vision is to create a blueprint for sustainable permaculture
care hubs across the UK that are a showcase for rural arts and crafts whileproviding a sustainable local source of food.
Tejiendo Futuros ONG (Weaving Futures NGO) was founded in 2018 in themunicipality of Panajachel, Guatemala. They seek to overcome various
challenges and meet local needs by developing a comprehensive work
model focused on four priority issues: holistic education, agroecology,
psychosocial care, and health.
Unidos Social Innovation Centre is a refugee-led initiative that came
together to help create livelihood-opportunities and food security in thecommunity, after food rations were drastically reduced for refugees in
Uganda. All activities are based on inclusive education and empowerment
through entrepreneurial skills.

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