WEAVE:

Regen Economy Systems Lab

WEAVE is a 12-month place-based innovation collaboration designed to help regional social enterprises play a catalytic role in accelerating the shift to regenerative, inclusive, and climate-resilient economies.

Our Inquiry Areas

  • Business model innovation reimagines the structures, ownership models, and value flows that underpin enterprise success — shifting from extractive, linear, and competitive approaches toward regenerative, inclusive, and place-based models.

  • Finance innovation is the redesign of capital flows, investment behaviours, and funding structures to unlock regenerative, place-based economic transformation—shifting who controls capital, how value is measured, and how risk is shared.

  • Social infrastructure for place-based regeneration is the scaffolding that enables regenerative enterprises to be catalytic drivers of inclusive, just, and ecological transformation at multiple scales—from neighbourhoods to bioregions.

Weave With Us

Led by Regen Labs, WEAVE learns from real-world experiments.

WEAVE Regen Economy Systems Lab is an innovation collaboration learning community, commissioned by Social Enterprise Australia, and powered by Regen Labs. Our aim is to innovate to build a regenerative economic future, working closely with place-based social and regenerative enterprises, policy makers, finance and subject matter experts.

Over 12 months Regen Labs and core partners will explore, design, experiment, and share learning around practical systemic interventions - across 3-5 places and 3 key inquiry areas:

  • Business model innovation

  • Finance innovation

  • Social infrastructure innovation

Place-based Partners include: Regenerating Hills and Coasts (SA), Northern Rivers Regen Food Systems Coalition (NSW), Southern Highlands Home Grown Economy (NSW)
Learning Partners include: Regen Melbourne and Ready Communities
Critical Friends include: Dr Katherine Trebeck, Economic Change Lead - The Next Economy; Dr Joanne McNeill, The Good Shift; Liam Flanagan, CEO Yinhawangka Aboriginal Corporation; Dr Jarrod Ormiston, UTS; and Sherryl Reddy, Network Lead SEA

Digital Learning Platform: Business for Good Network

Watch the webinar!

Our learning partner, Business for Good Network, hosted Regen Labs to share WEAVE with the social enterprise community.

Watch the webinar to learn about:

  • Regen Labs and our mission

  • Regenerative enterprises and why we believe they are catalysts for economic transition

  • WEAVE and what we are seeking to learn across business model, finance and social infrastructure innovation

We are now inviting Expressions of Interest to join a curated learning community hosted on the BFGN platform.

Why Weave? Why Now?

We have learned from working with many enterprises in regional places that our current systems of business support, economic development, finance, and policy design are not working for regional communities. They’re built for a different kind of economy — one that’s extractive, centralised, and outdated.

At the same time, we are living through a once-in-a-generation opportunity: the global shift toward net zero, circularity, wellbeing economies, and regenerative business. There is also a growing recognition in Australia of the value of place-based and community-led approaches to transition.

Regional social enterprises are uniquely placed to lead this transformation. But they need the right models, funding, and enabling ecosystems to do so. WEAVE is a response to that opportunity — and to that gap.