Moderated by: Marina Demchenko
Marina is a social ecosystems researcher and founder of the INNER KEY® methodology, focusing on how inner human dimensions and regenerative governance shape the thriveability of cities. She currently leads the Living Cities Action Research Ecosystem (LCARE).
About the webinar:
This session addresses a central question of our time: why do contemporary economic systems continue to produce social fragmentation, ecological degradation, mistrust, and developmental imbalance even where wealth, productivity, and technical sophistication increase? It starts from the premise that today’s crises are not only economic or political, but civilisational and cultural. They arise from a dominant paradigm that privileges extraction over regeneration, competition over relationship, growth over maturity, and efficiency over meaning.
The conversation moves from diagnosis to alternatives and then to practice. It reframes economics not as a neutral mechanism of wealth production, but as a cultural expression of how societies define value, human purpose, and the relationship between people and the living world. From there, it examines why conventional indicators such as GDP, productivity, and profit fail to capture the conditions of long-term wellbeing and socio-ecological thriving, and introduces alternative frameworks — including Gaiametry, the Economy of Well-Being, Indigenous wellbeing governance, civic diagnostics, and participatory philanthropy — that seek to measure trust, belonging, purpose, cultural coherence, ecological reciprocity, and developmental readiness.
Drawing on examples from Ireland, Indigenous communities in Canada, urban research in Russia and the UK, and innovations in philanthropy and leadership, the session will explore how these approaches can inform governance, community planning, investment, and civic action. Its purpose is not to advance a single doctrine, but to clarify the deeper roots of current dysfunction, make visible serious alternatives already being tested, and identify what cities, communities, funders, and leaders can do differently. At its core, the session calls for a shift from economy as extraction to economy as relationship, and from growth as an end in itself to wellbeing and regenerative capacity as the real measure of progress.
Expected Outcomes: Recommendations and tools for measuring genuine wealth and wellbeing within the natural ecosystemic constraints, practices of gift and shared economy, design of soulful livelihoods.
Speakers:
Mark Anielski A wellbeing economist and author of An Economy of Well-being, specializing in integrating happiness analytics into economic planning. He advises governments and Indigenous communities worldwide on building functional, culturally grounded economies of flourishing.
Wendy Ellyatt A futurist and originator of the Eco-Systemic Flourishing (ESF) Framework, which aligns economic systems with human potential and ecological health. She is a prominent voice in the global shift toward regenerative, whole-system strategies for policymakers and cities.
Tammy Naponse An Indigenous social worker and lands-based therapist from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, dedicated to cultural resurgence and community wellbeing. She integrates traditional knowledge with wilderness leadership to foster resilient connections between people and ecosystems.
Said Dawlabani A human development theorist and author of MEMEnomics, who applies evolutionary value systems to large-scale economic and civilisational challenges. His work on “Gaiametry” explores re-anchoring development in planetary viability and collective cognition.
Peter A. West A philanthropy practitioner pioneering participatory and relational models of giving that shift capital from transactional donations to civic participation. He focuses on the cultural transformation of wealth and the inner development of those who give.
Matt Goddart A social innovator and founder of Thirty Six Twenty Six, specializing in mobilization of capital and collective intelligence for social impact. His work through Philanthropy Hive explores relational, locally grounded approaches to conscious giving and community engagement.
