EP21: How Community Activism Can Inspire Regenerative Work
Today, I invite you to join me in exploring what community activism can teach us about regenerative work. Over the past couple of years, I’ve been part of a local campaign to save a group of mature trees in my small town. It’s been an experience filled with both grief and hope—and it’s taught me some unexpected lessons about what it means to work regeneratively.
Typically when we think about work, we focus on individual effort and outcomes. But what if work could also be about coming together, about collaboration and shared purpose? In this episode, I reflect on how our campaign, without formal structures or hierarchies, has thrived through self-motivation, intergenerational collaboration, and a deep connection to something bigger than ourselves.
I also share a mindset shift around the biggest challenge most of us face when pursuing regenerative work: making money. That's where so many of us get stuck. What if we redefined work not just as the thing that earns us money, but as any effort we put into making a positive impact? How might that open up new possibilities for how you engage with your community, nature, and your own sense of purpose?
If you’re feeling the weight of corporate influence or struggling to find meaning in your current career, I hope this episode inspires you to think differently about what work can be. Tune in, reflect on your own definition of work, and if you are interested in co-creating a Regenerative Worklife community, you can reach me at alisa@regenerativeworklife.com.
To find out more about our campaign to save the King George Oak Tree: https://www.change.org/p/save-wivenhoe-s-old-king-george-oak-tree
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Full Transcript
Alisa: “Hello and welcome back to the Regenerative Worklife podcast. Today I'm going to talk about a subject that is very live for me at the moment and very local to me. It's a campaign that I have been involved with for the last two or so years to try to prevent some very mature trees that are right in the middle of our town from being cut down.
And in the last couple of weeks, the campaign has really gained momentum. We're really very much up against it with time. In fact, as I record this, a fence has been put around the car park where the biggest of these trees is, and works are going to start in the next couple of days, unless the wonderful group of local people who are who are willing to do what it takes to stop this happening. And just in case anyone is tempted to mischaracterise that, I'm talking about the group of just the loveliest, gentlest people, many of them retired or approaching retirement, who are out there now in close to zero temperatures, just standing by the tree and making it clear that… they're not willing to let this happen on their watch.
And as we get to this point, I have really seen the truth once again, as I have several times in my life, that grief and hope are really two sides of the same coin. And I do feel quite a lot of grief around what has happened, and I'll go a little bit more into the story in a moment. And I know that a lot of people locally are really feeling that grief, if not despair and helplessness. There's a sense that something much bigger and more powerful than us is at play here and there's very little that we can do.
But for me personally, particularly in the last few weeks of the campaign, which have been extremely busy and have achieved an incredible amount, whatever the outcome in the next couple of days, there have been… a lot of reasons for hope and there have been a lot of lessons for me about what regenerative work can look like.
So that's what I want to focus on today, that's what I really want to share with you. Those of you who won't know my little town in the east of England, you know who may not feel immediately connected to the story of this campaign. Although as I say that, I think there are very few people listening who won't be upset by the prospect of mature, if not ancient trees being felled, perhaps unnecessarily and certainly without sufficient discussion about alternatives.
So let's go into the story a little bit. I'm not gonna go into too much detail. It's very complicated and… you know, it's taken me quite a long time to piece all of it together, but I suppose the top line is that it's quite clear that there is a pattern of insurers, of large insurers, bullying local councils into felling trees where there may well be other solutions.
And we've been in touch with several other campaigns around the country. We've seen stories of other councils that have been put in similar positions. And what it comes down to, as far as the limit of my understanding sees, is that it is much cheaper and more palatable for an insurance company to request that a council removes a tree, particularly when that tree is on council-owned land and is therefore their responsibility, then it is for an insurer to consider something like underpinning a property, which would provide a long-term solution and protect the life of the tree.
So what has happened in our case is that there are, we have recently learnt three or perhaps four trees that are close to a line of properties that are quite old properties and those properties back on to the railway line. And there are very serious problems of subsidence in those properties, which of course have to be dealt with and the needs of those property owners and residents need to be considered.
But I suppose, this certainly is relevant to my work and my themes, the extent of corporate power in this case has been quite astonishing and quite frightening. And the insurer, Aviva, has really been able to deal, to sort of, almost give a sentence, to deliver a sentence to say these trees must come down, a death sentence essentially to these trees, very much at arm's length. They have simply put a lot of pressure on the council to say that there's a balance of evidence, this is what needs to happen. Unfortunately in our case, I do believe that there are good people on that council, I don't believe anyone is taking this lightly, but they haven't chosen to come into consultation with the local community.
The pressure from this insurer now means that these trees, which people locally care very, very deeply about, that is absolutely abundantly clear. We're a small town, a population of around maximum 10,000. 3,000 people have signed a petition calling for alternatives to this felling. I've been at an event just on a Saturday that 200 people gathered in the neighbouring playground and in the car park to show their appreciation of these trees. And here we come into one of my reasons for hope, which it has personally given me so much hope to see how deeply people care about these trees and how wrong people find it that we would take the felling of trees that have taken, I don't know, 120, 150 years to grow, that they were there before the houses, the car park, the playground.
That a decision like that is being taken so lightly. People really feel that very deeply and that gives me hope because I believe that all of the change that we need to see will come from us remembering that we are nature and reconnecting to nature. And I see hope for that in what I've seen in our local community.
At the same time as I feel a sense of anger, suppose, powerlessness, deep sadness,in the way that corporates like these insurers operate. It's not just the decision that they're taking in this case, it's the whole way that they go about it. The fact that they have essentially forced our council into silence, that none of the evidence that they have is being shared with the public, that there is absolutely no community consultation. There is no discussion at this point of any possible other solutions or even, which I still don't consider a satisfactory response, but even any sense that something else will be done to compensate for this loss.
And all of these decisions are made on a spreadsheet and they're made ultimately for profit. And of course, this is why I know that so many of you are with me on this journey of wanting to distance ourselves as much as possible from corporate influence. And I believe that one of the ways that we can do that is by building and connecting with communities. I really believe that communities can be very, very powerful. In 2025, I want to put community at the heart of regenerative work life. That's a real commitment for me and really feels the right way to approach this mission, if you like, of helping people away from corporate influence and into work that brings them life and brings life to all those around them. And by those I mean human and non-human. And if that's something that interests you, I would love for you to get in touch with me directly. You can reach me at alisa@regenerativeworklife.com and I would love to share my early ideas with you and have you to be part of that community.
And what I've learned from connecting with my local community in a way that I haven't before, this is the most connected I've ever felt to the community here in Wivenhoe through doing this work and being part of this campaign, is how powerful it can be, how energized. And also I think some possibilities for what regenerative work can look like.
I believe that when we approach regenerative work, we're not just looking at a change of job. We're not even looking at necessarily something as simple as a change in career direction, because that doesn't look at the kind of underlying assumptions, ways of working as I discussed in the previous episode, episode 20, we have to look at how we approach work, not just what we do for our work.
And I think there's an awful lot of re-imagining that we can and should and must be doing around what work means for us personally and collectively. And I have had the privilege of being able to glean a few ideas about that from this campaign. So I'll come into sharing those now. What can we in regenerative work learn from local mobilised community campaigns.
So one of the first things that has really struck me is the sheer joy of intergenerational collaboration. I have absolutely loved working alongside retired people. There are two gentlemen in particular. I don't know their ages and I wouldn't presume, but you know, these are gentlemen who could very much be my grandfather. And I love that they, in this later period of their life, are choosing to get behind things that matter to them, that they are mobilised to do that, that they are active on our Facebook page, that they're inside of the WhatsApp group, that they're not allowing anything that could potentially intimidate them to not be a full and active part of this.
And it's been a joy to stand alongside them and to share our different perspectives and our different skill sets. And the fact that they're working alongside myself and other mothers of young children, for example, that's kind of been the makeup of our campaign.I really think that's such an important thing and it's really missing. If you look at the world of conventional work, you know, we reach a certain age and we're deemed to be reasonably useless to the workforce and we're sort of supposed to go off and, you know, rest and pursue harmless pastimes.
And I hope when I reach an age like, I don't think they would mind me saying their names like Terry and like Pip. I will be doing the same things. I will be standing out in the cold in a car park speaking to a tree protection officer and I will be writing emails to people that I've known for many, many years and ruffling feathers where I need to. That really gives me hope. And I think we need to remember how much we can learn from previous generations in the way that I know that these gentlemen and other people in the campaign are so willing to learn from the younger people in the campaign and how much we stand to gain from that intergenerational connection that isn't really a natural part of our culture. I'm speaking here of, you know, contemporary British culture. I don't feel like that is something that is hardwired into our culture and it's really been a real joy for me.
Another aspect is just how self… When a group is self-motivated, how self-organization really can work. I find this very interesting. You know, over the course of my previous time as an entrepreneur and founding and growing a company, I thought a lot about organizational structure and hierarchies, and I've played around with a lot of different variations on what that can look like. I've had to think a lot about how you empower people while still having, how everyone can have a voice whilst you still have an effective and productive team. And employee ownership, you may know that my previous business I sold to my team, so it's now employee owned, I think is an interesting variation on that.
But what I've seen with this community campaign that I really haven't experienced before is just actually how little need there is for a defined structure and certainly for a hierarchy, when people are really connected to the work that they're doing and when they're self-motivated, there is essentially zero structure inside our campaign. None of us have role titles. We have natural leaders, but not one single leader. And those leaders have come to the fore at different times throughout the campaign. And with what it's needed.
For example, there was someone very early on in the campaign who was very connected to the council and to, sort of just very connected locally and they were able to get this off the ground. I came in at a certain point when what the campaign needed was someone who could kind of be a spokesperson for the campaign and was happy to sort of speak on people's behalf and I did that for a while. And then the last few weeks there's another woman who has come in who has just been an incredible force of energy and she has a baby at home and a new job and she's just been absolutely tireless with the campaign. It's been quite phenomenal to see.
But I love how no one has said, no one is the boss. There is no boss in this campaign. And we've really all stepped up at different times when that has felt like that's what we're called for. And people are showing up to do what they are able to do. They're bringing their own skills to this in a very natural way that actually is not inefficient. I mean, I'm sure you could come in and look at this and say, of course you could streamline this and this could be more organized, but it's working. The amount that we have got done in the last couple of weeks is incredible. It's absolutely incredible. The amount of press that's been generated, the attention for the petition, the amount of administrative work that we've done in terms of applying for tree protections and contacting various stakeholders, phenomenal.
And all of this has happened without a boss, without defined roles, without any kind of hierarchy. And I'm not saying that all organizations need to adopt that, but I am really hopeful about the possibility of that. And I think we have an opportunity to think quite radically about what work organisation can look like in the future.
Another aspect of that, that brings this back to a more personal level and something that I think will resonate with a lot of people listening to this and something again I touched on in the previous episode, episode 20 about the how of truly sustainable work is the natural way in which people have found balance within this campaign and the relationship between balance and boundaries.
It has been really beautiful to see people quite clearly stating their boundaries. know, people have said, you know, I'm getting to a point of exhaustion, I need to not work on this for a day. Or people have said, I'm really happy to help behind the scenes, but I'm not able to be part of the group of protectors who are going to be, you know, right there at the scene of the tree and potentially taking the risk of, who knows, maybe arrest.
People have been quite clear where they are able to do that and where they're not. And I feel like people are very in touch with what they're able to bring and also very confident in articulating that. And then at the same time, the group has been extremely supportive of that. I think everyone has really recognized that that's a necessary part of mobilizing these kinds of campaigns.
And yet that's something that I think we still have so far to go on in terms of conventional work, setting our boundaries, finding balance. And this is true even for those of us like me who don't work within an organisational structure, who don't have a boss. When you take those steps to set out on your own path and you're taking any kind of entrepreneurial regenerative journey,
It is so important to prioritise balance and to be very clear with yourself about your own boundaries. And again, I love the way that this has really worked within the community and how others have stepped in. And I think the more that we can find our own communities, and this is something that I am really hopeful of doing within the regenerative work life community.
It's one of my motivators for bringing people together is when we are a team of one,or a team of just a few, we perhaps need those wider communities to be able to step in when we need some support or when we need to take a step back. And I don't know exactly how that will look within the regenerative work life community, but I'm really excited to find out. So once again, if that is something that you would love to be a part of, do send me an email and let's discuss ideas.
And the final point I wanted to share is about coming back to redefining what work means and what it is to have a job. I know that the underlying challenge for many of us who feel called to move our work in the direction of nature, climate and community is how we reconcile that with the need to financially support ourselves and our families. That will continue, I think, to be the biggest challenge that any of us face.
But I also want to offer you that we are not confined to understanding work as only the thing that makes us money. Our job, or even our business, does not only need to be the thing that pays the bills. Yes, there is a financial imperative. Most of us have to make money. Most of us have financial responsibilities.
But part of the problem is how stuck we get in that, in our thinking. What we do is we allow that financial imperative to overtake our whole understanding of work, of having a job, of having a business. But we do have other options. We can meet our financial needs and we can do work that brings us purpose, that has real impact.
And those two things do not have to be one of the same. I understand of course, that that is what many of us hope for and aspire to and are working towards. That the work that we feel really connected to is also the work that brings us that financial stability. But don't let that confine you to the point that you don't start exploring these possibilities.
You can do work that pays the bills and you can do work that really has a positive impact. And I have seen that within this campaign. No one who is part of this campaign is not doing meaningful, impactful work. Everyone who is part of it has a purpose driven job that makes a valuable contribution to those around them. And many of them have other jobs that pay their bills or have other sources of income that meet their financial needs.
Do you see? The two can be separate. And if finding something that does both of those for you is what is blocking you, is what is stopping you from moving forward, I invite you to separate them. Go back to my earlier episodes where I've directly addressed the money challenge. There are some really practical strategies in there. What I'm talking about here is the mindset. Don't let the need to make money from your work define what work can be.
Play around with that concept and with those ideas. Open yourself up to opportunities to get engaged with meaningful work, whether or not it has any financial reward. Find ways to do that, even if it's an hour or two of your time. Take those opportunities that present themselves to do the kind of work that you are really pulled to do. Take them just as seriously as the work that brings you money. Begin to shift how we define work.
There's a final thing that I want to say that perhaps flies above the remit of my work and my podcast, but it's something that I, it's almost a half formed idea at the back of my head. And I want to express it even if I do so clumsily. Because one of the things that I have been left with through this campaign is the total lack of voice for nature in this conversation. These trees, that as I speak are having fences put around them, have had no voice whatsoever in this whole process.
No one has considered these trees as living beings with any kind of rights or with any kind of spirit. I say no one, that's not true. None of the decision makers have considered them in those ways. In fact, the law, interestingly, I speaking to the very lovely tree protection officer who explained that the law, which was written in 1990, I believe. He is only allowed to protect trees that are clearly visible to the public because it's still considered that trees that are out of sight of the public are not worth protecting. Just think about that for a moment. The tree has not entered the conversation. The community, I believe, are doing their best to be the voice of the tree. And even there I don't believe anyone, myself included, has stopped to really listen to what the trees want to say to us.
And I know that may stretch beyond a concept that feels tangible to you. I invite you just to come with me for a moment. I want to imagine what those trees may have to say. And I believe that it may be far more profound than any of us, even the wonderful and passionate members of this community are imagining. I saw a quote recently that I haven't been able to find. I believe it may have come from the wonderful Ryan James. It was to the effect that nature isn't asking us to save it, nature is asking us to remember who we are.
I believe, and I need to take more time to listen while there is still a chance, but I believe that these trees are asking us to remember who we are, to remember what matters. And whatever happens in the next few days, that is the call that I believe we all need to respond to in this community and all of us in this wider community need to respond to. Nature is asking us to remember who we are. And in some ways it is relatively easy to pour our energy into a campaign to save a tree where things feel so immediate and so tangible and it is wonderful that people are willing to do that. But there is inner work to be done.
There is a deeper work that goes beyond any single tree for us all to come back to who we are, to build that unbreakable connection. And here I reach the limit of what I can say about this right now. But it's a thought and a feeling that I will continue to explore and to share with you as best as I can.
So thank you for listening to this slightly different podcast. I don't know what will happen. I do know that there are many reasons to be hopeful. And I hope that something that I've shared today sparks something in you so that all of this energy that has been poured into this campaign, all of the energy that is stored in those magnificent trees, will somehow ripple out into the wider community and beyond you and to all of those in your communities.
Thank you as always for choosing to spend time with me and I'll see you here next week for another episode.”
