🍃Redesign the system, don’t just fix problems.

Did you know?

The Loess Plateau was once written off. Barren hills stretched for miles, the air thick with dust, and the soil so degraded it blew across cities like Beijing. It was even called the most eroded place on Earth.

But in 1999, a radical shift began.

Instead of fighting symptoms, dust, floods, poor harvests, China decided to rethink the whole system.

They didn’t just plant a few trees.

They restructured how the land was used:

→ Forests returned to steep hills.
→ Farming moved to stable, flatter ground.
→ Terraces and sustainable forestry replaced erosion prone methods.

In less than a decade, the transformation was visible from space.

Erosion dropped. Incomes rose. Biodiversity flourished.

It didn’t happen because they managed the problem harder.

It happened because they stopped managing and started redesigning.

That’s the mindset shift we need in sustainability today.

The big idea: 

That’s the exact mindset I talk about in the video below.

Filmed at the Roskilde Festival’s Circular Lab, it’s a reminder that the future won’t be built by repeating what didn’t work.

Progress starts with sharper questions and small experiments that help you build credibility, fast.

The organisations moving forward aren’t pitching harder.

They’re prototyping smarter.

Click here to watch the video.

📌Weekly reflection:

Where in your organisation are you stuck managing symptoms?

What would a redesign look like instead?

If that’s a conversation you want to have, let’s talk.

I’ve opened a few call slots for sustainability leaders ready to stop reacting and start rebuilding.

Just reply and tell me:

👉What’s one outcome you’d love to speed up?

I’ll read every message.

If I can help, I’ll respond personally.

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Best,
Jasper