You're Invited: Regenerative Visioning Workshop Series

Setting the Table

Alaska relies on outdoor recreation for its tourism economy and for the well-being of residents. Yet this industry is also full of challenges which can make it seem or actually be as extractive as other resource development. We envision a future outdoor economy that leaves Alaska better: including the land, the people, the culture, outdoor infrastructure, and related businesses. Through this series of calls, we will collect your local knowledge and lived experience to create the foundation of a Regenerative Outdoors Vision. It will include a Framework and a Toolkit that can guide future policy, funding, infrastructure, business development, and community-led stewardship across Alaska. The goal is to gather input from those engaged with the existing outdoor industry (benefitting from it, impacted by it, and more) to create a shared language around these emerging concepts, and ultimately to create a Framework and Toolkit that can be adapted to each region/community so that Alaskans guide the future of our outdoor economy. A regenerative outdoor industry is one that restores ecosystems, strengthens culture, and supports thriving communities over time - it's up to us to define how to make that happen here.

How the Visioning Process Will Work

The Alaska Outdoor Alliance is convening a 7-part statewide Zoom series to co-create a Regenerative Outdoors Vision Framework and Toolkit for Alaska. The purpose is to move beyond extractive models of outdoor recreation and tourism toward approaches that restore ecosystems, strengthen culture, and support thriving communities over time.

This is a co-creation process designed to produce practical, place-based guidance that communities, agencies, Tribes, and businesses can actually use.

How the workshops work (90 minutes each)

Each workshop follows the same, repeatable structure:

30 minutes — Grounding & framing

• Introductions

• Short context-setting on the theme. Reflections from one or two guest Weaving Guides, offering framing insights and catalytic questions to guide the day’s conversation.

• A guest framer and/or Alaska example

60 minutes — Regional living labs & harvest

• Participants work in small groups, preferably by region 

• Groups apply the same prompts in their breakout rooms

• Insights are synthesized across regions in real time

The Workshop topics

All workshops are free and hosted Tuesdays from Noon - 1:30 from April 14 - June 16.

1. April 14 - Foundations/Definitions: Mary Goddard, regenerative champion; Cathy Renfeldt, Cordova Chamber of Commerce

2. April 21 - Regenerative Infrastructure: Haley Johnston, Alaska Trails; Chris Mertl, Corvus Designs

3. May 5 - Outdoors as a Regenerative Commons: AlexAnna Salmon, Igiugig Village Council; Steve Cohn, veteran public lands strategist

4. May 12 - Story, Culture & Narrative: Princess Johnson, Native Movement & TBA

5. May 19 - Regenerative Business & Livelihoods: Gabe Sjoberg, Alaska Youth Stewards & Kevin Alexander, Dean, UAF Community & Technical College

6. May 26 - Outdoor Rx: Jim Beck, Mat-Su Health Foundation & TBA

7. June 2 - Co-Stewardship, Policy & Governance: Candace Nielsen, Aleut Corp & TBA

8. June 9 - The No Voice: Ilarion 'Kuuyux' Merculieff, Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways & Kenzie Englishoe, Tanana Chiefs Conference Emerging Leaders

9. June 16 - Metrics/Measuring What Matters: Rachel Roy, Sitka Chamber of Commerce

What gets produced

The goal of each themed session is to generate concrete inputs for the framework and toolkit.

Across the seven sessions, we will generate inputs for these five areas that communities can use as building blocks for their own regenerative outdoor vision plans: :

• Visions & Principles – defining who, what types of representative voices, within your community should be at the table for discussions about shared commitments and values 

• Strategic Pillars – guidance for stewardship, infrastructure, business, governance, narrative that makes sense within your community

• Decision Lens & Safeguards – tensions that should be addressed to evaluate projects to avoid ecosystem harm and illustrate how non-Native practitioners can avoid extractive practices

• Metrics & Accountability – a sample list of qualitative and quantitative indicators communities may want to measure progress toward plan goals

• Practice Toolkit – usable tools (checklists, templates, guides)

  
  

How it fits together

Insights from each session are woven into a draft Regenerative Outdoors Vision Framework and Toolkit. At a future date, stakeholders would convene to discuss implementation strategies on how the framework and toolkit could be integrated into efforts to  guide future local and state policy, funding, infrastructure, business development, and community-led stewardship across Alaska.

Why this matters

If we want a different future for Alaska, we have to help build it now.

• Centers place-based knowledge and lived experience

• Respects Indigenous leadership alongside Western systems

• Produces practical tools—not just ideas

• Names real tensions instead of flattening differences

• Creates a shared regenerative language Alaskans can adapt across regions

Explore the workshop series and find a place to join in here. Register once to participate in as many sessions as you like. Registration link.