Ecosystem Thinking for Regenerative Transitions 5-Layer Framework
We’re living through a time of cascading transitions, in food, energy, climate, and work. These are not isolated challenges. They are entangled, accelerating, and deeply interdependent. And while our understanding of these transitions is growing, our strategies for navigating them are not keeping pace.
When it comes to building the ecosystems that support these transitions, most models still treat them like pipelines: fixed, staged, and isolated. But transitions don’t follow linear paths. They are messy, iterative, and relational.
That’s where ecosystem thinking makes the difference:
Turning loose ends into connection points. Turning scattered innovation into a system that actually works — and regenerates.
The DataScouts ecosystem framework offers five interconnected layers for designing and supporting thriving ecosystems. It’s not a step-by-step process, but a lens to help leaders, innovators, and institutions align their efforts and unlock collective capacity for change.
Example: Agri-food sector
Take the agrifood sector. Everyone agrees: the system needs to become more sustainable — even regenerative. But to do that, we need to see and measure impact from farm to fork.
Right now, the data exists — but it’s scattered.
We have sensors on farms tracking soil health and emissions. Satellites capture biodiversity loss. Synthetic models predict yield and climate resilience.
But the farmer still has to make sense of it all, upload it to a farm management platform, report it to their buyer, who passes it to retailers, who are supposed to translate it for the end consumer.
Meanwhile, on the policy and strategy side, smart people are designing frameworks to measure nature-positive practices, regenerative impact, and biodiversity value. Retailers are launching their own sustainability labels. Policymakers are writing regulations to drive better reporting.
It’s not that nothing is happening — it’s that everything is happening in silos.
Innovation is scattered. Funding is fragmented. And the system moves too slowly for good ideas to survive.
We’re not short on intelligence. We’re short on alignment.
>> Our tool in action – NatureTech Stakeholder landscape
Meanwhile, on the policy and strategy side, smart people are designing frameworks to measure nature-positive practices, regenerative impact, and biodiversity value. Retailers are launching their own sustainability labels. Policymakers are writing regulations to drive better reporting.
It’s not that nothing is happening — it’s that everything is happening in silos.
Innovation is scattered. Funding is fragmented. And the system moves too slowly for good ideas to survive.
We’re not short on intelligence. We’re short on alignment.
5-Layer Framework - Use case Wageningen Campus, NL
Layer 1: Physical Infrastructure Layer
What is built and how it enables interaction
- Shared spaces: co-working, labs, production zones, events
- Modular design: adaptable to different users and needs
- Smart systems: IoT, ESG tracking, access control
- Strategic location: mobility hubs, place-based value
A regenerative ecosystem needs a stage but it must invite connection, not isolation.
Example: Wageningen Campus with living labs, experimental farms, and innovation hubs
Layer 2: Service Infrastructure Layer
What is offered to activate participation and lower friction
- Facility services: cleaning, catering, logistics
- Innovation services: coaching, legal/IP, matchmaking
- Living services: childcare, food, wellness, transport
- Shared admin tools: procurement, HR, accounting
Services reduce friction. And friction kills collaboration.
Example: Unilever Cooking Lab providing prototyping, testing, and co-creation facilities for food innovation
Layer 3: Digital & Data Layer
The nervous system of the ecosystem
- Dashboards and digital twins for real-time insight
- Community platform: profiles, projects, talent
- API layer: integration with partners and services
- Consent-based data governance and protocols
A regenerative ecosystem must know itself and share that knowledge responsibly.
Example: Foodleap platform enabling data sharing, matchmaking, and ecosystem mapping for food innovators
Layer 4: Community & Governance Layer
How people relate, decide, and evolve together
- Participatory governance: coops, advisory boards
- Clear onboarding and community engagement rules
- Communities of practice and working groups
- Conflict resolution and values charters
Without trust, no ecosystem regenerates it fragments.
Example: FoodValley NL and StartLife organizing community engagement, startup support, and governance for ecosystem cohesion
Layer 5: Purpose & Value Creation Layer
The shared mission that aligns and inspires action
- Collective purpose: climate, inclusion, resilience
- Impact KPIs and real-time feedback loops
- Narrative: a shared story that attracts and binds
- Value distribution: reinvestment, equity, fair models
Regeneration becomes real when value flows both ways, from ecosystem to individual organisation and back.
Example: Shared mission to transition towards a more sustainable and healthy food system, supported by aligned incentives and impact monitoring
Want help designing your ecosystem?
We’d love to co-create it with you, whether you’re developing a cluster, leading a transition mission, or nurturing a new coalition.
Everything is connected
Use this framework to:
- Design or audit a regenerative innovation campus or cluster
- Align partners around shared responsibilities
- Identify missing enablers in your ecosystem
- Communicate clearly to funders, policymakers, and citizens
Regenerative ecosystems are not managed they are nurtured.
Why It Matters
If we want to build ecosystems that are truly regenerative, we must stop treating innovation as isolated projects or disconnected layers. We need to design for interdependence.
The Wageningen ecosystem shows us what’s possible: from physical labs to startup services, from digital infrastructure to strong governance, all aligned around a shared mission of healthier, more sustainable food. Yet even here, the real challenge lies in connecting the layers, making sure that infrastructure, services, data, people, and purpose reinforce one another.
This is where regenerative ecosystem design becomes not just a theory, but a practice. A practice rooted in system thinking, powered by shared intelligence, and guided by long-term value creation.
At DataScouts, we use this framework to help clusters, regions, and innovation networks take stock of what exists, what’s missing, and what needs to be connected. Because in the end, transitions doesn’t happen in silos.
