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Educational Leadership: Enabling Positive Planetary Action Through Regenerative Practices and Complexity Leadership Theory

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  • Marie Beresford-Dey

    (Social Science & Law, School of Humanities, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, UK)

Abstract

Uniquely rooted in regenerative leadership and complemented by Complexity Leadership Theory (CLT), this conceptual essay offers a theoretical exploration of how educational institutions can act as dynamic systems that catalyze adaptive, community-led responses to anthropocentric socio-environmental crises. Rather than sustaining existing structures, educational leadership for regeneration seeks to restore ecological balance and nurture emergent capacities for long-term resilience. Positioned as key sites of influence, educational institutions are explored as engines of innovation capable of mobilizing students, educators, and communities toward collective environmental action. CLT offers a valuable lens for understanding how leadership emerges from nonlinear, adaptive processes within schools, enabling the development of innovative, collaborative, and responsive strategies required for navigating complexity and leading planetary-positive change. Drawing on a synthesis of the recent global literature, this paper begins by outlining the need to go beyond sustainability in envisioning regenerative futures, followed by an introduction to regenerative principles. It then examines the current and evolving role of educational leadership, the relevance in enabling whole-institution transformation, and how this relates to regenerative practices. The theoretical frameworks of systems thinking and CLT are introduced before noting their application within regenerative educational leadership. The final sections identify implementation challenges and offer practical recommendations, including curriculum innovation, professional development, and youth-led advocacy, before concluding with a call for education as a vehicle for cultivating planetary-conscious citizens and systemic change. This work contributes a timely and theoretically grounded model for reimagining educational leadership in an era of global turbulence.

Suggested Citation

  • Marie Beresford-Dey, 2025. "Educational Leadership: Enabling Positive Planetary Action Through Regenerative Practices and Complexity Leadership Theory," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-17, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jchals:v:16:y:2025:i:3:p:32-:d:1701985
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gasparatos, Alexandros & El-Haram, Mohamed & Horner, Malcolm, 2009. "The argument against a reductionist approach for measuring sustainable development performance and the need for methodological pluralism," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 245-256.
    2. Giulia Sonetti & Martin Brown & Emanuele Naboni, 2019. "About the Triggering of UN Sustainable Development Goals and Regenerative Sustainability in Higher Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, January.
    3. Alexandros Gasparatos & Mohamed El-Haram & Malcolm Horner, 2009. "The argument against a reductionist approach for measuring sustainable development performance and the need for methodological pluralism," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 245-256, September.
    4. Leah V. Gibbons, 2020. "Regenerative—The New Sustainable?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-18, July.
    5. Brian Pompeii & Yi-Wen Chiu & Dawn Neill & David Braun & Gregg Fiegel & Rebekah Oulton & Joseph Ragsdale & Kylee Singh, 2019. "Identifying and Overcoming Barriers to Integrating Sustainability across the Curriculum at a Teaching-Oriented University," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-17, May.
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