Regeneration, sufficiency and degrowth: an integrative review of organising in a strong sustainability era

Abstract Given the transgression of planetary boundaries, ever-rising resource consumption and failure to provide social foundations globally, the call for alternative organising is louder than ever. The sustainable production field must engage with strong sustainability scholarship, that focuses on systemic change. Here, emerging approaches like degrowth, sufficiency and regenerative organising, informed by systems thinking, ecological economics and indigenous knowledges, have surfaced. However, we observe varying interpretations of the concepts (e.g. in some cases used interchangeably while in others juxtaposed) and there has been no comprehensive analysis of their commonalities, divergences and potential tensions. Therefore, we examine the following question: How may degrowth, sufficiency and regeneration, three concepts in strongly sustainable organising, be integrated? We present an integrative review of 78 articles, focused on the organization-level, based on (1) Definitions, (2) Identified problem, (3) Principles, (4) Agents of change, and (5) Trade-offs. Our study reveals that the concepts share many commonalities, but whereas sufficiency and degrowth portray a capitalist critique and limits discourse, regeneration appears less unified. Further, we identify three tensions: Firstly, the use of research perspectives which do not match with strong sustainability (and corresponding risks of conceptual flexibility). Secondly, differentiated importance attributed to profit and ownership. Thirdly, the tension between ideal-type concepts and the broader economic context, which encompasses strategic considerations. We conclude that although the three concepts share a common foundation in strong sustainability, their divergent practical application precludes integration. Finally, we propose a future research agenda related to the identified tensions, to inspire careful cross-fertilization among strong sustainability researchers.