Gen_We
Regenerative
Marine Stewardship
GEN_we | Bridging Purpose and Planetary Need
Dive Deeper
Listening to the extended Podcast you will grasp the several nuances taken to shape Gen_WE Regenerative Tourism.
December 2025 - present · Berlin, Germany
There is a quiet crisis unfolding alongside the climate emergency: a profound sense of disconnection. A gap between the desire to act meaningfully and the tools to do so. Gen_we is a regenerative tourism platform designed to be that bridge, aligning individual agency with the urgent restoration of our oceans.
The project synthesises my three years of experience as a Product Design Lead at SAP, where I collaborated with experts to architect enterprise carbon-calculation and ESG goals management systems. While addressing company needs, I recognised that individuals also crave a sense of purpose, an insight that fundamentally shaped my product strategy. It is an invitation to rethink our collective purpose and accelerate the the 30x30 goal.
Listen to the main insights, assumptions and directions taken during this journey:
Idea 1 of our Resilient Inventory of 10 approaches to solve this complex and urgent Problem
-
The project is fundamentally grounded in Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics, which proposes a 21st-century economic compass to navigate humanity into a "safe and just space". This framework posits that economic design must meet the social foundation of human rights while remaining within planetary boundaries. The project adopts Raworth’s principles of being "distributive and regenerative by design", moving away from a fixation on GDP growth toward an economy that promotes human prosperity and ecological restoration. This approach views economics not as a discovery of laws, but as an intentional design decision to restore humans as full participants in Earth’s cyclical processes.
-
To address the "intention-action gap" in environmental engagement, the project integrates Stephen Wendel’s Designing for Behavior Change. A central component is the CREATE Action Funnel, which maps the five stages of potential action: Cue, Reaction, Evaluation, Ability, and Timing. The strategy specifically employs the "Cheat" strategy (Ability), which focuses on shifting the burden of work and logistics from the user (the NGO or volunteer) to the product. Furthermore, the project draws on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and the functional approach to motivation, ensuring that the experience satisfies the psychological needs for Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness to foster a long-term "role-person merger" between the traveler and the conservation mission.
-
The environmental urgency is defined by the World Economic Forum’s 30x30 Ocean Action Plan and findings from David Attenborough’s Ocean documentary. These sources highlight that while oceans provide over 50% of the oxygen we breathe, less than 3% of the global ocean is currently highly protected. The platform acts as a mechanism to support the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s target to effectively conserve 30% of marine areas by 2030. The research also incorporates the Ocean Defenders Project, which emphasises the necessity of supporting local collectives and community-led Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to ensure equitable and durable conservation outcomes.
-
To achieve professional scalability, this project applies the principles of Blended Finance for Climate-Smart Systems. This involves using concessional capital (grants or philanthropic funds) to de-risk investments in the "missing middle", opportunities with high social impact but sub-commercial returns, consequently unlocking private investment. The project integrates a "Robin Hood" model, framed as Distributive by Design, where higher-tier contributors or corporate ESG funds provide "Impact Scholarships" to maintain a diverse community. This ensures the model remains resilient across the financial return continuum, from philanthropic cost-coverage to market-validated returns.
-
The operational roadmap is built on a Strategic Trade-off Mind Map, choosing Depth and Trust over mass-market scale to protect conservation integrity. Market analysis from Dataintelo and Grand View Research confirms a robust trajectory for the regenerative tourism sector, valued at USD 185.2 billion in 2024 and growing at a CAGR of 12.4%. The project employs Agile methodology, prioritising manual "Discovery Sprints" and "fake the platform" testing to validate behavioural metrics before technical development.
Refined during the d.MBA, Gen_we integrates AI-driven business practices with Doughnut Economics to move beyond traditional sustainability. To build this foundation, I synthesized research across five distinct pillars (detailed below), drawing from 49 diverse sources.
My framework bridges Kate Raworth’s economic theories with Stephen Wendel’s strategies for behavioral change and the UN 30x30 Ocean Treaty. While David Attenborough’s ocean documentaries provided the initial spark, ongoing dialogue with business mentors and industry experts continues to shape the project’s evolution. Ultimately, this page is an invitation to ignite a global chain of collaboration.
The following key figures convinced me that we can (and must) disrupt the status quo for the better:
The Foundation
The Gen_WE Regenerative Tourism concept is built upon an interdisciplinary literature review from macro-economic theory, behavioural science, marine conservation policy, and strategic business frameworks. This academic summary categorises 50 primary sources into five core pillars that inform the platform’s strategic architecture.
-
Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate Raworth (2017).
ECONOMIC MAN vs HUMANITY Lyrics: A Puppet Rap Battle by Kate Raworth.
A Healthy Economy Should Be Designed to Thrive, Not Grow by Kate Raworth.
Transitioning to the safe and just space inside 'the doughnut' from Wageningen University.
-
Designing for Behavior Change: Applying Psychology and Behavioral Economics by Stephen Wendel (2nd Edition).
Crowding effects on intrinsic motivation by Bruno Frey.
CESifo Working Paper Series: Motivation Crowding by Frey and Jegen.
Payments for environmental services and motivation crowding: towards a conceptual framework.
Understanding Motivations to Volunteer by Dr Arthur Stukas and Sarah Wilson.
Exploring the co-benefits of environmental volunteering for human and planetary health promotion from PubMed.
Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal.
Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Thaler and Sunstein.
-
WEF 30x30 Ocean Action Plan 2025 from World Economic Forum.
"Ocean with David Attenborough" documentary insights.
Ocean Defenders: Protectors of our ocean environment and human rights from The Ocean Defenders Project.
Digital Transformation is Revolutionizing Marine Conservation from Marine Biodiversity Science Center.
LIFE Programme: European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment.
The Nature Conservancy—Techstars Sustainability Accelerator.
With Every Breath You Take, Thank the Ocean from Smithsonian Ocean.
Research Notes: Brazil-based MPAs and the 2019 Oil Spill Mobilisation.
-
Refreshing my knowledge on Business best practices, in times where AI adoption is prescribed as a formula for success, made me once again experience how strong is the impact of human connection. Collaboration with my peers impacted my learnings to stick, and gain nuances. How stories stay when a peer adds a fun anecdote or a new angle to a debate, that you realise you would hardly take. The highlight to me on initiating this project was that designers are empathetic and curious (equals to less pejorative judgements). That I think, stood out as an experience I would have had differently on a traditional MBA (not focused on makers / designers).
Part of my experimentation was to test how Gen-AI tools could speed-up parts of that workload, e.g. synthesise a large number of sources explored during my cohort., craft compelling images, infographics and podcasts, I’d take 5 x longer to achieve and I had not the resources available to hire collaborators at this early stage. The slide deck and podcast were also result of my experimentation with Obsidian and NotebookLM. Please note that all resulting materials were curated and fine-tuned by me. In average 10 versions were needed to reach the expected results and highlight the points I felt were the most urgent to get my idea across. Many can say using AI contradicts the project itself, yet I’d say ensuring new technologies like AI to speed-up solutions for urgent causes, that have little investment, is not only a valid but needed approach. Yet, how we decide when, how often and why we use energy demanding technologies is a question I’ll keep raising and learning with along the way.
Conclusion
The convergence of these five pillars (Doughnut Economics, behavioural design, marine policy, blended finance, and strategic business frameworks) is not coincidental. It reflects a deliberate choice to build something that can withstand scrutiny at every level: scientific, financial, and human. What emerges is not a tourism product with a sustainability badge, but a regenerative infrastructure designed to endure. One that earns trust through rigour, scales through community, and measures success not in bookings, but in ocean restored.
Sources
Does this mission resonate with you?
More details can be found via the pitch deck below, on how I shaped this concept using Lean and Agile best practices, how I applied the CREATE funnel, the Doughnuts Economics premises, and the 10 ideas inventory with its respective kill criteria.
The project is young but shows a lot of potential. Ongoing dialogue and feedback from business mentors and industry experts remain vital to the project's evolution. Ultimately, this page serves to raise awareness and ignite a global chain of collaboration. Let’s connect and exchange perspectives.
Initial Trade-Off Matrix
Next Steps
Run workshops with experts to enrich and validate initial assumptions;
Interview leaders in the field to estimate cost projections;
Test the 10 solutions inventory;
Test the concept with a small group of travellers and reshape the Trade-Off and CREATE funnel.