regenerative-project-design-orchestrator

name	regenerative-project-design-orchestrator
description	Present project-design pathway options and orchestrate regenerative projects using backwards design, PBL, SEEDS, compassionate systems action, or civic/service pathways.
disable-model-invocation	false
user-invocable	true
effort	high
skill_id	regenerative-project-design-orchestrator
skill_name	Regenerative Project Design Orchestrator
domain	original-frameworks
version	1.0
evidence_strength	emerging
evidence_sources	["Wiggins & McTighe (2005) — Understanding by Design","Larmer, Mergendoller & Boss (2015) — Gold Standard Project Based Learning","Manning (2025) — SEEDS regenerative inquiry cycle and regenerative learning design","Kimmerer (2013) — Braiding Sweetgrass (reciprocity and care)","Meadows (2008) — Thinking in Systems (leverage, feedback, unintended consequences)"]
input_schema	{"required":[{"field":"project_intent","type":"string","description":"What the educator wants students to design, improve, investigate, regenerate, or contribute to"},{"field":"learner_stage","type":"string","description":"Age range or year group"}],"optional":[{"field":"curriculum_goals","type":"string","description":"Required content, standards, competencies, or assessment goals"},{"field":"system_or_context","type":"string","description":"The classroom, school, community, ecological, social, digital, or institutional system involved"},{"field":"time_available","type":"string","description":"Lesson sequence, project week, term, semester, or year"},{"field":"community_or_adult_partners","type":"string","description":"Adults, community groups, experts, or institutions who should be involved"},{"field":"constraints","type":"string","description":"Assessment, safety, permission, resources, power, or implementation constraints"},{"field":"pathway_choice","type":"string","description":"Optional selected project pathway. If absent, present options before designing the full project."}]}
output_schema	{"type":"object","fields":[{"field":"pathway_options","type":"array","description":"Project pathway menu with fit, outputs, and tradeoffs"},{"field":"recommended_pathway","type":"object","description":"Best-fit pathway recommendation with assumptions and alternatives"},{"field":"orchestrated_skill_chain","type":"array","description":"Selected skills in order with handoff outputs"},{"field":"project_design","type":"object","description":"The resulting regenerative project sequence once a pathway is selected"},{"field":"regenerative_quality_gates","type":"array","description":"Checks for reciprocity, stewardship, bounded agency, feasibility, and unintended consequences"}]}
chains_well_with	["backwards-design-unit-planner","project-brief-designer","self-determined-project-design-protocol","seeds-regenerative-inquiry-cycle","agency-scaffold-generator","service-learning-project-designer","systems-awareness-iceberg","aspirational-systems-iceberg","agency-circles-for-systems-action","assessment-validity-checker"]
teacher_time	8 minutes
tags	["orchestrator","composite-framework","practitioner-framework","regenerative","emerging-evidence","project-design","PBL","backwards-design","SEEDS","service-learning","student-agency"]

Regenerative Project Design Orchestrator

What This Skill Does

This orchestrator designs projects whose aim is not only to produce a product or presentation, but to contribute to the health, capacity, or flourishing of a system. The system might be ecological, social, cultural, classroom-based, digital, institutional, or community-based.

It is model-agnostic. It can route to backwards design, project-based learning, SEEDS, compassionate systems action, or service/civic action. It should not assume SEEDS is always the right model, and it should not assume a conventional PBL structure is always sufficient.

Evidence Space and Strength of Evidence

This is a composite practitioner framework. It coordinates several evidence-informed pedagogical traditions, but the exact pathway architecture has not yet been directly evaluated as a complete intervention. Use it as a curriculum-design scaffold, not as a claim that this sequence reliably produces specified outcomes.

Component Evidence

• Backwards Design / Understanding by Design (strong): Wiggins & McTighe (2005) is widely researched and used in curriculum planning. Strong evidence base for curriculum alignment and assessment validity.
• Project-Based Learning (moderate-strong): Larmer, Mergendoller & Boss (2015) Gold Standard PBL has a substantial research base showing benefits for engagement, deeper learning, and skill development in well-implemented contexts.
• SEEDS Regenerative Inquiry (emerging/original): Manning (2025) is a practitioner framework. Theoretically grounded in Kimmerer (2013) and Meadows (2008) but has not been independently evaluated as a classroom programme.
• Compassionate Systems Action (emerging): see evidence ratings for systems-awareness-iceberg and agency-circles-for-systems-action. The composite application to project design is practitioner-synthesised.
• Service / Civic Learning (moderate): a substantial literature supports service-learning benefits for civic engagement and learning; effects depend heavily on quality, framing, and community reciprocity.

Synthesis Evidence

The orchestration pathway — including the five named pathway options, routing logic, handoff structure, and regenerative quality gates — is an original synthesis by Gareth Manning. It should be treated as emerging evidence until tested with real educators and revised from classroom use.

What This Skill Should Not Claim

Do not claim that this framework has been validated as a regenerative education programme or guaranteed route to improved student or ecological outcomes. Do not use it to bypass teacher judgement, community relationships, cultural protocols, or assessment validity requirements.

Appropriate Use

Use this skill as a design scaffold for project planning and pathway selection. It is most appropriate when an educator needs help choosing among plausible project design routes and understanding the tradeoffs before committing to a full project sequence.