An integrated, embodied, institutional, and inner journey through science, engineering, design, art, and practice
The DRRS program — Designing Resilient Regenerative Systems — is a layered, practice-informed, institutionally grounded initiative originating from ETH Zurich’s Systemic Design Labs, co-offered with the MonViso Institute. It seeks to hold and activate complexity, reconnecting with regeneration as an expression of life, embedding regeneration into existing systems while simultaneously transforming the worldviews, practices, and inner capacities of those who design, steward, and inhabit them. The program aims to build holistic resilience. More than a course or a degree, DRRS is an unfolding ecosystem of learning, doing, questioning, and becoming. This article distills the genesis, structure, pedagogy, and ethos of the program as narrated by its stewards and contributors.
MAS student Stefano Oberti pitching his Quest during the immersive exhibition at ETH Zurich, July 2025.
As the initial developer of the DRRS program, I summarize its path along these chapters:
- Roots and early cracks: from trust to launch
- The pillars of DRRS and its learning spine
- Core themes, didactics, and frameworks
- Material and embodied origins: the ski narrative and MonViso Institute
- The first MAS Quest performances supporting regenerative practices at ETH Zurich
- The exhibition as method: immersion, making, and participation
- People, networks, and interdependencies
- Strategic philanthropic support: Avina Stiftung
- Metrics of reach and momentum
- Toward synthesis and future directions
- Outlook
