Supporting regional development for a regenerative future
Regenerative Leadership in Sweden: A Team-Wide Training Workshop
Intego delivered a 90-minute workshop to Bizmaker’s leadership team, a Swedish business innovation hub. Our training explored how shifting mindsets can spark regenerative, place-based change. We discussed the implications of this change for the organisation and the wider Västernorrland region to spark regenerative leadership in Sweden.
CLIENT: Bizmaker
INDUSTRY: Regional Development
LOCATION: Sweden
SERVICES: Capability building, education, and training on regenerative leadership
The Challenge: Addressing Knowledge Gaps in Regenerative Leadership in Sweden
Västernorrland County in Sweden is undergoing a regional transition: a window of opportunity is opening, creating space for new industries to emerge, innovate, and diversify the County’s current economic landscape.
Regional place leaders recognise the need for change, but are searching for answers on what that change is or what it looks like in practice. Some may even be cautious about its implications.
The Bizmaker team sees regenerative development as an opportunity to diversify its economy, build the region’s resilience, and support the design of innovative and responsible businesses.
Yet, given the nascent nature of regenerative development, a knowledge gap needed to be addressed. For this reason, the Bizmaker team reached out to us to deliver a workshop on regenerative leadership for their leadership team.
Key Deliverables
Throughout the 90-minutes workshop, our team delivered:
Tailored workshop design
A bespoke workshop designed specifically for BizMaker and Västernorrland, integrating place-based insights, strategic priorities and regeneration.
Impact Archetypes assessment
A customised scorecard to assess where BizMaker’s sits across Intego’s Impact Spectrum, revealing the mental models that dominate organisational thinking.
Interactive reflection exercises
Facilitated exercises designed to challenge assumptions, surface mental models, and stimulate dialogue about regenerative leadership.
Participant workbook
A structured workbook enabling participants to capture insights, reflections, and discussion outcomes during the workshop.
Workshop recording and learning resources
A post-workshop recording and supporting materials to enable continued reflection and internal discussion.
The Approach: Lighting the Spark
Bizmaker contacted our team after coming across our Director’s research on Inner Regenerative Development, published in Tourism Geographies.
We met with Bizmaker to further understand more about the challenges their place faces and their team shared they wanted to explore what the much needed ‘inner work’ that defines Inner Regenerative Development would look like for their organisation.
Our team proposed a few topics based on our Director’s doctoral research, including:
• From Capitalist to Regenerative Leader: What does the transition look like?
• Regenerative practice 101: What’s it all about?
• Barriers and drivers enabling or constraining a regenerative transition
Bizmaker chose to combine two topics: Regeneration 101 and a deeper discussion on transitioning from a capitalist to regenerative leader.
The Approach: Delivering the Workshop
Through our Learning Lab, we designed and facilitated a tailored workshop, polling the Bizmaker team to better understand what they were hoping to get from the workshop. This revealed four themes:
• Help us move beyond incremental change
• Build regenerative capability internally
• Create a safe, bold, exploratory space
• Help us articulate regenerative value to decision-makers
We then designed the workshop based on this feedback, combining scientific insights and research, practical frameworks, and interactive exercises. We also used Intego’s Impact Spectrum to explore five Impact Archetypes that represent mental models influencing our leadership. Together, we assessed where BizMaker sits, opening space, dialogue, and reflection on how the organisation can drive regenerative leadership in Sweden.
“The workshop gave us valuable insights into regenerative leadership and deepened our understanding of the difference between sustainability and regenerative development. Vanessa and Mark created a warm, engaging atmosphere that made it easy to participate and reflect on our different perspectives as a team.”
Josefin
Communications Manager, Bizmaker
The Result: Insights for Regenerative Leadership in Sweden
Overall, the workshop:
• Created a shared understanding among the BizMaker team, including its CEO, of the difference between sustainability and regenerative development
• Explored why this shift matters for place-based and regional innovation.
• Through the Impact Spectrum exercise, participants reflected on the mental models shaping BizMaker’s approach to supporting entrepreneurs.
• Identified opportunities to move toward more regenerative forms of value creation.
• Sparked open dialogue across the team about how BizMaker can strengthen its role in enabling businesses that operate within planetary boundaries while contributing positively to people and place.
• Opened the door for further collaboration to explore how regenerative principles could be integrated more deeply into BizMaker’s programs, incubation processes, and regional leadership role.
I would rate the workshop a 5/5. You explained regeneration in an easy way and with clear examples. It felt very relevant for us who are working with businesses. Great energy and felt very inspiring.
What I would say to another organisation considering working with Intego? Do it! Intego makes you understand why regeneration is important for businesses and why it is necessary for us to move past sustainability.