Reimagining Nature Finance at Wytham Woods
Later this week a remarkable group will gather in Wytham Woods, the ancient woodland on the edge of Oxford. The gathering forms part of the CBA Fellowship on Reimagining Nature Finance, and is hosted in partnership with the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery at the University of Oxford.
The studio has been co-designed by Ostara and Kate Raworth, whose thinking on Doughnut Economics continues to inspire new ways of shaping finance in service to life. The CBA is proud to support this experimental convening, recognising the urgent need to reimagine financial systems so they can help restore balance with the living world.
For three days participants will camp together in the woods, stepping away from the pace of daily work to create the conditions for deeper imagination. The aim is to explore the edges of the current system: how far can we push existing finance to serve life, and what models and tools can be trialled within it to unlock transformation. At the same time, we will look for emergent approaches that sit outside today’s system but may hold the potential to scale and shift the field of nature finance altogether.
The design of the studio is intentionally immersive. Time in nature, shared meals, and space for reflection will balance structured sessions on key themes. The hope is to create an environment where new ideas can be tested, trusted relationships can form, and bold possibilities can surface.
This work builds on the CBA Fellowship’s commitment to finding new pathways and partnerships for aligning finance with the living world. At the end of September, we will be publishing a long-form essay, Designing for Life: Reimagining Nature Finance, offering a wider audience the chance to engage with the ideas discussed at this unique gathering.
We look forward to sharing reflections as the seeds planted in the woods begin to grow.
Photo: Wolfgang Hasselmann, Unsplash
Justin Adams is the CBA Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Fellow for Reimagining Nature Finance and Inclusive Capitalism. Read more
