What If We Started With Potential, Not Problems? A Conversation with Charles van de Kerkhof

Charles uses the metaphor of animal tracking—where many different paths lead to the same animal, and complexity increases the more you zoom out—to describe the intricate work of regenerative entrepreneurship education. Inspired by witnessing value-based entrepreneurship in Africa, where money wasn't the first priority, Charles challenges the mechanistic worldview dominant in the West and instead emphasizes living systems thinking and interconnectedness. "Regeneration is about finding your potential after unpacking the complexity of entrepreneurship and understanding the world's problems," Charles explains. In this episode, we explore why regeneration means going outside, why having the same vocabulary is essential before we can move forward together, and why Charles believes that entrepreneurship—with an entrepreneurial, critical, and regenerative mindset—is the tool to put a paradigm shift into action. Change means taking risks, being curious, and staying uncomfortable.Key themes: Living systems thinking, complexity, ecological literacy, going outside, paradigm shift, value-based work