From Intention to Action: The Power of Being Witnessed

Regenerative Futures Lab Session 2 Recap (the fifth session from the Presencing Series)

May 21, 2026

Over 580 changemakers gathered for the second Regenerative Futures Lab—a working space where the community rolled up their sleeves to move ideas from aspiration into action.

"Today, we step deeper into practice," Martin Kalungu-Banda said in his opening. "From intention to urgency. From sensing to doing. From inner stirrings to outer action. This is the sacred labor of letting the future we long for begin to live through us, in small, brave, embodied acts."

What Is Prototyping?

Martin reminded the community: "Prototyping is an exploration of the possible future. Not through conversation, not just mere dialogue, but through experimentation."

He shared examples from Malawi and Namibia—large-scale challenges like perennial hunger and maternal mortality that were addressed through small, specific prototypes. $20 shared loans. Quick clinics closer to where women were. Two hours of radio programs about weather patterns.

But there were also personal prototypes. Leaders experimenting with listening. With slowing down. With leading through questions instead of instructions.

"There is the thing out there, but there is the second prototype all the time. Me. How I'm showing up, who I am becoming. Hence the listening, the slowing down, the leading with curiosity."

The Vertical Prototype Canvas

Eva Pomeroy introduced the vertical prototype canvas—both a framework for understanding how we move into action while remaining vertically connected to source, and a practical journaling tool.

She guided the community through eight questions:

What is the highest aspiration you are trying to bring into the world? Why does this matter? Where do you see the seeds of the future now? What could you do to explore the future by doing? What inner and outer holding spaces do you need to cultivate? Who is on your core team? What is the most important strategic action you need to take now?

The Prototype Clinic

The heart of the session was 45 minutes in breakout rooms of three, cycling through three rounds. Each person shared their idea or initiative for 6 minutes, then received feedback from two group members: What connected with you? What blind spots exist? And finally, a gesture expressing resonance with the case.

Eva emphasized: "This works regardless of where you are—holding an aspiration that hasn't yet taken shape, or iterating a full-fledged project. This session is designed to support you to move forward."

What Emerged

When the community returned, the reflections revealed something powerful:

John, new to presencing: "What resonated with me is just... there's so many people around the world that have these most amazing things that they want to bring into the world. To be able to be part of this tonight was just awe-inspiring."

Belén: "I was so nervous about my English and my prototype. The destiny of the universe put me with Graciela from Argentina too. In each case, the need to co-create in community—this is amazing and super powerful."

Sinem: "When we entered together, an image came—a blossoming head. We said, we are in different skies, but also under the same sky. What I touched again: the artist's part in us."

Martin responded: "It's like you were in our prep meeting when Otto said, 'There is also that part when you enter the space of openness and you have no clarity around what you are going to prototype, and then because of the quality of attention you bring to one another, then the real prototype shows up.'"

András: His group discovered they were all working with "exiles"—whether place-based or inner work. "We entered as three individuals, and then found this connecting thread that weaves us together. An exile, your inner exile, is on your blind spot. So it feeds into Theory U, where the blind spot, the inner work, is the pivotal point of change."

Tomasz: "In this crazy world, with all this news all the time, we create a space and connect with people who really want to bring meaningful change. It's always really amazing and reassuring to focus on this."

The Social Soil

Throughout the harvest, a theme emerged: the quality of listening. The social soil that was cultivated. The power of being witnessed.

580 people didn't just talk about their ideas. They practiced articulating them. They received feedback. They noticed blind spots. They felt the power of being seen by others who genuinely cared.

Some entered with clarity. Some with confusion. Some discovered their prototype in the quality of attention their group brought to one another.

"The world does not wait for our perfect plans," Martin had said. "It calls for our willing hands. Our trembling courage. And our quiet trust that something new wants to be born through us."

The seeds planted in the first RFL session have not slept. In this second session, they began to push through the soil.

The Regenerative Futures Lab and Presencing Series 2026 conclude on June 18th with the "Festival of Prototypes: Transforming Local and Global Systems." Applications for presenting prototypes are now open. Learn more at presencingseries.org.

Image by artist Jayce Pei Yu Lee