At Unity Effect, we’re seeing signals of regeneration everywhere: in how teams collaborate, how departments self-organise, and how courageous leaders choose learning over control. Real change is happening–transforming not only outcomes, but entire systems.
Yet outdated measurement and evaluation often miss these signals. They capture what’s easy to count, not what truly matters, missing the nuanced, relational changes that signal real transformation. If you've ever felt like your most meaningful work goes unnoticed, or that evaluation feels like a tick-box exercise disconnected from your actual impact, you're not alone.
This disconnect led us on a journey to reimagine evaluation entirely. In this article, we'll share what we discovered and how it became Regenerative Signal: a learning journey that's helping organisations bridge the gap between the change they create and the impact they can measure and communicate.
Regenerative Signal is a learning journey to embody a relational, life-centred approach to evaluation that helps you measure what matters and turn evaluation into a living learning practice. It combines live sessions with permanent access to resources, self-directed learning components, and concrete tools for putting theory into practice.
Before diving into solutions, let's explore why conventional approaches often fail to capture regenerative work. Traditional evaluation emerged from industrial thinking: linear, mechanistic, focused on inputs and outputs rather than the living systems where real change occurs. It treats organisations like machines rather than ecosystems, missing the emergent properties and relational dynamics that define truly transformative work.
We realised that if regenerative organisations are pioneering new ways of being and working, they need evaluation approaches that match their values and complexity. This insight sparked the development of what would become our core methodology, the Impact Garden, which is at the heart of the Regenerative Signal.
Regenerative Signal began as our response to this challenge, a learning journey that transforms evaluation from a burden into a living practice of insight and growth. It guides you through a structured yet flexible approach to impact measurement, breaking down what can often feel overwhelming into manageable, meaningful steps. The journey is designed to build your confidence and capability in measuring what matters most.
The interactive journey unfolds through three core phases:
At the heart of the journey is the Impact Garden, our open-source, adaptable framework refined through extensive practice. It’s already been:
The Impact Garden highlights the cyclical nature of real change, rarely linear, always evolving. It helps you nurture supportive conditions (the soil), design learning loops (the irrigation system), and stay curious about outcomes and systemic shifts as they unfold.
Of course, transforming how you think about evaluation requires more than just new frameworks; it needs the right conditions for learning and growth. That's why we've designed a comprehensive ecosystem that supports however you learn best and wherever you are in your journey. By combining meaningful live interaction with permanent access to resources, asynchronous learning opportunities, and practical support for transferring insights into action, we ensure your learning journey extends far beyond any single workshop or module.
Join the online course here to explore more!
We're proud to bring together a dynamic group for the Regenerative Signal 2025 Cohort, with a significant representation of Founders, CEOs, and Board Members alongside dedicated Project and Program Leads. This diversity ensures rich, multi-faceted conversations, bridging high-level strategy with hands-on implementation. The results are already showing, as this unique blend of professional backgrounds is creating truly meaningful interactions.
The feedback from our 2025 Cohort highlights how deeply this work resonates. While the challenge of measuring true impact remains real, our participants are actively exploring and embracing new, regenerative ways to evaluate their work. One recurring theme is the difficulty of maintaining a participatory and learning-oriented approach to evaluation, and this is precisely where the Regenerative Signal offers value.
With our models, frameworks, and resources, organisations and networks are finding practical ways to turn evaluation into an engaging, collaborative, and insight-rich process. It’s inspiring to see our community so energised by these meaningful exchanges and collective learning experiences.
Hear from one of our participants:
“Unity Effect's approach and the facilitators' clear steps and insights have been valuable in building my own practice of evaluation - adding areas to consider, connecting values with results, staying focused on the important goals of the work. I also appreciate the community of practitioners gathered from around the world with shared values, a sense of curiosity and an openness to learn from each other with case studies and personal experience.”
- Jennifer Chen, Advisor, Equity & Inclusion office, and Learning & Development at Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
If you've found yourself thinking any of the following, the answer is yes:
Who has already taken the journey?
Introducing the Regenerative Signal into your organisation or network transforms the way you understand, measure, and sustain impact, shifting it from a compliance burden to a source of strategic insight and organisational vitality.
We offer a tailored version of the Regenerative Signal for your organisation with your timelines, use cases, and stakeholders.
This Includes custom workshops, team coaching, bespoke templates, and support to embed evaluation and recognition in everyday work. → Request a proposal
The signals of regeneration are all around us. The question is: are we measuring in ways that help us see and nurture them? We'd love to support you in discovering the answer.
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