About Living Systems Institute
Education • Regeneration • Community
The Living Systems Institute is dedicated to understanding and restoring the living relationships that sustain healthy ecosystems and communities.
We study how humans can participate in living systems in ways that regenerate soil, strengthen local food systems, and support thriving communities. Through education, demonstration projects, and community participation, we help people rediscover their role as contributors to the health of the places they live.
Our work brings together ecological design, regenerative gardening, and community collaboration to build resilient habitats for people and the wider web of life.
What We Do
Living Systems Institute researches, designs, and demonstrates practical ways to restore the health of local ecosystems and communities.
Our work focuses on:
- Regenerative land stewardship
- Education in ecological design and soil regeneration
- Training gardeners and community members in habitat restoration
- Building neighborhood-scale systems that support food, biodiversity, and resilience
These ideas take shape through community projects, workshops, and programs such as the ReInhabit initiative, which connects homeowners and trained gardeners to transform conventional yards into living habitats that cycle carbon, support pollinators, and produce food.
Our Perspective
The Living Systems Institute is built on a simple but powerful idea:
Humans are not separate from nature—we are participants in the living systems that sustain life.
Every place on earth contains a pattern of interactions among soil organisms, plants, animals, and people. When these relationships are healthy, communities thrive and ecosystems regenerate. When key organisms are missing or excluded, the system weakens.
Understanding and restoring these relationships is the central focus of our work.
Just as the health of the human body depends on the health of its cells, the health of a community depends on the health of the living systems that support it.
By learning to restore soil life, support biodiversity, and include the contributions of people and organisms often overlooked, communities can rebuild the ecological foundations that sustain life.
In Loving Memory of Our Founder
The Living Systems Institute was founded by David Braden, a lawyer, gardener, and systems thinker who devoted his life to understanding how communities can live in harmony with the living systems around them.
David grew up on an acre of land near Golden, Colorado, where his lifelong curiosity about growing food and working with nature began. After many years practicing law, he returned to the questions that had always guided him: how can communities learn to feed themselves, regenerate their land, and support the well-being of all living things?
In 2004 he left his legal career and began studying permaculture and ecological design. His work with community gardens and regenerative landscaping led to the creation of the Living Systems Institute, which received its nonprofit status in 2013.
David developed the concept known as Agents of Habitat, a framework for understanding how living communities restore themselves when the needs of all participating organisms are recognized and supported.
His work continues to inspire the programs and educational efforts of the Living Systems Institute today.
Explore his prolific writing in our blog under Founders Writings!