Your NameLorena Checa
Email Addresslorena@checaarchitects.com
Cohort AssignmentAmericas with In-Person Intensive in Boston 2023
1. What do you see as your primary work at this stage of your life?

Collaborator in spreading and evolving this movement.

2. What role do you see as yours to play?

Holistic architect morphing into regenerative developer - architect.
Very much about spreading the word and growing awareness.

3. What goals or aims do you have in regard to the above?

To apply this Regenerative Design Process (in my 30+ years in private practice I have been applying some of the basic philosophy while feeling like I am swimming against a tide - so finding you all is a godsend!) to my work as architect but also desiring to create opportunities with others for regenerative development projects. Very open to what might develop after this training!

4. Where do you feel your next arenas for personal growth are?

Integrating more of my spiritual values and ongoing personal growth work with my professional life.

5. And for professional growth?

Same as above!
Also looking to get LFA certified within the next year.

6. What have you invested in to get you where you are?

Been pursuing personal growth work since the 80's: Psycho-spiritual mystery schools, buddhism, voice dialogue, ACA, etc (meditator for 30 years, many deep retreats, etc).
Oneness with Nature was part of my upbringing...I grew up in Peru and spent my Summers in a farm....my parents were environmentalists from cultural roots/ respect for Mother Earth and just plain common sense...climatic design seemed like something everyone understood...but also the sense that we are one with all of Nature. So Environmental Psychology was one of my favorite classes in Architecture school (this was the 70's in DC at CUA and found out they later removed this from the curriculum!). My thesis project back then was a very green housing development, so becoming LEED AP was a no-brainer.
I attended LF22 online last year and realized this Regenerative concept was spreading. Then I met Bill Reed in person at The Regenerative Real Estate Gathering in Maine last Summer....

7. What fields of learning and which thinkers have been important in your life?

Psychology, Philosophy and Spirituality...I am a member of a ACSF (Architecture, Culture and Spirituality Forum) and when I found this about 5 years ago I felt I had finally met my peeps...I am having a similar sense as I enter into this TRP process!
Many spiritual teachers have inspired me: Pema Chodron, Thich Nhat Hanh, Michael Singer, to name a few...
Ecology eg; the Great Work by Thomas Berry
Mindful Leadership, eg: The Tao of Leadership by John Heider
Holistic, integrated design has been a natural concept since the beginning.

8. Can you frame your philosophy or cosmology of life? What role(s) do humans play in it?

I believe in the interconnectedness and interdependence of all of Life and the Cosmos.
As humans we are here to collaborate and foment a better balance so all of Life can thrive.

Date CreatedApril 25, 2023