bringing forth emergent, whole-systems thinking that dances on the learning edge across various fields of practice…
about me
Mario Yanez is dedicated to enabling a transition toward life-affirming, regenerative human cultures. He has an academic background in finance, information systems, ecology and complexity. He has several decades of experience applying systems thinking to unfolding cutting-edge interventions supportive of a much-needed cultural evolution. As a whole-systems designer, he is working at various scales, implementing regenerative landscapes and transformative ecosocial systems. As a scholar-practitioner, he is researching complexity and pathways toward cultivating wholeness and aliveness in human systems. Mario resides in the Mira bioregion (SW Alentejo, Portugal), is native to the Greater Everglades bioregion, and practices in bioregions anywhere.
PhD thesis
abstract
Humanity finds itself in a pickle—an existential metacrises of cosmic proportions—one of its own making. Our mode of realization introduces an internal conflict into our Biosphere's operating system.
At its root, this conflict is one of self-image—a myopic view of itself and of its Universe. Our Western Intellectual tradition has perpetuated an epistemology incompatible with the complex nature of our Universe, an epistemology currently incapacitated by its own fractured nature.
This study broaches the nascent field of generalized complexity to discover its implicate qualities. Qualities that human social systems ought aspire to. It shapes an approach to epistemology and inquiry imbued with these. An approach with sufficiently complex theoretical capacity to render a Universe in its fullest dimensionality, dimensionality potentially translatable to the ecosocial realm, where the question arises: what would it mean to be fully Human?
The research aims to understand generalized complexity on its own terms, in an attempt to reconcile the internal conflict. It takes an open-ended approach inspired by the natural philosophical tradition, progressive approximation, to bring ever-greater clarity to the workings of our world and our place within it.
This study confirms the initial intuition that how we perceive our reality is how we repeatedly bring it into being. We are the Universe in Human form, yearning to understand itself in its fullest significance. This implies that we have a cosmic role to play in consciously manifesting our own reality. We've played this role before; will we dare play it again?
affiliations
languages
I am a ecosocial designer, engaged in the awakening of place-sourced potential.
press release
What could we possibly learn about ourselves by investigating complexity, no less, in the Universe, a phenomenon that seems so far removed from everyday life? What would we have to gain? In a word, everything!
This study takes an open-ended approach inspired by the natural philosophical tradition, a tradition that dates back to the birthplace of thought itself, a time before anyone had established a single “right way” to see the world. Of all the modes of learning, only natural philosophy, the precursor to modern-day science and indeed every conceivable discipline, has the intellectual potency to grapple with the extraordinary workings of a universe of complexity.
As a civilization, we have yet to assimilate the phenomenal discoveries of the last century. We are left with only vague uncertainty about the vast, marvelous, unapproachable immensity of a self-organizing Universe. Until now. Through the newly rediscovered method of progressive approximation, which harnesses the power of our mind's eye to bring ever-greater clarity of perception, we begin to shed light on the workings of an intimate Universe by learning to see it with new eyes. We uncover a Universe in which we can belong, one in which we might find purpose and meaning.
It turns out the new-age prophets were right after all! All is one, yet that's not how we experience the world in everyday life. This research on complexity elegantly describes a Universe where all worlds find their place, especially the Human one. It confirms the intuition that how we perceive our reality is how we repeatedly bring it into being. This may be hard to swallow because it has huge implications. It's easy to assume that we are insignificant, that our presence on this relatively unassuming planet in some far-off corner of the Universe has no importance whatsoever in the larger scheme of things. Yet our conclusion implies otherwise. Humans have a cosmic role to play in consciously manifesting Reality. And what if this were really so? Where would we begin?
This research takes this notion all the way home. It embarks on its journey with a very different premise: Each and every one of us, all of us as a species, is the Universe in Human form, yearning to understand itself in its fullest significance. Think on that for a moment. We are the eyes, ears, body, and mind of the Universe, waking up to finally catch a glimpse of itself in the mirror. Up to now, and as far as we know, we are the only species in the Universe, certainly on Earth, that has developed the capacity to even make such a claim.
This research takes this notion all the way home. It embarks on its journey with a very different premise: Each and every one of us, all of us as a species, is the Universe in Human form, yearning to understand itself in its fullest significance. Think on that for a moment. We are the eyes, ears, body, and mind of the Universe, waking up to finally catch a glimpse of itself in the mirror. Up to now, and as far as we know, we are the only species in the Universe, certainly on Earth, that has developed the capacity to even make such a claim.
It seems crazy, this notion that we have a Cosmic role, when we can barely get our act together here on Earth. And… we're starting to learn that it hadn’t always been so. We are now discovering that throughout most of our past as a species, ordinary people, engaged in everyday life, in communities large and small all over the planet, actually consciously participated in bringing their social realities into being. They didn't wait for permission; they assumed this responsibility in exchange for a sense of belonging to something greater than themselves. We've played this role before. Will we dare play it again?
We can say without reservation that there has never been a more urgent moment in the history of Humankind to gain a comprehensive understanding of the workings of our world and our place within it. Indeed, Humanity finds itself in a pickle — an existential metacrises of cosmic proportions, one of its own making. Our powers of self-reflection have gifted us with the hindsight to see that our mode of realization introduces an internal conflict into our Biosphere's operating system.
We can say without reservation that there has never been a more urgent moment in the history of Humankind to gain a comprehensive understanding of the workings of our world and our place within it. Indeed, Humanity finds itself in a pickle — an existential metacrises of cosmic proportions, one of its own making. Our powers of self-reflection have gifted us with the hindsight to see that our mode of realization introduces an internal conflict into our Biosphere's operating system.
At its root, this conflict is about self-image—a myopic view of ourselves, alienated from everything else. Our Western intellectual tradition has perpetuated an epistemology incompatible with the complex nature of our universe, one that is currently incapacitated by its own fractured nature. Indeed, we have divided our knowledge into hundreds of disconnected disciplines, making it almost impossible to gain a comprehensive understanding of who we really are and what we are truly capable of.
The research aims to understand the complexity of our Universe on its own terms, seeking to reconcile the growing internal conflict. This study approaches the nascent field of generalized complexity not from the limited perspective of a single discipline but from the complexity of the whole. We aim to discover its implicate qualities—what is “going on” behind the scenes. These are the very qualities we aspire to cultivate in our human social systems.
To engage with this field of study, we had to develop a wholly different approach to knowing and to inquiry, indeed a different language and way of describing phenomena that embodied the very qualities we were learning about. And yes, as complex thinkers, we've even developed the theoretical capacity to render an image of a Universe in its fullest dimensions. However, instead of geeking out interminably, this led us to the pivotal question: what would it mean to be fully Human?
The research aims to understand the complexity of our Universe on its own terms, seeking to reconcile the growing internal conflict. This study approaches the nascent field of generalized complexity not from the limited perspective of a single discipline but from the complexity of the whole. We aim to discover its implicate qualities—what is “going on” behind the scenes. These are the very qualities we aspire to cultivate in our human social systems.
To engage with this field of study, we had to develop a wholly different approach to knowing and to inquiry, indeed a different language and way of describing phenomena that embodied the very qualities we were learning about. And yes, as complex thinkers, we've even developed the theoretical capacity to render an image of a Universe in its fullest dimensions. However, instead of geeking out interminably, this led us to the pivotal question: what would it mean to be fully Human?
The question is pivotal because it propels the study toward practical application, translating this awe-inspiring, intimate, and dimensionalized view of the Universe into shaping an ecosocial reality we actually want to live into. We won't spoil the ending; discover it for yourself.
citation
Yanez, MM. (2025). Coming Back to Life: A study of generalized complexity, Or, The search for the missing middle . University Institute of Lisbon: https://repositorio.iscte-iul.pt/entities/publication/80b3ec9d-a1d7-41d3-a52d-0ff957ae4553
institutions
ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon &
University of Lisbon
other publications
abstract
In this paper, Part 1 of a two-part inquiry2, I will weave together various strands of deep thinking on the workings of aspects of our world, relevant to the rethinking of value co-creation. The title is a play on words. It is intended to challenge the paradigm that we can and must sustain economies of scale, a fragmented and fragmenting worldview that, in the name of efficiency, extracts value from, and in so doing, depletes Life energies from our biosphere. Economies of scale-linking finds a different path forward, where aliveness, the free-flow of Life energies becomes central principle to how we create value in human social systems.
To do so, I have enlisted the assistance of some extraordinarily insightful minds. Together, we progressively image our way through to, what could lead to a veritable rewilding of (more-than-human) potential, manifested in practical terms, via how we engage in economy.
Edgar Morin will assist us in to diagnosing what’s going on and open our vision;
Edgar Morin will assist us in to diagnosing what’s going on and open our vision;
William James and Adolf Portmann will be essential to establishing of premises/principles that guide my approach;
John G. Bennett will help us to understand the scales we propose to link;
David Bollier et al. with a rationale for rethinking what we value;
Brian Massumi will prove foundational for imaging the workings of capitalism, sensing into how Life’s economy works, understanding the interconnectedness of quantity and quality, and how we might hack capitalism via alt economics;
And I, will act as re-source3, curator and guide for the experience, bringing it all together around how we might approach economies of scale-linking.
And I, will act as re-source3, curator and guide for the experience, bringing it all together around how we might approach economies of scale-linking.
citation
Yanez, MM. (2024). Economies of Scale Linking, Part 1: Re-thinking value co-creation, or the rewilding of potential… . In A. M. Esteves (Ed.), Social Solidarity Economy & the Commons Manuscript 2023 . ( https://ssecommons.cei.iscte-iul.pt/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Yanez-Mario-2023-The-Self-Organizing-Bioregion.pdf )
abstract
Human societies seduced by Western thought and (mis)guided by reductive science, continue to exhibit and perpetuate a limited capacity to interpret reality. This is having an increasingly impoverishing effect on Life: the unraveling of the extraordinary complexity of the living web, from which everything we know as human has emerged, of which we are an integral strand, and in which we have an essential role. This research’s aim is that Humanity might concretely operationalize self-organization in our knowledge systems and in our bioregions, enabling communities to better care for what we have in common.
Our point of departure is located in the notion that we, as makers of worlds, co-create our own reality: that, how we know what we know about the workings of our world, directly informs how we create it, over and again. This paper introduces a meta narrative which reintegrates the human as a wholly essential element in the continued regeneration of Life. Here we animate the concept of pluriverse, to set it in relation and put in motion with related concepts. We examine Edgar Morin’s principles on complex organization of reality, explore the potential of applying the principle of self-organization vis-a-vis Christopher Alexander’s Theory of Centers, and seek a significant upgrade to Hess & Ostrom’s conceptualization of knowledge as commons by introducing a living systems approach to commoning. The author’s lived experience provides the connective tissue to integrate theories and concepts and lend concreteness to otherwise abstract notions.
Our point of departure is located in the notion that we, as makers of worlds, co-create our own reality: that, how we know what we know about the workings of our world, directly informs how we create it, over and again. This paper introduces a meta narrative which reintegrates the human as a wholly essential element in the continued regeneration of Life. Here we animate the concept of pluriverse, to set it in relation and put in motion with related concepts. We examine Edgar Morin’s principles on complex organization of reality, explore the potential of applying the principle of self-organization vis-a-vis Christopher Alexander’s Theory of Centers, and seek a significant upgrade to Hess & Ostrom’s conceptualization of knowledge as commons by introducing a living systems approach to commoning. The author’s lived experience provides the connective tissue to integrate theories and concepts and lend concreteness to otherwise abstract notions.
citation
Yanez, MM. (2023). The Self-Organizing Bioregion: Commoning knowledge in a pluriversal, ‘already-shared’ reality . In A. M. Esteves (Ed.), Social Solidarity Economy & the Commons Manuscript 2024. ( https://ssecommons.cei.iscte-iul.pt/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Yanez-Mario-2023-The-Self-Organizing-Bioregion.pdf)
abstract
This chapter focuses on urban and community agroforestry strategies that connect and expand urban food forestry systems. It offers insights into how these systems are designed and scaled to provide food, timber, fiber, and other materials in addition to eco-social benefits. Urban food forests are the cornerstone of agroforestry applications in population centers. Agroforestry is largely seen in terms of rural land use practices that integrate and thereby diversify farm and forest products such as crops, livestock, timber, and non-timber forest products. Residents and governmental and nongovernmental agroforestry allies alike are enacting agroforestry through local food movement initiatives, such as community-supported agriculture, farmers’ markets, and community gardens. The features of productive placemaking are best defined by residents who are embedded in their local eco-social system and consequently able to design meaningful systems. Urban food forests are created by planting a variety of annual and perennial plants together to form diverse food-producing agroforestry ecosystems.
citation
citation
Yanez, M.M. (2006). Essential Earth Learning Concepts for Teachers and Students . In UNESCO’s Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems. Retrieved from https://greenplanet.eolss.net/EolssLogn/LoginForm.aspx
citation
Yanez, M.M. (2004). A Bioregional Study of the Cienaga de Zapata (Master's thesis). Florida International University.
interventions by pattern
place-sourced potential
We live, play, work in places. The places we inhabit are unique microcosms, representative of extraordinary complexity we call Universe. We can’t engage directly with our Universe, nor even our Biosphere, except through places. The attention given to globalization of our world, has caused us to momentarily abandoned our places. However, our places are localized sources of cosmic and biospheric abundance—pf place-sourced potential. Our places are what share in common with each other as Humans and the full range of more-than-human beings that constitutes the living web, our one time endowment from a living Cosmos. If we give our places in their uniqueness the proper significance and care, they can guide us in re-patterning our human social systems.
Our role as Humans could be aimed at activating:
Place-sourced potential can be activated through the practice of ecosocial design.
ecosocial design
Everything we do has an effect, whether we are conscious of them or not. When we are not conscious of our actions, we introduce unintended consequences into our world. More often than not, we operate in this manner. And, it doesn't have to be this way. We can intervene purposefully. We can think of our conscious interventions within the context of design.
Design is where theory meets practice. Design is a process of setting and formally declaring our intentions of what kind of transformation we’d like to bring into effect. We could argue endlessly of what the right course of action might be. Or, we can be guided by our places. Places are unique manifestations of the inherent aliveness of our Biosphere. Our Biosphere requires of us only one thing: that with everything we do, we bring a greater degree of aliveness.
The ecosocial is where ecology and society meet—already shared realities that are simultaneously ecological and social. Ecosocial design is directed at how we collectively develop the conditions for greater aliveness to emerge in of our places. We practice this through:
In essence, ecosocial design is a process of re-patterning our cultural operating systems.
cultural operating systems
Patterns are recognizable sets of relationships that we encounter through lived experience. They enable beings to make sense of and navigate the worlds they inhabit. Patterns from the living world can be applied to reanimate human social systems. Human social systems function by way of cultural operating systems (OS) we call paradigms. These social systems are often a mishmash of accumulated patterns that have made their way to the collective unconscious without much questioning.
However, we can upgrade our operating systems by curating meaningful, Life-affirming patterns. Patterns worth spreading broadly to regenerate bioregions everywhere. For this, communities can harness the power of a technique known as pattern language. Pattern language allows for dissemination of desirable patterns at various nested scales. It allows users to incorporate curated elements and processes into a design. Curated elements are organized context-specific set of related patterns.
The pattern languages I developed over the course of several decades of praxis include:
curriculum develoment
interventions by year
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2010
2007
CV stuff
work experiences
2025: Member, Cooperativa Regenerativa. Working on EU funded project Collectively Activating Rural regenerative Economies (CARE) to connect youth to regenerative livelihoods (alivelihoods).
2021-2024: Investigator, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon working on to EU funded projects, Community Climate Coaches and Activating Collective Transformation
2016-2020: Founding Director, Inhabit Earth, (formerly, Earth Learning) a global NGO dedicated to cultivating regenerative human communities.
2015-2018: Principal, FoodScape Designs LLC (http://foodscapedesigns.com), a productive landscape and eco-social system design/build firm creating regenerative landscapes, resilient communities, and local living economies.
2010-2015: Executive Director, Earth Learning, a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to growing life-sustaining cultures in bioregions everywhere;
2007 –2009: Ecology professor with Miami Dade College and Palmer Trinity School
2004 – 2006: Grant Writer for Miami Dade College, brought about several million dollars worth of funding for innovative educational initiatives
2003: Founder of Earth Learning, focused community efforts around comprehensive and sustainable approaches to our bioregion, the Greater Everglades
2002 – 2004: Program Director for Citizens for a Better South Florida, initiated several inner city food projects including school gardens that were integrated into the curriculum, urban forestry plantings with edible trees, and advocacy for access to local foods
2000 – 2002: Chief Financial Officer with Regis House, a social services community organization providing services to elderly and adjudicated youth
1989 – 2000: Budgeting, Finance, and Information Systems at Jackson Memorial Health Systems
courses of study
2026 – ISCTE/University Institute of Lisbon: PhD in Complexity Science (completed)
2024 - Regenesis Institute for Regenerative Practice:: Client & Stakeholder Engagement mastery course
2024 - Regenesis Institute for Regenerative Practice:: Designing Developmental Engagements mastery course
2024 - Regenesis Institute for Regenerative Practice:: Storying Place
2022 - Regenesis Institute for Regenerative Practice:: Systems Evolution mastery course
2022 – Multiversidad Mundo Real Edgar Morin: Diplomado- El Metodo de Edgar Morin
2019 – Regenesis Institute for Regenerative Practice: The Regenerative Practitioner
2013 – Advanced Permaculture Design: Financial Permaculture
2012 – Advanced Permaculture Design: Whole Farm Design
2011 – Advanced Permaculture Design: Edible Forest Gardening
2010 – Certified in Permaculture Design
2009 – Transition Network: Training for Transition
2008 – Joanna Macy: Deep Ecology / “The Work that Reconnects”
2006 – Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center: Vision Quest
2004 – Florida International University: MA Environmental Studies with focus on bioregional solutions
2003 – Genesis Farm: Ecological Learning/Universe Story
1989 – University of Miami: MBA in Finance and Strategic Management / BBA in Computer Information Systems
courses taught
Course
Area / Level
Institution
Dates
Farm School MIA – Farm School is designed to grow the next crop of regenerative (beyond sustainable) urban farmers who will learn to grow food at every scale (backyard to commercial) essentially enabling our local food system throughout South Florida.Farm School MIA is designed to address this challenge with three dynamic courses: (1) Building the Small Farm, is the foundational course, where students learn to start a farm; (2) Diversifying the Small Farm, teaches students to bring in various value-added enterprises into their farm business; and, (3) Perennials & Permaculture Design, where students learn to incorporate perennial food systems into their farms.
Professional
Earth Learning
Fall 2014 / Spring 2015
The Culture of Agriculture – This semester long course makes a case for creating a culture around the kinds of food plants that we can grow gracefully in our bioregions. It explores the South Florida’s bountiful subtropical palate and all the skills needed to propagate, grow, prepare, preserve, and incorporate these often lessor known food crops into our daily routines.
Graduate/Undergraduate
University of Miami
Fall 2014
Permaculture Design – This 96-hour course covers the principles of permaculture, observation and landscape analysis, patterns, ecological planning and design methods, organic food production and food security, natural soil improvement, integrated animal systems, water: harvesting, conservation, and management, forest gardening, techniques and design strategies for both urban and rural applications and sustainable human settlements. 100-‐hour intensive course combining theory with practical hands on learning. Includes lectures, discussions, hands-‐on, slide shows, field trips and design projects.
Professional
Earth Learning
fall 2010 to spring 2013
Designing the Local Foodshed – This interdisciplinary course explores sustainable agriculture and local food from multiple perspectives. Students learn a foodshed scale approach to assessing and designing local food system solutions.
Undergraduate
University of Miami
Fall 2012
Ecology of Food/Topics in World Ecology – This interdisciplinary course explores agriculture and food via science, history, sociology, art, and other perspectives. Students grow and prepare food as they explore local, organic and sustainable food systems in contrast to industrial agriculture.
Interdisciplinary / High school
Palmer Trinity School
fall 2008 to spring 2010
Universe Story – This course engages some the deepest questions that continue to accompany humans in their search for meaning, as we discover a new cosmology that provides an all-encompassing context for a new, ecological worldview.
Interdisciplinary / High school Honors
Palmer Trinity School
fall 2007 to spring 2010
Transition Training – Weekend workshop on how to create awareness for and initiate transition processes in localities everywhere.
General Public
Various
Various
Biology & Environment – Studies of the natural world (web of life), human impacts and ecological crises, Earth ethics and values, and building of a sustainable future.
Natural Sciences / Undergraduate
MDC, Wolfson Campus
fall 2005 to spring 2010
Green Studies: Immersions – Day-long explorations of places within the Greater Everglades Bioregion and how to incorporate topics of Earth literacy and sustainability in to the learning environment
Training & Development / Faculty
MDC, Earth Ethics Inst.
fall 2005 to spring 2010
Becoming Native to South Florida Series – Courses include Bioregional Explorations and Landscaping with Native Plants
Community Education / General Public
MDC, Environmental Center
spring 2004 – 2005
Community Science Workshop – A hands-on, intensive after school enrichment program that developed awareness and knowledge of the natural world with in the context of the Universe Story funded through the National Science Foundation.
Environmental Science / Fourth & Fifth Grade
Citrus Grove Elementary
spring 2003 – spring 2004
Weekend Workshops – Numerous workshops on native plants, biodiversity monitoring, and living sustainably.
Environmental Education / Adults
Citizens for a Better South Florida
fall 2002 – spring 2004
grant awards
2016: Project Director, USDA National Urban and Community Forests Project Award ($177,000/1 year) for Community Food Forestry Initiative, a nationwide platform of tools and resources to enable professional audiences to incorporate edible/useful plants into public and civic spaces;
2013: Project Director, USDA AMS Farmers Market Promotion Program Award ($93,000/1 year) to expand a farm market retail operation, by creating a mobile market component and adding distribution capacity;
2012: Project Director, USDA NIFA Community Food Projects Award ($300,000/3 years) for The Farm at Verde Gardens, a 22-acre permaculture farm enterprise hub designed and developed by Earth Learning around 145 new homes for formerly homeless families;
2012: Project Director, DHHS Community Economic Development Projects Award ($560,000/3 years) to create 27 full time jobs with the Farm at Verde Gardens project through business expansion;
2010: Project Director, USDA NIFA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Award ($750,000/3 years) for Community FoodWorks, an urban beginning farmer initiative of Earth Learning focused on teaching permaculture design for preparing the next leaders in the local food economy.