IRM

and the New Wohlstand Campaign

One of the most important lessons I wish I had understood earlier in life is that the people around you shape who you are just as much as the food you eat nourishes your body. Once we started applying this as a rigorous filter at Delodi in the early days, we were fortunate to find incredible individuals who were deeply aligned with our vision and mission. 

Today, we feel truly blessed to have a large group of outstanding people who are collectively building the missing infrastructure. Working with them doesn’t feel like work at all—it’s more like a dance: effortless, precise, fun, and deeply fulfilling. One of these remarkable individuals is Sebastian Fittko, who, around five years ago, began discussing the idea of a “regenerative market economy.” 

As we do, we quickly moved beyond talk and into action—founding a nonprofit called The Initiative for the Regenerative Market Economy. Our goal was, and still is, to learn, explore, and actively experiment with what a regenerative market economy could look like in practice. Through this initiative, we are working to redefine economic systems in ways that align with the principles of regeneration, balance, and life-serving sustainability.

As a first step, we worked through this question with the founding members, which resulted in a book that summarized the thesis and outlined what we envision as a regenerative market economy. Building on these learnings, we quickly expanded beyond Zoom, hosting salons across Germany. These in-person gatherings not only helped us find more allies and partners but also introduced us to central concepts that now shape the work we do with the Initiative for the Regenerative Market Economy (IRM). These interactions have been essential in evolving our ideas and deepening our understanding of how to make this vision a reality.

For instance, we developed a taxonomy for regenerative businesses in collaboration with ESCP and Alanus University, providing a guideline for transformation. This framework helps businesses move beyond sustainability, enabling them to thrive while driving systems change. We also supported numerous individuals with relevant economic leverage, helping them discover how they could contribute to this shift and *win* on the journey through transformation.

Another valuable source of inspiration has been our podcast, which allowed us to broaden the range of voices and perspectives we could learn from. Through these conversations, we’ve gained deeper insights into the regenerative economy and connected with others who share our vision, expanding the reach and impact of our work.

Across all of this, we discovered a common thread—something that seemed to resonate with everyone we engaged with. In Germany, people often use the term Wohlstand (wealth) to describe what they see as the foundation and center of their personal and economic activities. In public discourse, this concept is typically equated with money. However, in the private conversations we’ve had, it always becomes evident that real Wohlstand has little to do with money.

It has everything to do with the many other ways we can think about capital.

You have friends? Then you have social capital.

You have experiences, knowledge, and feel a connection to something beyond explanation? Then you have experiential capital, intellectual capital, and spiritual capital.

You celebrate holidays, go to the theater, or visit clubs? Then you have cultural capital.

You care for an animal or a plant? Then you have living capital.

You own things? Then you have material capital.

From the perspective of the eight forms of capital (as outlined by Soloviev and Landua), a person can be incredibly wealthy with very little money. This broader understanding of wealth opens up new ways to think about Wohlstand, showing that true prosperity extends far beyond financial assets and into the richness of relationships, knowledge, culture, and care for life itself.

For us, the leading question became: How can we support the shift in society towards a shared understanding of what constitutes a good life, and create the institutional framework that can turn this agreement into action?

Through this exploration, we stumbled upon the Future Generations Wellbeing Act, established in Wales in 2015. It had been the vision and mission of one woman within the Welsh government. Back then, the people of Wales came together to agree on a shared vision for the country 50 years into the future. They established an independent commission with the power to veto any political decision that was not aligned with this long-term vision and the will of the people. This act became a powerful example of how institutional change, driven by a collective vision of a good life, could reshape policy to ensure the wellbeing of future generations.

We came to admire the elegance of this improvement in democratic configuration. It not only provides the demos—the people—with a powerful tool to steer the long-term direction of the country, but it also liberates politicians from the constant pressure to optimize for short-term gains from one election to the next. Instead, they are empowered to advocate for long-term visions and strategies that span multiple electoral cycles. We came to believe that this model would serve as a powerful upgrade to the German democracy as well, aligning governance with future generations' wellbeing and fostering a more sustainable and thoughtful political landscape.

As always, we prioritize action over thought. Through one of our salons, we connected with a like-minded individual who not only shared our vision but also had the fortunate position of being able to direct large media budgets. This collaboration led to the New Wohlstand Campaign, which is set to launch in October 2024 with a nationwide cinema campaign. The campaign will invite the people of Germany to participate in a **citizens' assembly**, an opportunity for collective decision-making around the future of wellbeing in the country.

This assembly will be facilitated by yet another outstanding individual, whose organization has already successfully led two such assemblies on behalf of the German government.

The outcome of this citizens' assembly will be enriched with policy recommendations that are clear and actionable for politicians. These insights will be compiled into the "New Wohlstand Declaration", a document that redefines wellbeing and prosperity for the future. This declaration will then be formally presented to the highest-ranking government officials in a public event, in front of the press, to ensure that the voice of the sovereign—usall—is heard.

This step will serve as both a symbolic and practical gesture, ensuring that the collective vision for a New Wohlstand is brought into the political discourse and given the attention it deserves.

We have no illusions about the fact that this is only the beginning—a first symbol of what could be a significant upgrade to democracy. But once we saw this elegant solution to many of the traps our political system is grappling with, we couldn’t unsee it. We had no choice but to act.