03071nam a22003017a 4500 OSt 20260511175402.0 260428b |||||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d 2078-1547 TBS EN TBS eng Beresford-Dey, Marie 26958 author Educational leadership : enabling positive planetary action through regenerative practices and complexity leadership theory / Marie Beresford-Dey. Challenges, 2025. 32-32 pages. Challenges, vol. 16, (3) Uniquely rooted in regenerative leadership and complemented by Complexity Leadership Theory (CLT), this conceptual essay offers a theoretical exploration of how educational institutions can act as dynamic systems that catalyze adaptive, community-led responses to anthropocentric socio-environmental crises. Rather than sustaining existing structures, educational leadership for regeneration seeks to restore ecological balance and nurture emergent capacities for long-term resilience. Positioned as key sites of influence, educational institutions are explored as engines of innovation capable of mobilizing students, educators, and communities toward collective environmental action. CLT offers a valuable lens for understanding how leadership emerges from nonlinear, adaptive processes within schools, enabling the development of innovative, collaborative, and responsive strategies required for navigating complexity and leading planetary-positive change. Drawing on a synthesis of the recent global literature, this paper begins by outlining the need to go beyond sustainability in envisioning regenerative futures, followed by an introduction to regenerative principles. It then examines the current and evolving role of educational leadership, the relevance in enabling whole-institution transformation, and how this relates to regenerative practices. The theoretical frameworks of systems thinking and CLT are introduced before noting their application within regenerative educational leadership. The final sections identify implementation challenges and offer practical recommendations, including curriculum innovation, professional development, and youth-led advocacy, before concluding with a call for education as a vehicle for cultivating planetary-conscious citizens and systemic change. This work contributes a timely and theoretically grounded model for reimagining educational leadership in an era of global turbulence. Keywords: education; leadership; regenerative; complexity; complexity leadership theory; sustainability; systems thinking B2 PBT Regenerative Leadership (BiM) 26902 Biotic communities 25498 Career development 8803 Crisis management 26956 Educational leadership 26957 Power (Social sciences) 7912 Sustainable development 6723 Environmental aspects 14250 https://www.mdpi.com/2078-1547/16/3/32 lcc 0 0 lcc 0 0 CT TBS TBS 2026-05-11 0 2026-05-11 https://www.mdpi.com/2078-1547/16/3/32 2026-05-11 ARTICLE 5425 5425