Regenerative Governance Through Meta-Awareness: The Strategic Value Ecology Model and Framework

Applying the Strategic Value Ecology Model and Framework (SVEMF™), this working paper reframes governance as a living awareness system rather than a control mechanism. Drawing on SVEMF™'s eight value dynamics (Creation, Exchange, Capture, Distribution, Retention, Transmission, Transformation, and Dissipation), we propose regenerative governance grounded in meta-awareness: the capacity of boards to perceive not merely organizational performance but the balance and flow of value itself. This paradigm shift repositions governance from oversight to insight, from control to consciousness.

Despite advances in compliance frameworks and ESG reporting, boards and regulatory bodies increasingly fail to anticipate crises, balance competing interests, or sustain trust. The 2008 financial crisis, Boeing 737 MAX disasters, and proliferation of ESG-washing scandals reveal that traditional governance mechanisms are inadequate for complex, interconnected systems. This working paper diagnoses these failures as forms of systemic dissipation—the entropic loss of organizational vitality through fragmentation, short-termism, and ethical opacity.

Through systematic literature review of 127 governance studies (2014-2024), comparative analysis with existing frameworks, cross-cultural validation across five governance traditions (Anglo-American, Rhineland, East Asian, Islamic, Ubuntu), and proposed expert validation methodology, we demonstrate how meta-aware governance enables boards to detect and counter entropy before crisis manifests. Three case illustrations (Boeing, Patagonia, New Zealand) provide proof-of-concept across corporate, social enterprise, and public sectors.

The paper's primary contribution is introducing meta-awareness as the missing governance competency and providing the first living systems framework that makes value flow and dissipation visible to boards. The Board Vitality Profile diagnostic tool with eight implementation protocols enables immediate practitioner application, offering boards concrete pathways to evolve from mechanistic to regenerative governance.

This paper builds on: Matta, D. (2025). The Strategic Value Ecology Model and Framework: A living systems theory of value creation, dissipation, and renewal [Working Paper]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17314609

Feedback on empirical applications or case collaborations is warmly welcome.