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    <title>The Orbital — Planetary Systems Governance</title>
    <link>https://theorbital.net</link>
    <description>Tracking the emergent movement for planetary systems governance.</description>
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      <title><![CDATA[Three-minute videos shift democratic understanding across 33 countries]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/three-minute-videos-shift-democratic-understanding-across-33-countries-2026-03-23</link>
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      <pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A large-scale experiment finds that brief online videos explaining democratic principles — rights, checks and balances, accountability — measurably strengthen support for democracy and reduce acceptance of authoritarian alternatives, even among the politically disengaged. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Trump AI Policy Framework Overrides Local Consent on Data Center Expansion]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/trump-ai-policy-framework-overrides-local-consent-on-data-center-expansion</link>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 20 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[New federal AI policy fast-tracks data center permits while stripping local governments of oversight — a test case for whether infrastructure governance flows from communities or concentrates upward with federal and corporate power. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Can ecological collapse be undone? China's Yangtze experiment offers an answer]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/can-ecological-collapse-be-undone-chinas-yangtze-experiment-offers-an-answer</link>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A decade-long commercial fishing ban across the Yangtze basin — affecting an area the size of Mexico — shows early signs of reversing biodiversity loss. The scale of intervention required reveals what ecological restoration actually demands. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Kiss the Ground Grants $500K to 215 Farms, Shifting 73,000 Acres to Regeneration]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/kiss-the-ground-grants-500k-to-215-farms-shifting-73000-acres-to-regeneration</link>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Direct grants to small-scale farmers reduced transition risk for regenerative practices across 73,000 US acres in 2025. Now the work shifts from capital deployment to storytelling — connecting eaters to the human systems behind soil governance. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[The Bioplastics Trade-off: Climate Gains, Biodiversity Losses]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/the-bioplastics-trade-off-climate-gains-biodiversity-losses</link>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[New lifecycle analysis reveals bioplastics reduce carbon but harm ecosystems more than fossil alternatives — a material governance challenge where the only path to climate targets involves reducing demand itself. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Water governance standard launches in Tokyo with emphasis on felt practice]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/water-governance-standard-launches-in-tokyo-with-emphasis-on-felt-practice</link>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Alliance for Water Stewardship released Version 3.0 of its certification standard at Suntory's Tokyo headquarters, bringing stakeholder engagement and catchment-level planning to corporate water management across the Asia-Pacific region. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Carceral Education as Social Innovation: Stephanie Fanfan's Research]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/carceral-education-as-social-innovation-stephanie-fanfans-research</link>
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      <pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A PhD student at Learning Planet Institute examines how education within prisons shapes justice capital and institutional recognition — testing whether carceral systems can transform or merely replicate inequality. — ]]></description>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[EnergyNet and the Governance of Local Power]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/energynet-and-the-governance-of-local-power</link>
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      <pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Viable Cities explores how local energy systems can reshape urban climate action — not just as infrastructure, but as participatory governance. The EnergyNet model, tested in Lund, treats energy as a coordinated system involving households, property owners, and municipalities. — ]]></description>
      <category>SPACESHIP</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Global democracy returns to 1978 levels as autocratization accelerates]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/global-democracy-returns-to-1978-levels-as-autocratization-accelerates</link>
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      <pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[V-Dem's annual assessment finds 74% of humanity now lives under autocracy, with 44 countries actively autocratizing. The US loses liberal democracy status as freedom of expression and legislative constraints deteriorate worldwide. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Phage research as governance practice: learning from living systems]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/phage-research-as-governance-practice-learning-from-living-systems</link>
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      <pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A doctoral researcher at FIRE examines bacteriophages to understand life's fundamental coupling of form and function — a question with implications for how we design adaptive, living governance systems. — ]]></description>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Portrait: Chloé Anna Höllerer enters FIRE's doctoral cohort]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/portrait-chloé-anna-höllerer-enters-fires-doctoral-cohort</link>
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      <pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A new PhD student joins the FIRE Doctoral School at Learning Planet Institute, bringing a background in agronomy and molecular biology to questions of research and learning systems. Another researcher entering the work of governance experimentation. — ]]></description>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Water stewardship standard revised to meet catchment-scale governance demands]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/water-stewardship-standard-revised-to-meet-catchment-scale-governance-demands</link>
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      <pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Alliance for Water Stewardship releases Version 3.0 of its certification framework, refining how corporations engage with watershed governance beyond efficiency metrics — a shift toward catchment-scale accountability as water becomes boardroom risk. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Small states, strength in numbers: rebuilding human rights multilateralism]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/small-states-strength-in-numbers-rebuilding-human-rights-multilateralism</link>
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      <pubDate>Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[As great powers fragment the UN human rights system, a coalition of 90 countries — half from the global south — is testing whether one-country-one-vote can still anchor planetary governance in shared rules rather than fortress politics. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Rewilding as governance in Ukraine's Danube Delta]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/rewilding-as-governance-in-ukraines-danube-delta</link>
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      <pubDate>Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A new documentary shows how rewilding in Ukraine's Danube Delta operates as both ecological restoration and social healing — restoring natural processes while offering veterans and communities a lived practice of renewal amid war. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Tharaka's River of Life: eco-cultural mapping as governance practice]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/tharakas-river-of-life-eco-cultural-mapping-as-governance-practice</link>
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      <pubDate>Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Tharaka community in Kenya adapts Amazonian mapping methods to create Life Plans — participatory governance tools that weave seed sovereignty, sacred site protection, and customary law into a holistic vision of territorial stewardship. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Two rewilding initiatives join pan-European network, expanding into Greece and Türkiye]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/two-rewilding-initiatives-join-pan-european-network-expanding-into-greece-and-tü</link>
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      <pubDate>Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The European Rewilding Network adds CALLISTO and Marine Rewilding Türkiye to its roster of over 100 initiatives — one focused on human-carnivore coexistence, the other on coastal ecosystem recovery. Both embed local communities in restoration governance. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Global Challenges Foundation opens 2026 call for governance reform proposals]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/global-challenges-governance-prize-2026</link>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 15 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Swedish foundation behind the New Shape Prize has announced a new round of funding for proposals that address gaps in planetary-scale governance. This cycle emphasises prototyping over theory — a shift that aligns closely with The Garden's approach. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Decommodifying land in Philadelphia — governance from the ground up]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/decommodifying-land-in-philadelphia-governance-from-the-ground-up</link>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Community land trusts in Kensington and beyond are testing whether neighborhoods can govern their own futures against displacement. It's hyperlocal democratic innovation with a clear thesis: ownership structures are governance structures. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Agroecology Europe seeks administration officer to anchor European food transition]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/agroecology-europe-seeks-administration-officer-to-anchor-european-food-transiti</link>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Brussels-based network coordinating Europe's agroecological transition is hiring operations capacity — a quiet signal of organizational maturity in a movement linking farmers, researchers, and activists across borders. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Nestlé certifies all bottling sites under AWS Standard — but what counts as stewardship?]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/nestlé-certifies-all-bottling-sites-under-aws-standard-but-what-counts-as-stewar</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/nestlé-certifies-all-bottling-sites-under-aws-standard-but-what-counts-as-stewar</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Nestlé's achievement of AWS certification across 39 bottling sites raises deeper questions about how corporations govern shared water resources — and whether certification frameworks can transform extraction into genuine stewardship. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>SPACESHIP</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Tanzania trains public officials in water stewardship as Dar es Salaam rations supply]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/tanzania-trains-public-officials-in-water-stewardship-as-dar-es-salaam-rations-s</link>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[As drought forces weekly water rationing in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania launches water stewardship training for 30+ public officials — an experiment in building trust-based governance between state agencies and private actors around shared catchments. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
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      <title><![CDATA[U.S. Senate Passes Housing Act Centering Shared Equity Models]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/us-senate-passes-housing-act-centering-shared-equity-models</link>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Bipartisan legislation elevates community land trusts and shared equity programs to federal policy — testing whether ownership models that prioritize stewardship over speculation can operate at scale. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Testing Resilience Infrastructure in Cities Rebuilt from Disaster]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/testing-resilience-infrastructure-in-cities-rebuilt-from-disaster</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/testing-resilience-infrastructure-in-cities-rebuilt-from-disaster</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A three-year transnational project examines how nature-based infrastructure performs in post-disaster cities across Japan, Sweden, and Poland — treating urban recovery as a testing ground for ecological governance under stress. — ]]></description>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Rewilding loan tests whether nature recovery can anchor rural economies]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/rewilding-loan-tests-whether-nature-recovery-can-anchor-rural-economies</link>
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      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A €40,000 loan from Rewilding Europe Capital enables a Portuguese nature tourism company to expand accommodation in the Greater Côa Valley — testing whether financial tools can align ecological restoration with economic viability in depopulating rural regions. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Testing governance in soil: herbs, certification, and practiced resilience]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/testing-governance-in-soil-herbs-certification-and-practiced-resilience</link>
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      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Kyle Bliffert's journey through the supplement industry traces a shift from theoretical wellness to practiced ecological stewardship. At Gaia Herbs' 270-acre Regenerative Organic Certified farm, governance becomes tangible — tested by hurricanes and fire alike. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Metagov publishes framework for interoperable governance across digital and physical spaces]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/metagov-interoperable-governance</link>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The research collective has released a working paper proposing standards for governance tool interoperability — enabling rules and processes to flow between online communities, DAOs, and physical assemblies. — ]]></description>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Democracy Without Borders releases brochure on global cooperation]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/democracy-without-borders-releases-brochure-on-global-cooperation</link>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Democracy Without Borders has published a new brochure examining pathways to reimagine global cooperation. The resource synthesizes emerging proposals for multilateral reform and democratic participation beyond borders. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Agroecology Europe seeks communicator to bridge research and political practice]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/agroecology-europe-seeks-communicator-to-bridge-research-and-political-practice</link>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Brussels-based network — 200 members spanning farmers, academics, and activists — is hiring a communications officer to strengthen its work placing agroecological transition on Europe's governance agenda. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[New Jersey's PB Seeds program shows how advocacy training spreads democratic practice]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/new-jerseys-pb-seeds-program-shows-how-advocacy-training-spreads-democratic-prac</link>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A structured cohort model for participatory budgeting advocacy is generating new processes across New Jersey — including youth-led climate budgeting in Newark. Evaluations reveal what participants need to become effective democratic innovators. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
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      <title><![CDATA[A New Index Sorts Regimes by How Power Actually Works]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/a-new-index-sorts-regimes-by-how-power-actually-works</link>
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      <pubDate>Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Human Rights Foundation's Tyranny Tracker distinguishes democracies from hybrid and authoritarian regimes using qualitative thresholds — not aggregated scores — to capture the moment when democratic systems break down. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[U.S. Congress Considers Its Largest Housing Bill in Decades]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/us-congress-considers-its-largest-housing-bill-in-decades</link>
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      <pubDate>Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Senate is weighing the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which would expand community land trusts and shared equity models — governance experiments that treat housing as stewardship rather than speculation. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Climate Justice Alliance Links Militarism to Climate Crisis in Iran Strike Statement]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/climate-justice-alliance-links-militarism-to-climate-crisis-in-iran-strike-state</link>
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      <pubDate>Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[As U.S. and Israeli forces strike Iran, the Climate Justice Alliance frames military action as ecological governance failure — the U.S. military remains the world's largest institutional emitter while resource extraction drives geopolitical conflict. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Agroecology's quiet spread across 33 European countries]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/agroecologys-quiet-spread-across-33-european-countries</link>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A five-year mapping project documents hundreds of agroecological initiatives across Europe — from farming practices to living labs — showing how food system transformation happens through distributed experimentation rather than top-down policy. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
    </item>
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      <title><![CDATA[Corruption perceptions worsen as civic space contracts worldwide]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/corruption-perceptions-worsen-as-civic-space-contracts-worldwide</link>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Transparency International reports global corruption perceptions have fallen to their lowest level in over a decade, with shrinking civic space a common factor in declining scores. The trend reveals how governance legitimacy depends on openness. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Scottish rewilding lodge joins pan-European practitioner network]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/scottish-rewilding-lodge-joins-pan-european-practitioner-network</link>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Ballintean Mountain Lodge, a 30-year rewilding experiment in the Cairngorms, joins the European Rewilding Network — a move that underscores how ecological restoration increasingly operates through distributed governance: peer learning, knowledge exchange, and practice-led networks rather than top-down mandates. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Three Climate Justice Groups Challenge EPA's Erosion of Tribal and State Water Authority]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/three-climate-justice-groups-challenge-epas-erosion-of-tribal-and-state-water-au</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/three-climate-justice-groups-challenge-epas-erosion-of-tribal-and-state-water-au</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A joint comment letter opposes EPA proposals that would weaken Section 401 of the Clean Water Act — the mechanism that allows states and Tribal Nations to condition or deny federal permits based on water quality standards. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Warren, Merkley bill targets tax breaks for corporate landlords]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/warren-merkley-bill-targets-tax-breaks-for-corporate-landlords</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/warren-merkley-bill-targets-tax-breaks-for-corporate-landlords</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Senate Democrats propose ending tax benefits for firms that own 450,000 single-family homes and 2.2 million apartments — treating housing as extractive asset class rather than commons. A test of whether governance can reclaim shelter from financialization. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
      <category>SPACESHIP</category>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Gaia Foundation Seeks Regional Coordinators for UK Seed Sovereignty Network]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/gaia-foundation-seeks-regional-coordinators-for-uk-seed-sovereignty-network-2026-02-25</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/gaia-foundation-seeks-regional-coordinators-for-uk-seed-sovereignty-network-2026-02-25</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Two new coordinators will work across southern and western England to strengthen grassroots seed networks — governance infrastructure for food systems that roots sovereignty in regional practice and Indigenous knowledge. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Gen-Z protests erupt globally — but their political direction remains uncertain]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/gen-z-protests-erupt-globally-but-their-political-direction-remains-uncertain</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/gen-z-protests-erupt-globally-but-their-political-direction-remains-uncertain</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Youth-led uprisings across 11+ countries share grievances about inequality and corruption, but don't point toward a clear democratic renewal. The question isn't whether young people can mobilize — it's whether existing governance systems can absorb their demands. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Massachusetts defends inclusionary zoning as Fifth Amendment suits spread]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/massachusetts-defends-inclusionary-zoning-as-fifth-amendment-suits-spread</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/massachusetts-defends-inclusionary-zoning-as-fifth-amendment-suits-spread</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 24 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A developer's constitutional challenge to Cambridge's affordable housing rules could reshape how 1,000+ U.S. inclusionary zoning policies function — testing whether local governance can require shared stewardship of urban space. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Östersund tests governance through material reuse — and saves 10 million kronor]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/östersund-tests-governance-through-material-reuse-and-saves-10-million-kronor</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/östersund-tests-governance-through-material-reuse-and-saves-10-million-kronor</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A Swedish municipality embeds circular economy into budget processes and public institutions, treating reuse not as a side project but as core governance infrastructure. The results: 250 tons of CO2 avoided, millions saved, and a model others can copy. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Fifth International Rights of Nature Tribunal convenes with expanded mandate]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/rights-of-nature-tribunal-2026</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/rights-of-nature-tribunal-2026</guid>
      <pubDate>Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature has convened its fifth tribunal, this time with an expanded mandate covering ocean governance and AI-mediated environmental harm — territory that bridges Garden and Spaceship orientations. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[EURIP opens applications for interdisciplinary research on planetary challenges]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/eurip-opens-applications-for-interdisciplinary-research-on-planetary-challenges</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/eurip-opens-applications-for-interdisciplinary-research-on-planetary-challenges</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Learning Planet Institute's Graduate School in Paris seeks students willing to cross disciplinary boundaries to address systemic challenges — a model that tests whether academic structures can adapt to planetary-scale problems. — ]]></description>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Forests as rain-makers: governance beyond biodiversity]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/forests-as-rain-makers-governance-beyond-biodiversity</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/forests-as-rain-makers-governance-beyond-biodiversity</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[New satellite research reveals that 40% of corn and 60% of wheat depend on land-based rainfall — unstable moisture from forests, wetlands, and soil that agricultural expansion is actively destroying. — ]]></description>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Paul Hawken on Curiosity, Soil, and Fire-Triggered Succession]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/paul-hawken-on-curiosity-soil-and-fire-triggered-succession</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/paul-hawken-on-curiosity-soil-and-fire-triggered-succession</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The author of Regeneration and founder of Project Drawdown reflects on what regenerative agriculture actually means — not as branding exercise, but as practice that must be felt, verified, and embodied through direct relationship with land and living systems. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[The perverse arithmetic of coral reef recovery]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/the-perverse-arithmetic-of-coral-reef-recovery</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/the-perverse-arithmetic-of-coral-reef-recovery</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Coral reefs could sustainably yield 9,000 additional meals per square kilometer — but only if communities dependent on fishing accept decades of reduced catch. A stark example of governance as temporal negotiation. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[What makes a rewilding image worth seeing — and judging]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/what-makes-a-rewilding-image-worth-seeing-and-judging</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/what-makes-a-rewilding-image-worth-seeing-and-judging</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 19 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[As the Rewilding Europe Award deadline approaches, photographer Jon A. Juárez reflects on what makes rewilding imagery matter: not just aesthetics, but the governance relationships between people, science, and returning ecosystems. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Digital Twins of Earth: Testing Governance Before the Crisis Arrives]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/digital-twins-of-earth-testing-governance-before-the-crisis-arrives-2026-02-18</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/digital-twins-of-earth-testing-governance-before-the-crisis-arrives-2026-02-18</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[ESA's Digital Twin Earth program creates real-time planetary simulations — not just to model floods or fire, but to stress-test governance responses before disaster strikes. It's scenario planning made operational, fed by satellite data and constrained by physics. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Pastoralists as Land Stewards: Mobility, Tenure, and Rangeland Governance]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/pastoralists-as-land-stewards-mobility-tenure-and-rangeland-governance</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/pastoralists-as-land-stewards-mobility-tenure-and-rangeland-governance</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A coalition webinar ahead of UNCCD COP17 reframes pastoralism as regenerative governance — not degradation driver. The challenge: translating centuries of mobile land stewardship into policy that recognizes rights to territory and movement, not just plots. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Three reports link extreme wealth concentration to democratic erosion]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/three-reports-link-extreme-wealth-concentration-to-democratic-erosion</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/three-reports-link-extreme-wealth-concentration-to-democratic-erosion</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[New assessments from Oxfam, a G20 expert committee, and the World Inequality Lab find billionaire wealth has grown 81% since 2020 while democratic institutions weaken — evidence that governance systems cannot be separated from economic architecture. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Housing Network Expands Capacity Through Nonprofit Learning Partnership]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/housing-network-expands-capacity-through-nonprofit-learning-partnership</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/housing-network-expands-capacity-through-nonprofit-learning-partnership</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Grounded Solutions Network sponsors Nonprofit Quarterly's Leading Edge program, connecting community land trusts and housing justice organizations with management training amid federal funding pressures — infrastructure for the infrastructure. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Housing Network Joins NPQ to Strengthen Nonprofit Governance Infrastructure]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/housing-network-joins-npq-to-strengthen-nonprofit-governance-infrastructure</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/housing-network-joins-npq-to-strengthen-nonprofit-governance-infrastructure</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Grounded Solutions Network partners with Nonprofit Quarterly to give housing justice organizations access to governance training and peer networks — recognizing that transformative systems work requires strengthened organizational capacity. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Lake Kartal: wetland governance tested at war's edge]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/lake-kartal-wetland-governance-tested-at-wars-edge</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/lake-kartal-wetland-governance-tested-at-wars-edge</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[In Ukraine's Danube Delta, six years of restoration has reconnected 18,000 hectares of floodplain to the river — a reminder that ecological governance means reshaping flows, not just protecting boundaries, even under the strain of invasion. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[François Taddei on Building a Learning Planet]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/françois-taddei-on-building-a-learning-planet-2026-02-13</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/françois-taddei-on-building-a-learning-planet-2026-02-13</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Learning Planet Institute's co-founder joins a podcast exploring educational models as governance infrastructure — treating learning not as preparation for citizenship but as citizenship itself. — ]]></description>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[IPBES Report Maps the $7 Trillion Gap Between Economic Growth and Ecological Reality]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/ipbes-report-maps-the-7-trillion-gap-between-economic-growth-and-ecological-real</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/ipbes-report-maps-the-7-trillion-gap-between-economic-growth-and-ecological-real</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The first fast-track business-biodiversity assessment reveals a stark asymmetry: $7.3 trillion in nature-harming flows versus $220 billion for restoration — a gap that threatens economic stability and requires governance innovation at the intersection of markets and ecosystems. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[What makes a rewilding image powerful? A photographer's lens on conservation storytelling]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/what-makes-a-rewilding-image-powerful-a-photographers-lens-on-conservation-story</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/what-makes-a-rewilding-image-powerful-a-photographers-lens-on-conservation-story</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[As Europe's wildlife photography competition opens submissions, judge Viktoria Pezzei argues for images that show human hands in ecological work — not pristine wilderness, but the lived practice of restoration. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Coexistence guidance equips European mayors to govern alongside returning wildlife]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/coexistence-guidance-equips-european-mayors-to-govern-alongside-returning-wildli</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/coexistence-guidance-equips-european-mayors-to-govern-alongside-returning-wildli</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A new toolkit launched by Rewilding Europe offers municipal leaders practical frameworks for human-wildlife coexistence — recognizing local governance as the crucial layer where ecological recovery becomes lived experience. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[EPA Revokes Endangerment Finding as Justice Networks Mobilize Resistance]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/epa-revokes-endangerment-finding-as-justice-networks-mobilize-resistance</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/epa-revokes-endangerment-finding-as-justice-networks-mobilize-resistance</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Trump EPA's revocation of the 2009 Endangerment Finding — the scientific basis for climate regulation — triggers coordinated resistance from environmental justice networks representing millions of frontline communities. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Habitat Seattle doubles down on community land trusts and debt remediation]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/habitat-seattle-doubles-down-on-community-land-trusts-and-debt-remediation</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/habitat-seattle-doubles-down-on-community-land-trusts-and-debt-remediation</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A Habitat affiliate in Washington state has pioneered a debt remediation program while scaling community land trust homeownership — testing new mechanisms for equitable access to housing that lasts generations. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Youth governance at the UN: from symbolic participation to structural influence]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/youth-governance-at-the-un-from-symbolic-participation-to-structural-influence</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/youth-governance-at-the-un-from-symbolic-participation-to-structural-influence</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Student delegates at a UN Youth Office dialogue explore what meaningful participation looks like — not merely consultation, but structural influence in institutional decision-making. The event tested frameworks for youth engagement as governance practice. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Youth governance at the UN: from symbolic presence to structural voice]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/youth-governance-at-the-un-from-symbolic-presence-to-structural-voice</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/youth-governance-at-the-un-from-symbolic-presence-to-structural-voice</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The UN Youth Compass dialogue tested whether intergenerational governance can move beyond consultation theater. Student participants assessed what meaningful engagement actually requires — not just seats at tables, but power to reshape them. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Sweden expands city climate coalition beyond pilot group]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/sweden-expands-city-climate-coalition-beyond-pilot-group</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/sweden-expands-city-climate-coalition-beyond-pilot-group</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Viable Cities opens new call to expand beyond its 48-city Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative. The expansion tests whether collaborative governance models can scale — a recurring question in transition practice. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[The Work of Re-membering: Communities Attune to the Rhythms of Land]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/the-work-of-re-membering-communities-attune-to-the-rhythms-of-land</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/the-work-of-re-membering-communities-attune-to-the-rhythms-of-land</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[From Kenyan clans reviving biocultural knowledge to Antarctic rights advocacy, communities worldwide are rekindling what Thomas Berry called the 'Great Conversation' — governance as relationship, not extraction. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Normandy's PRELE initiative joins European rewilding network]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/normandys-prele-initiative-joins-european-rewilding-network</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/normandys-prele-initiative-joins-european-rewilding-network</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A regional French programme letting forests and wetlands recover without human interference joins a network of 105 rewilding initiatives — advancing a governance model where ecosystems manage themselves. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Hope as Educational Infrastructure]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/hope-as-educational-infrastructure</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/hope-as-educational-infrastructure</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[François Taddei frames hope not as sentiment but as educational architecture — a necessary foundation for governance systems that must adapt to planetary-scale challenges while remaining rooted in human capacity for learning. — ]]></description>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Philadelphia neighborhood tests perpetual trust as anti-displacement tool]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/philadelphia-neighborhood-tests-perpetual-trust-as-anti-displacement-tool</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/philadelphia-neighborhood-tests-perpetual-trust-as-anti-displacement-tool</guid>
      <pubDate>Sun, 08 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Kensington Corridor Trust removes 30+ properties from speculative markets through a perpetual purpose trust governed by 32,000 local residents — testing whether collective ownership can anchor neighborhoods against displacement. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
      <category>SPACESHIP</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Agroecology versus Regenerative Agriculture: A Question of Power]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/agroecology-versus-regenerative-agriculture-a-question-of-power</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/agroecology-versus-regenerative-agriculture-a-question-of-power</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Belgian-Welsh farmer Ann Owen argues that regenerative agriculture serves corporate interests while agroecology builds practitioner power. The distinction matters: one treats farming as optimization, the other as transformative practice rooted in social and ecological balance. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[UNESCO launches climate learning experience linking purpose discovery to collective action]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/unesco-launches-climate-learning-experience-linking-purpose-discovery-to-collect</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/unesco-launches-climate-learning-experience-linking-purpose-discovery-to-collect</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[MOOD — Meaningful Open Opportunities for Discovery — brings 100+ participants into a UN-certified learning experience that frames climate action as both personal exploration and governance practice, testing how structured discovery might scale. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Two risk reports map a fracturing governance landscape]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/two-risk-reports-map-a-fracturing-governance-landscape</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/two-risk-reports-map-a-fracturing-governance-landscape</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Global Challenges Foundation and World Economic Forum release assessments showing seven of nine planetary boundaries breached, rising geoeconomic confrontation, and institutional erosion — all pointing to what GCF calls the need for governance that recognizes 'planetary commons cannot be negotiated with.' — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Ukrainian Universities as Test Sites for Climate-Resilient Reconstruction]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/ukrainian-universities-as-test-sites-for-climate-resilient-reconstruction</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/ukrainian-universities-as-test-sites-for-climate-resilient-reconstruction</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[UniCities transitions from project to partnership, positioning Ukrainian universities as laboratories for integrated climate transition and post-war recovery — a model for resilience-centered governance under extreme constraint. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[When global cooperation fails to deliver, solidarity declines with it]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/when-global-cooperation-fails-to-deliver-solidarity-declines-with-it</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/when-global-cooperation-fails-to-deliver-solidarity-declines-with-it</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 02 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[New polling across 31 countries shows falling support for international institutions — not because people reject cooperation, but because they don't see it working. The gap reveals something fundamental about governance at any scale. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
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      <title><![CDATA[ETHAKA Mozambique: Testing Agroforestry as Governance Infrastructure]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/ethaka-mozambique-testing-agroforestry-as-governance-infrastructure</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/ethaka-mozambique-testing-agroforestry-as-governance-infrastructure</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A 3.5-year project in Mozambique embedded agroforestry systems into public institutions and rural communities — showing how regenerative agriculture becomes a form of governance when it restructures land use, diet, and policy in tandem. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Not Only Larp brings governance simulation to the European Parliament]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/not-only-larp-european-parliament</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/not-only-larp-european-parliament</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Italian design studio ran a three-day political LARP inside the European Parliament, with MEPs and citizens role-playing a planetary governance crisis. The event drew attention to experiential methods for democratic innovation. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Migrant Justice as Climate Practice: Communities Organize Against Displacement]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/migrant-justice-as-climate-practice-communities-organize-against-displacement</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/migrant-justice-as-climate-practice-communities-organize-against-displacement</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Climate Justice Alliance frames immigration enforcement as inseparable from climate displacement, calling for mutual aid networks and direct action as federal raids intensify across the U.S. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[The Federal Home Loan Banks as Infrastructure for Shared Ownership]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/the-federal-home-loan-banks-as-infrastructure-for-shared-ownership</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/the-federal-home-loan-banks-as-infrastructure-for-shared-ownership</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Eleven regional cooperative banks allocate billions for affordable housing through mandated programs — including community land trusts. A case study in how existing financial infrastructure can be steered toward stewardship models. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[AI for Sustainability Finds Its Test Ground in Taipei]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/ai-for-sustainability-finds-its-test-ground-in-taipei</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/ai-for-sustainability-finds-its-test-ground-in-taipei</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Researchers, policymakers, and industry practitioners gathered in Taipei to explore how artificial intelligence can serve planetary resilience — examining not just technical potential but governance frameworks for equitable deployment. — ]]></description>
      <category>SPACESHIP</category>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[How communication work gets done: an internship at Viable Cities]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/how-communication-work-gets-done-an-internship-at-viable-cities</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/how-communication-work-gets-done-an-internship-at-viable-cities</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Vendela Karlsson spent autumn 2025 embedded in Viable Cities' communications team, translating urban climate transition work into accessible formats. A small case study in how governance initiatives become legible — and who does that work. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Learning Planet Academy pivots education from excellence to planetary service]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/learning-planet-academy-pivots-education-from-excellence-to-planetary-service</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/learning-planet-academy-pivots-education-from-excellence-to-planetary-service</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Learning Planet Institute launches a new academy designed to move beyond traditional credentials toward co-constructed learning pathways that address climate urgency and ecological anxiety — a pedagogical experiment in governance education. — ]]></description>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Mariestad: Testing governance through climate investment data]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/mariestad-testing-governance-through-climate-investment-data</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/mariestad-testing-governance-through-climate-investment-data</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A Swedish mid-sized city maps who pays for climate transition and who benefits — finding that while citizens and industry carry costs, the municipality's role is creating conditions for transformation, not funding it. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Viable Cities opens internships in climate communications]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/viable-cities-opens-internships-in-climate-communications</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/viable-cities-opens-internships-in-climate-communications</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Sweden's Viable Cities seeks communications interns to help 29 cities navigate climate neutrality transitions. The work touches a persistent challenge: how to make systemic change legible and compelling to publics who must ultimately enact it. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[River Reuss Heads to Referendum: Switzerland Tests Legal Rights for Water]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/river-reuss-heads-to-referendum-switzerland-tests-legal-rights-for-water</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/river-reuss-heads-to-referendum-switzerland-tests-legal-rights-for-water</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A citizen initiative in Lucerne canton has gathered 5,460 signatures to grant legal personhood to the River Reuss — launching a constitutional process that will test whether democratic systems can recognize nature as a rights-bearing entity. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Fish-inspired filter captures 99% of microplastics without clogging]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/fish-inspired-filter-captures-99-of-microplastics-without-clogging</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/fish-inspired-filter-captures-99-of-microplastics-without-clogging</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Researchers at Bonn University developed a self-cleaning filter modeled on fish gills that captures microplastics from washing machines — addressing a governance gap where household infrastructure meets ocean pollution. — ]]></description>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[One scientist, 1,460 rice varieties, and the architecture of food sovereignty]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/one-scientist-1460-rice-varieties-and-the-architecture-of-food-sovereignty</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/one-scientist-1460-rice-varieties-and-the-architecture-of-food-sovereignty</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Dr Debal Deb has spent 30 years conserving indigenous rice from remote Indian tribes — an act of ecological stewardship that doubles as governance practice, returning seed sovereignty to farmers after decades of corporate monoculture. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>MYSTERIES</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
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      <title><![CDATA[Sinking Carbon: A Proposal to Store Boreal Wood in the Arctic Seafloor]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/sinking-carbon-a-proposal-to-store-boreal-wood-in-the-arctic-seafloor</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/sinking-carbon-a-proposal-to-store-boreal-wood-in-the-arctic-seafloor</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Researchers propose harvesting boreal forest timber and sinking it in the oxygen-poor Arctic Ocean — a carbon removal method that sidesteps infrastructure costs but raises questions about who governs such planetary-scale interventions. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[European bison return to the Iberian Highlands — and to the policy question]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/european-bison-return-to-the-iberian-highlands-and-to-the-policy-question</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/european-bison-return-to-the-iberian-highlands-and-to-the-policy-question</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Nine European bison have been released in Spain's Iberian Highlands as part of a cross-European study testing how keystone species can restore degraded landscapes — and whether rewilding can offer viable development pathways for depopulating rural communities. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Luleå's transition exhibition: governance as public pedagogy]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/luleås-transition-exhibition-governance-as-public-pedagogy</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/luleås-transition-exhibition-governance-as-public-pedagogy</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A Swedish industrial city places climate transition in a shopping mall — treating governance not as policy abstraction but as something residents encounter while buying groceries. The experiment tests whether municipal legitimacy can be built through visibility. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
    </item>
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      <title><![CDATA[EU-Mercosur: a test case for whether agroecology can move from niche to policy]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/eu-mercosur-a-test-case-for-whether-agroecology-can-move-from-niche-to-policy</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/eu-mercosur-a-test-case-for-whether-agroecology-can-move-from-niche-to-policy</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[As the EU-Mercosur trade agreement advances despite farmer protests, Agroecology Europe argues both continents must accelerate agroecological policy — not as alternative, but as systemic governance strategy for food, climate, and rural resilience. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[18 Groups Challenge EPA's Narrowing of Clean Water Protections]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/18-groups-challenge-epas-narrowing-of-clean-water-protections</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/18-groups-challenge-epas-narrowing-of-clean-water-protections</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 13 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Climate Justice Alliance and 17 EJ organizations oppose EPA's proposed redefinition of protected waters — a case study in how regulatory rollbacks shift environmental harm to frontline communities while weakening federal accountability. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[US Withdraws from 65+ International Bodies — Including All Climate Frameworks]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/us-withdraws-from-65-international-bodies-including-all-climate-frameworks</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/us-withdraws-from-65-international-bodies-including-all-climate-frameworks</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 09 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Trump administration withdrew from the UNFCCC and 65+ other international bodies, making the US the only nation outside the foundational climate treaty. A stress test for multilateral governance in an age of unilateral retreat. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[GARN Opens Internships in Rights of Nature Movement Infrastructure]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/garn-opens-internships-in-rights-of-nature-movement-infrastructure</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/garn-opens-internships-in-rights-of-nature-movement-infrastructure</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 06 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature seeks interns across communications, tribunal support, and organizing — roles that build the operational capacity behind legal ecosystems protection and governance experimentation. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
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      <title><![CDATA[Climate Justice Alliance maps data center impacts, trains ground organizers]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/climate-justice-alliance-maps-data-center-impacts-trains-ground-organizers</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/climate-justice-alliance-maps-data-center-impacts-trains-ground-organizers</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 05 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A frontline coalition created resources on AI infrastructure's environmental costs and trained 10 organizers in Memphis to challenge data center development — governance as ground-level strategy, not abstract policy. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
    </item>
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      <title><![CDATA[Five Years of Agroforestry Practice in Costa Rica: Jungle Project's Farmer-First Model]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/five-years-of-agroforestry-practice-in-costa-rica-jungle-projects-farmer-first-m</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/five-years-of-agroforestry-practice-in-costa-rica-jungle-projects-farmer-first-m</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Over 20 hectares and 18,000 plants later, Jungle Project demonstrates how governance begins with land stewardship — training 22 farmers in regenerative agroforestry while building the market infrastructure to sustain it. — ]]></description>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Agroecology Europe's Year of Movement-Building Amid Collapse and Commitment]]></title>
      <link>https://theorbital.net/news/agroecology-europes-year-of-movement-building-amid-collapse-and-commitment</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://theorbital.net/news/agroecology-europes-year-of-movement-building-amid-collapse-and-commitment</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[As political systems retreat from environmental pledges, Europe's agroecology network grows to 450+ youth members and convenes gatherings that bridge science, practice, and policy — testing governance models that treat food systems as living democratic experiments. — ]]></description>
      <category>GARDEN</category>
      <category>ASSEMBLY</category>
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