From One Straw Revolution to One Square Meter Garden of Resilience
The Asia Regenerative Academy (ARA) is a newly established, self-funded environmental education initiative based in Japan and Indonesia. We explore practical approaches to regenerative living through weekly study groups focused on Regenerative Design, Systems Thinking, Climate Education, and the Circular Economy as they relate to everyday life. Our mission is to translate sustainability concepts into actionable steps through educational modules, citizen science projects, and community learning. Currently, we are developing learning resources on zero-waste lifestyles and the community-based food resilience movement, starting from ONE SQUARE METER at a time. Our initial team members consist of educators, researchers, regenerative agriculture practitioners, artists, and data scientists who are dedicated to helping communities build resilience from the ground up.
Project story
ONE SQUARE METER GARDEN MOVEMENT: “We don’t need one acre of land, we need one square meter and community resilience.”
We learned that the Green Revolution increased food production but also caused problems such as soil degradation, biodiversity loss, farmers’ dependence on external resources, and, as a result, a vulnerable food system. It also led to a growing gap between consumers and the food system that supports them. Now, our food systems in Asia (especially in our case: Japan and Indonesia) face new challenges, such as an aging farming population, fewer young people interested in agriculture, and systems that are vulnerable to climate change, economic pressures, and supply chain disruptions.
Our proposal is simple, but it could create a meaningful movement.
Instead of asking more people to become full-time farmers, we create "food citizens" and the 1 SQM Garden of Resilience movement. We create a movement and educational training supports for people who believe that resilience can start with just one square meter of space. Our mission is grounded in Masanobu Fukuoka's natural farming and his philosophy in The One Straw Revolution in response to the impact of the Green Revolution. To make this movement affordable for everyone, especially those living in the city and short on time and budget, we encourage participants to turn balconies, schoolyards, rooftops, and small community spaces into places for growth and learning.
Using our model, which combines a systems-thinking approach that integrates natural-social and science capital, participants can create a 1SQM edible garden, observe, journal, and share knowledge with others around the world. Through citizen science, storytelling, and community learning, they can reconnect with the important relationship between soil, seeds, food, and their community.
Our pilot project on April 25, 2026, that was held in Jakarta, showed that we don’t need an acre of land to start growing and improving our food system; it can start with a packet of seeds, a handful of compost, a supportive community, and the courage to begin with just one square meter. (Here’s the link to our pilot project that was covered in national news in Indonesia: https://megapolitan.antaranews.com/berita/526908/dari-revolusi-sebatang-jerami-ke-gerakan-satu-meter-persegi-membangun-ketahanan-pangan).
Project updates
Team
From One Straw Revolution to One Square Meter Garden of Resilience
The Asia Regenerative Academy (ARA) is a newly established, self-funded environmental education initiative based in Japan and Indonesia. We explore practical approaches to regenerative living through weekly study groups focused on Regenerative Design, Systems Thinking, Climate Education, and the Circular Economy as they relate to everyday life. Our mission is to translate sustainability concepts into actionable steps through educational modules, citizen science projects, and community learning. Currently, we are developing learning resources on zero-waste lifestyles and the community-based food resilience movement, starting from ONE SQUARE METER at a time. Our initial team members consist of educators, researchers, regenerative agriculture practitioners, artists, and data scientists who are dedicated to helping communities build resilience from the ground up.
Project story
ONE SQUARE METER GARDEN MOVEMENT: “We don’t need one acre of land, we need one square meter and community resilience.”
We learned that the Green Revolution increased food production but also caused problems such as soil degradation, biodiversity loss, farmers’ dependence on external resources, and, as a result, a vulnerable food system. It also led to a growing gap between consumers and the food system that supports them. Now, our food systems in Asia (especially in our case: Japan and Indonesia) face new challenges, such as an aging farming population, fewer young people interested in agriculture, and systems that are vulnerable to climate change, economic pressures, and supply chain disruptions.
Our proposal is simple, but it could create a meaningful movement.
Instead of asking more people to become full-time farmers, we create "food citizens" and the 1 SQM Garden of Resilience movement. We create a movement and educational training supports for people who believe that resilience can start with just one square meter of space. Our mission is grounded in Masanobu Fukuoka's natural farming and his philosophy in The One Straw Revolution in response to the impact of the Green Revolution. To make this movement affordable for everyone, especially those living in the city and short on time and budget, we encourage participants to turn balconies, schoolyards, rooftops, and small community spaces into places for growth and learning.
Using our model, which combines a systems-thinking approach that integrates natural-social and science capital, participants can create a 1SQM edible garden, observe, journal, and share knowledge with others around the world. Through citizen science, storytelling, and community learning, they can reconnect with the important relationship between soil, seeds, food, and their community.
Our pilot project on April 25, 2026, that was held in Jakarta, showed that we don’t need an acre of land to start growing and improving our food system; it can start with a packet of seeds, a handful of compost, a supportive community, and the courage to begin with just one square meter. (Here’s the link to our pilot project that was covered in national news in Indonesia: https://megapolitan.antaranews.com/berita/526908/dari-revolusi-sebatang-jerami-ke-gerakan-satu-meter-persegi-membangun-ketahanan-pangan).
Project updates
Team
Location
Japan