Honoring the
Soul of Place
Why This Matters
Around the world, people have lost a meaningful connection with the places they call home.
When the land is no longer seen as sacred or alive, care and responsibility fade — and so do the cultures and ecosystems rooted in that relationship.
Many of today’s biggest challenges — biodiversity loss, damaged ecosystems, disappearing cultures, and weakened communities — are tied to this disconnect.
These are systemic, place-based problems, yet we try to address them with standardized solutions that ignore the unique spirit, knowledge, and living fabric of each region.
Across disciplines and lived practice, a shared insight often emerges: places stay resilient when Indigenous and long-time heritage communities guide the way.
But the pressures we all feel — urbanization, gentrification, over-tourism, and resource extraction — persist. They’re symptoms of societal structures that separate decision-making from place-based wisdom.
We have an opportunity now to restore authority to those rooted in place.
Soul Swell supports local and Indigenous communities to protect what’s sacred, keep cultures alive, and regenerate the living fabric of place.
What We’re Building
Soul Swell is building a practical bridge between what communities are experiencing and what actually works.
We’re synthesizing nine time-tested “patterns” — practices proven across regions and contexts to help places move from extraction to regeneration.
When implemented together, these patterns can shift power back to communities for lasting self-determination and resilience.
This isn’t just a hopeful idea: a growing body of global evidence — including the IPBES 2024 Nexus Assessment (a UN-backed science-policy report) — affirms that when we approach cultural, economic, and ecological strategies holistically alongside people’s relationship with the nature and spirit of their place, resilience and well-being follow.
These patterns span across sectors and movements because the “soul of place” isn’t one issue — it’s an interconnected system.
Grounded in documented grassroots successes and aligned with emerging global standards for Indigenous attribution and cultural governance of knowledge, the patterns are being shaped into practical tools communities can adapt for their own place.
Action-ready playbooks, checklists, and templates: so communities can adapt time-tested practices to their place, decide where to start, and move forward with confidence — no big budget or organizational backing required.
Our Vision
A world where people live and lead in respectful relationship with their lands and Indigenous and local communities—where cultures are revived, ecosystems are restored, and local economies thrive in balance with the Earth.
Where We Are Now
Soul Swell is an evolving initiative — currently in a listening-and-building phase.
We’re in conversation with grassroots and Indigenous leaders in multiple regions of the United States, and with a small number of communities in other countries, to understand what feels most urgent on the ground — and what “practical support” should look like in real life.
If this systemic, place-based work resonates with you, we welcome your conversation, collaboration, and guidance.
We are fiscally sponsored by the Tides Foundation, dedicated to advancing social justice by shifting power and resources to those historically denied both.