Zoönomic Annual Cycle

The Zoönomic Year Cycle is a method that makes legible as well as actionable the development and growth of the multispecies community of human and non-human life in the zoöp.

Every zoöp goes through an annual cycle of 4 steps: (1) Demarcating, (2) Observing & sensing, (3) Characterising and (4) Intervening (more below). The first time a zoöp does this it forms the baseline assessment of the ecological integrity of the site of the organisation and its relation with the surroundings. With this baseline as a starting point, the zoöp sets firm goals for improvement of its ecological condition and implements instruments to make this development publicly legible. These instruments are legible not only for the Zoönomic Institute but for the wider public as well, and give insight on the progress the Zoöp has made towards its regenerative goals.

Demarcating
Which bodies together form the zoöp? In spatial terms, which physical structures demarcate the zoöp? Fences? Buildings? Trees? Roads? Watercourses? Utility networks? What are the boundaries in legal terms? What parties have what kinds of rights? And what are the ecological boundaries? What elements of the surroundings belong to the ecosphere of this zoöp? Here, the effort is also to see the site and operational sphere from the perspective of its non-human sentient participants.

Observing & Sensing
How do the bodies that make up the zoöp perceive each other? In this second step the effort lies in witnessing the life-worlds, of the different bodies of the zoöp and the ways in which they can or cannot perceive each other.

Characterising
How do these bodies support, obstruct or ignore one another? Analysing this question involves interpreting the general wellbeing of the collective living environment that makes up the zoöp. This amounts to a diagnosis of the ecological integrity of the Zoöp as a whole and together with the findings of step 2 leads to a list of possible interventions.

Intervening
Intervening is the process of actually implementing changes in the spatial arrangements, management practice, or relational fabric of a zoöp. Each year a zoöp will carry out one or multiple interventions that improve the quality of life of the whole community.

A zoöp determines each year which and what kind of interventions will be carried out. Interventions can include things such as improving the quality of soil life, introducing new species of plants or animals or addressing political campaigns and ownership relations, and more.

A zoöp commits itself to several annual interventions, but is also committed to strive towards ecological regeneration with the whole of its being and in all its actions.

The Speaker for the Living (the delegate from the Zoönomic Foundation) and the Zoönomic Institute ensure that these steps are completed and that the zoöp is provided with all the necessary knowledge and expertise.