Place: Root. Relate. Regenerate.
A Way to Play for Local Communities, Cities, and Bioregions
Compassion begins where you are.
The Place Doorway invites us to begin where we are.
Every act of compassion happens somewhere — in a neighborhood, a city, a watershed, a bioregion, a school, a garden, a gathering place, or a home.
When we root ourselves in place, we begin to see the relationships that make life possible.
This doorway is for people, teams, communities, cities, and bioregions who want to strengthen local resilience, deepen belonging, and regenerate the places they love.
The featured way to play is:
Root. Relate. Regenerate.
This way to play invites us to ask:
What does compassion look like when it is rooted in place?
What Is the Place Doorway?
The Place Doorway is one of the ways to enter the Compassion Games: Survival of the Kindest.
It is for anyone who feels called to care for the place they live, love, serve, or belong to.
Your place may be your street, neighborhood, school, congregation, town, city, watershed, island, or bioregion.
The invitation is simple:
Choose a place you care about.
Notice what it needs.
Strengthen relationships.
Take compassionate action.
Report what happened.
Invite others to play.
The Place Doorway helps compassion become visible, practical, and rooted in everyday life.
Who This Is For
The Place Doorway is especially relevant for:
- Local communities
- Neighborhood groups
- Cities and towns
- Bioregions and watersheds
- Placemaking initiatives
- Resilience projects
- Compassionate city efforts
- Local organizers and civic leaders
- Regenerative community builders
- Schools, congregations, and community groups
- Anyone who wants to help their place become more compassionate, resilient, and alive
You do not need to have a formal organization to begin.
You only need a place you care about — and the willingness to act with love.
Why Place Matters
Place helps us remember that we are not separate.
We live within living systems:
Watersheds. Forests. Shorelines. Farms. Streets. Parks. Neighborhoods. Civic spaces.
These places shape us — and we shape them.
When we organize around place, compassion becomes tangible. We can see who needs support, where healing is needed, what relationships are missing, and what local strengths are ready to grow.
Place gives compassion a home.
It helps us move from abstract concern to practical care. It helps us see the people, land, water, elders, children, neighbors, and living systems right in front of us.
From the Salish Sea to cities and bioregions around the world, the Place Doorway helps communities come together to care for one another and the Earth.
The Featured Way to Play: Root. Relate. Regenerate.
When you submit a Compassion in Action Report, you help us:
Root.
Begin by rooting yourself in the place you care about.
Ask
- Where am I?
- What land, water, people, and living systems sustain this place?
- What stories, histories, wounds, and gifts live here?
- Who has cared for this place before us?
- What does this place need now?
Rooting helps us slow down, listen, and remember that we belong to something larger than ourselves.
Relate.
Compassion grows through relationship.
Ask
- Who is already caring for this place?
- Who needs support?
- What relationships could be strengthened?
- Who is missing from the circle?
- What bridges could be built?
Relating helps us move from isolation to connection. It helps neighbors become teammates, communities become circles of care, and local efforts become part of something larger.
Regenerate.
Regeneration begins when love becomes action.
Ask
- What local action would make this place more compassionate, resilient, and alive?
- What can we restore, repair, protect, nourish, or celebrate?
- How can we invite others to join?
- How will we make the impact visible?
Regeneration can begin with one small act. A garden planted. A meal shared. A shoreline cleaned. A neighbor supported. A listening circle hosted. A local project strengthened. A story shared. A team formed.
The key is to act with love for place.
How to Play
1. Choose a place you care about.
Begin where you are.
Your place may be your home, block, neighborhood, school, city, watershed, island, or bioregion.
2. Ask what this place needs now.
Look around with compassion.
What needs healing?
Who needs support?
What relationships are waiting to be strengthened?
What local gifts are ready to grow?
3. Take one compassionate action.
Your action can be simple or large.
You might organize a neighborhood clean-up, support a local family, plant a garden, host a listening circle, strengthen a compassionate city initiative, map local assets, care for elders, restore habitat, bring people together across differences, or celebrate the people already serving your place.
4. Invite others to join.
Compassion grows when it is shared.
Invite neighbors, friends, local organizations, schools, congregations, civic leaders, artists, elders, youth, and community builders to play together.
5. Report your Compassion in Action.
After you take action, share what happened.
Your report helps make compassion visible across neighborhoods, cities, watersheds, and bioregions.
Ways to Play for Place
Here are a few ways to begin:
Care for Your Neighborhood
Check in on neighbors. Support elders. Welcome newcomers. Organize a block gathering. Create a local circle of care.
Restore a Local Living System
Clean a beach, stream, park, trail, or street. Plant native species. Protect pollinators. Support habitat restoration.
Strengthen Local Belonging
Host a listening circle, community meal, story-sharing gathering, or intergenerational conversation.
Support Local Resilience
Help map local assets. Support mutual aid. Strengthen food, water, energy, health, or emergency preparedness efforts.
Grow a Compassionate City or Town
Bring together local leaders, civic groups, schools, faith communities, nonprofits, and residents to ask: How can our city become more compassionate?
Organize a Team of Teams
Invite local groups to play together for shared impact. Each team can take action in its own way while contributing to a larger local story.
Celebrate the Place You Love
Honor the land, water, people, history, culture, and living systems that sustain your community. Gratitude is a powerful form of regeneration.
One World Is the Playing Field
The Compassion Games are played in One World — our shared online community.
One World is where players, teams, communities, and partners can connect, receive invitations, share stories, and play together.
When you join One World, you can:
- Enter the Compassion Games
- Choose your doorway
- Connect with others
- Share your story
- Report compassion in action
- Invite people from your place to join
- Help grow a global field of local action
The world is the playing field.
Your place is where the game begins.
Make Compassion Visible
Every act of compassion matters.
When you report your action, you help us see, celebrate, and amplify the growing field of compassionate action across neighborhoods, cities, and bioregions.
Use the Compassion in Action Report to share:
- What happened
- Where it happened
- Who was touched
- What impact it had
- What you learned
- Why it mattered
Your report becomes part of the larger story of Survival of the Kindest — a story showing that people everywhere are caring for one another and the Earth.
An Invitation
The Place Doorway is an invitation to come home to where we are.
Root in the land.
Relate with the people and living systems around you.
Regenerate the places that sustain us.
Together, we can grow compassionate communities, resilient cities, and thriving bioregions — one place at a time.
This is how we play for the good of all life.