MMW Perspective 1: Finance as a Craft, Not a Commodity

"The essence of finance isn't money itself – it's the relational health around it."

When conversations turn to finance, we often jump quickly to instruments, capital stacks, blended finance structures and funding gaps.

But what if we started somewhere else?

In the first perspective from Gerana's Making Money Work for Landscapes series, James Vaccaro (RePattern) invites us to reconsider a more fundamental question:

What is finance actually for?

Drawing on reflections shared during the Gerana Gathering, James argues that finance has gradually become detached from the relationships, responsibilities and human realities it was originally intended to support.

Too often, we talk about "allocating capital" as though money can simply be deposited into a system and expected to create change. Yet landscapes are not projects. They are living systems shaped by relationships, governance, trust, livelihoods and long-term stewardship.

From this perspective, the challenge is not simply how to get more finance into landscapes.

It is how to build the relationships that finance is meant to serve.

For anyone working at the intersection of nature, supply chains, investment or landscape stewardship, James offers a thought-provoking reframing: finance not as a commodity to be deployed, but as a craft that helps people organise around shared purpose and long-term value.

It is a perspective that feels particularly relevant as businesses, investors and landscape leaders search for practical ways to support resilience in an increasingly uncertain world.

This article is the first in a six-part series exploring how money behaves inside the systems shaping landscapes.

We hope it sparks reflection, discussion and perhaps a few new questions of your own.

Further reading: