3 Fun(gi) Futures

3 Mushroom-inspired futures... Imagined by me and real as can be.

My pal Amy Daroukakis nudged me to share a 333 piece at a Futures Friends’ London breakfast in July 2024: 3 signals in 3 slides in 3 minutes. Below is a redacted & edited version of what I shared during the breakfast, amongst 6 other incredible speakers sharing what peaks their curiosity. One of the aspects that I love and respect about FF is not sharing the presentation afterwards: encouraging people to attend, talk and absorb f2f! Do yourself a favour and sign up for the next event in your city.

📸 Amy Daroukakis

Naturally my signals are looking through a mushroom-shaped lens. Researching myco-culture digs up a web of tendrils that never stops exploring, so choosing (only 3!!) was hard. I decided to focus on areas that:

1. Are impacting society and the environment in huge and meaningful ways, and

2. Are examples of brilliant innovation from the African continent, and

3. Popped up during my world mushroom research tour, and

4. Are addressing the UN’s SDGs, and

5. Vibe with me!

Are these futures made up… or real?

Futures and foresight is a game of systematic exploration, prediction, and planning for potential future scenarios.

My ex-colleague Susie Hogarth (now Head of Cultural Strategy at Firefish and another powerhouse girl-crush) taught me that many future scenarios are POSSIBLE (i.e. can actually happen, given our current understanding of the world, not limited by probability or practicality). Some futures are PLAUSIBLE (i.e. could realistically happen based on what we know, trends, and understanding of how systems operate). Lastly, POTENTIAL futures are not only plausible but also desirable or undesirable and often used in strategic planning and visioning to work towards whichever outcomes are preferred.

In my myco-topian, romantic and possibly naive ideals of the future, all of these scenarios are POTENTIAL and DESIRABLE.

Do you agree? Let me know in the comments.

Fungi Future 1: MYCO-HABITATION

Go do some digging and decide whether you feel that Myco-Habitation is a potential, desirable future:

MycoTile in Kenya* | Mycohab in Namibia

*I interviewed the brains and CEO behind MycoTile, Mtamu Kililo, on my trip to Kenya last October. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I had severe malaria during our chat. A day later I was out of it. Mtamu’s interview was mind-blowing and will be published soon.

Fungi Future 2: MYCO-SUSTENANCE

Go do some digging and decide whether you feel that Myco-Sustenance is a potential, desirable future:

Mycosure | ProVeg Incubator report: Five years, 100 Startups the Future of Food | Fast-growing fungal proteins could slash agricultural emissions ten-fold - Anthropocene Magazine

“We have surpassed the initial wave of product innovation and consumer acceptance. The next wave will spearhead the transformation and expansion of the industry.”

- Albrecht Wolfmeyer, ProVeg Incubator Director

Fungi Future 3: MYCO-RESILIENCE

Go do some digging and decide whether you feel that Myco-Resilience is a potential, desirable future:

Hodari Foundation | Mushrooms, Refugees and Building Resilience

So that’s it. 3 Fungi Futures, in 3 Slides, in 3 Minutes.

Yours in spores.