Dark Matter Labs

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𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝘆 — the movement to protect, restore and regenerate life in our bioregions is quietly myceliating 🌍🍄🕸️ Learn more about place-based regeneration and key updates from the global bioregional movement in the Bioregional Weaving Labs Collective summer newsletter 💌 From bioregional financing facilities and innovation portfolios to cross-border alliances and the weaving of poetry and place — we're witnessing a shift from isolated projects to coordinated systemic transformation 🤝 Link to the newsletter is in the comments below 👇 Is there anything we missed this summer that brought you bioregional joy? Let us know! 🐝 Deep gratitude to all our featured friends who are working on place-based regeneration — Commonland, Ashoka Netherlands, The Weaving Lab, Wire Group, Akademie van Plaats, Frisse Blikken, Oogst van Overmorgen, Bioregioning South East Ireland, Stroomgebied Zuid-Veluwe, La Coop des Territoires, Oltenia de sub Munte - Aspiring UNESCO Geopark, AlVelAl, Fundación Aland, La Red de Territorios Regenerativos, The Southern Lights, Dark Matter Labs, Design School for Regenerating Earth, Meander Magazine, r3.0, The BioFi Project, Really Regenerative, ECOLISE, Unearthodox, Open Future Coalition andBe The Earth Foundationn and many more 🙏 “𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘦 & 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥” – Robin Wall Kimmerer #bioregionalweavinglabs #bioregioning #weaving #community #regeneration #systemschange --- Bioregional Weaving Labs — Modelling an infrastructure to protect, restore, and regenerate the living systems in our bioregions 🌱🌊

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭? → 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 A Regenerative Future for the Built Environment 2/3 Today we’re sharing the second of three Provocations exploring a regenerative future for the Built Environment, written with Bauhaus Earth. This piece introduces five pathways toward regenerative practice in the built environment, and asks where each of these might lead us by 2050. What if our built environment was designed around: → 𝐌𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 → 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 → 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 → 𝐀 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 → 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 And how might we get there? It's apparent that we need an expanded coalition of actors to make progress along these pathways: neither top-down nor bottom-up action can do it alone. In this piece, we propose possible systems demonstrators to compound momentum, activate different sectors, and build the coalitions necessary for a transition to a regenerative built environment. What these shifts look like where you live? Read more in our Provocation: http://bit.ly/41TBbf1

Today, we're launching 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, a new body of work at Dark Matter Labs exploring 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀. Rooted in over two years of deep work and research by Ryan Bellinson, Alexandra Bekker, and I, Governing Together reimagines governance as something built 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 and 𝘧𝘰𝘳 relationships. 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴. Tackling today’s overlapping crises requires more than isolated efforts in citizen participation, social inclusion, or policy innovation. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗱, 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Even in the midst of the many challenges we face today across the world, critical barriers to collective action persist, rooted in 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 of society and among the key stakeholders who need to come together to act collectively. It has never been more important to understand what drives our support for, or resistance to, collective action, and to 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. Our first publication on 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 and 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 '𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀' explores how human behaviour is shaped, how mindsets and attitudes form, and how motivation and willingness to act are fostered and sustained in both the informal and formal spaces of everyday life. It also shares key principles and strategies that local governments and their wider ecosystems can adopt to engage in these critical spaces of change. Here is 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: https://lnkd.in/dgMy4-9y And please explore 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 at https://lnkd.in/d7e_2YmY 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵 via hello@governing-together.org to share your work, reflections, or to explore opportunities. Thank you to Anahat Kaur and Gurden Batra for their incredible design work, as well as to Marcial Silva Mercado, Carolina Ribeiro, Joost Beunderman, Indy Johar, Eleri Thomas, Sabina Mohideen, Kunyalala Ndlovu, and Gabor Papp, and to our small but relentless NetZeroCities team. Thank you to our animation team Petra Lilla Marjai Janka Feiner Dániel Huszár, and Rozi Mákó. We extend our gratitude to Viable Cities and NetZeroCities, the European Cities Mission Platform, both of which provided partial funding for this work. A huge thank you to our collaborators from around the world who contributed their insights to the first and forthcoming steps of Governing Together: Gabrielle Beran Jayne Engle Tanya Chung-Tiam-Fook, PhD Miriam King Phil Korbel Thomas Marois Louise Marix Evans Marisa Morán Jahn Sabina Mohideen Cam Perkins Katya Petrikevich Bernadett Szél, PhD (風 映 月 博 士) Kevin Chang, Eruera Tarena, Sheila Jasanoff, and many more.

If we want to build new Capital Structures — for example, for #BioregionalFinance — we have to start with a new notion of Value and new Value Structures. With #SystemicFinance and #SystemicInvesting becoming a thing, it is time to start looking into some of its mechanics and underlying paradigms in more detail. With this insights report, we aim to share some of our learnings in Dark Matter Labs (DmCS) from work across capital systems of bioregions, cities, and value chains. We don't claim to hold the truth or all the answers. But we want to share openly what we are learning. The report goes into questions such as: _ What is a systemic portfolio? _ What are possible layers of value returns? _ Why do we need to think about property rights & responsibilities? _ What are structured economic systems? _ What are possible roles of digitisation in systemic investing? _ What does decolonial finance mean in the context of systemic investing? _ What are possible investment strategies in systemic finance? _ What are the components of a capital structure for systemic transformation? _ What could governance and mechanism ecologies look like in place to support systemic capital allocation? _ What metrics matter in systemic finance? _ What asset classes are important to consider in systemic finance? _ What are real knotty barriers and exciting opportunities for systemic finance going forward? _ What are the questions we know we need to ask but haven't been able to answer yet? If any of those are interesting to you, have a look at the report and let us know how it lands with you! We are keen to hear what you are learning and how it relates to what we are seeing 🙏🏻 Of course, I'm particularly keen to hear from people who are driving real experimentation in applying the concept of systemic finance to #bioregioning and bioregional transitions! 🌱 _________________ For anyone keen to explore the insights with us in a series of interactive sessions that we're hosting with TWIST: Investing for Systems Change: ▶️ Part 1: Value Structuring – 23 Sept, 16:00–18:00 CEST [Register here: https://lnkd.in/ee729Rts] ▶️ Part 2: Investment Strategies – 14 Oct, 10:00–12:00 CEST [Register here: https://lnkd.in/eK8m8Kia] ▶️ Part 3: Capital Structuring & Core Functions – 11 Nov, 16:00–18:00 CET [Register here: https://lnkd.in/eFiAFW-V] 🔗 Download chapters and the full report here: https://lnkd.in/e2WXEWUz cc Indy Johar Raj Kalia Martin Lorenz Alison Fort Alexandra (Alie) Korijn

🌍 We’re honoured to co-host a three-part Learning Series with Dark Matter Labs, diving into their newly released report “#SystemInvesting and #SystemFinance: Insights from #Bioregions, Cities & Value Chains”. The report explores how value can be reimagined, outlining the key dimensions and core functions that make system-scale financing possible, from many-to-many agreement platforms to independent governance structures. These insights are illustrated through a case study on the transformation of a mid-sized industrial city, offering valuable anchor points for investors, policymakers, and communities seeking regenerative, multi-stakeholder impact. ✨ To unpack these insights and ground them in practice, we’ll co-host an interactive online Learning Series: Part 1: Value Structuring – 23 Sept, 16:00–18:00 CEST [Register here ▶️ https://lnkd.in/eXZWDZX3] Part 2: Investment Strategies – 14 Oct, 10:00–12:00 CEST [Register here ▶️ https://lnkd.in/eKafmxGF] Part 3: Capital Structuring & Core Functions – 11 Nov, 16:00–18:00 CET [Register here ▶️ https://lnkd.in/e2JGe5GP] 🔗 Learn more about the report and its insights here: https://lnkd.in/eRTeHBMf  #InvestingForSystemsChange #SystemsChangeInvesting #TransformativeInvesting #SystemsChange

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭? → 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 A Regenerative Future for the Built Environment 2/3 Today we’re sharing the second of three Provocations exploring a regenerative future for the Built Environment, written with Bauhaus Earth. This piece introduces five pathways toward regenerative practice in the built environment, and asks where each of these might lead us by 2050. What if our built environment was designed around: → 𝐌𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 → 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 → 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 → 𝐀 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 → 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 And how might we get there? It's apparent that we need an expanded coalition of actors to make progress along these pathways: neither top-down nor bottom-up action can do it alone. In this piece, we propose possible systems demonstrators to compound momentum, activate different sectors, and build the coalitions necessary for a transition to a regenerative built environment. What these shifts look like where you live? Read more in our Provocation: http://bit.ly/41TBbf1

What futures open up when we stop building on extraction? If you are at CAFx - Copenhagen Architecture Forum come visit our new exhibition on the future of the built environment as we introduce an 𝗫𝟬 – 𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 for the construction industry. How would such a policy be designed? What other foundational and enabling policies would need to accompany it? And how could a zero-extraction baseline unlock systemic shifts across governance, finance, culture, tech and crafts? The exhibition imagines futures made possible when we stop building on extraction - reprogramming our existing built landscapes, fully circular resource loops, bio-regenerative economies and reimagined wellbeing. A mix of physical and digital experiences highlights not just what a regenerative future could look like, but how it might be achieved. This work has been developed in close dialogue with CAFx - Copenhagen Architecture Forum, Reduction Roadmap, and ByggestopBevægelsen, extending the ongoing X0 mission at Dark Matter Labs to reshape Europe’s built environment by Ivana Stancic and Indy Johar. 👉 Opening 17 September 2025 at Copenhagen Architecture Forum, the exhibition is on until 12 December. Research and exhibition curation by Ivana Stancic and Alexandra Hansten, thanks to Pernille Maria Bärnheim and Josephine Michau!

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬? We’re pleased to release the first in a series of provocations produced in partnership with Bauhaus Earth, as part of the ReBuilt project. Our team has been exploring what would constitute a regenerative future for the built environment. In this first piece, we explore the history and contemporary valence of the term 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, and propose six foundational principles for a regenerative built environment. Keep an eye out for later pieces in this series to follow this week. http://bit.ly/4nnmLg1 Image: Dark Matter Labs, adapted from Jan Konietzko, ‘Carbon Tunnel Vision’.