Fungi at Davos: Seeding a Regenerative Future
Each January, the World Economic Forum brings global leaders to Davos to discuss the challenges shaping our shared future. This year, alongside conversations on technology, finance, and geopolitics, a deeper systems question came into focus: how do we transition toward regenerative, nature-based economies that can work at scale?
One answer increasingly entered the conversation: fungi.
Founder and CEO Susanne Gløersen represented The Future is Fungi Award throughout WEF week, bringing fungal innovation into key discussions and demonstrating how fungi can support real, scalable solutions for transforming industries toward a biobased, regenerative future.
Learning From Living Systems
In natural systems, resources are continuously reused and regenerated. Fungi play a central role in this process — breaking down materials, restoring ecosystems, and enabling circular flows of nutrients and energy.
These same principles are increasingly relevant for industrial systems under pressure to reduce emissions, waste, and resource intensity. At Davos, Susanne emphasized a shift from extractive models toward regeneration by design, and how fungal technologies are already contributing to this transition across materials, energy, and the built environment.
Key Moments at Davos
During WEF week, Susanne took part in several events that highlighted fungal innovation from complementary perspectives.
How Fungi Can Help Save the World
The Future is Fungi Award organized a major fungi innovation event for more than 120 in-person participants, with many more joining via livestream. The session brought fungi into the Davos spotlight and helped establish “Fungi Future” as a recurring theme throughout the week.
Speakers included:
Paul Stamets
Michroma, winner of The Future is Fungi Startup Award 2025
Carolina Reyers (EMPA), presenting research on fungal batteries, 3D printing, and energy systems
Norwegian Mycelium (NoMy), advancing scalable mycelium materials
Together, the speakers demonstrated how fungal solutions are moving beyond experimentation and into real-world application.
🎥 Watch the sessions below:
Climate Hub Davos
At Climate Hub Davos, Susanne introduced the mission of The Future is Fungi Award: building a global ecosystem that supports fungal founders and accelerates nature-based innovation across industries.
Regenerate! Building Nature-Based Solutions
Co-organized with Innovate 4 Nature and PDIE Group, this session explored how nature-based approaches can be integrated into cities and systems to create positive outcomes for people and the planet. Fungi were highlighted as a practical regenerative force within this broader transition.
In addition, Susanne spoke at the House of Consciousness, addressing nature intelligence and what living systems — including fungi — can teach us about resilience, collaboration, and long-term thinking.
Why This Matters
The growing presence of fungi at Davos reflects a broader shift. Nature-based solutions are increasingly recognized as essential to economic and industrial transformation — not as alternatives, but as foundational tools.
For The Future is Fungi Award, Davos reinforced the importance of visibility, collaboration, and ecosystem-building to ensure fungal innovators are supported in scaling their impact globally.
Fungal innovation is no longer peripheral to the sustainability conversation. It is becoming part of how regenerative futures are designed — thoughtfully, pragmatically, and at scale.
