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Royal College of Fungi, 2018
Royal College of Fungi (RCF) is an experimental project that reimagines education by learning from fungi. Inspired by the underground networks of the oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus), RCF explores how natural systems of connection, exchange, and regeneration can offer new ways of thinking about how we learn, collaborate, and live together.
In forests, fungi form vast networks that link trees and plants, sharing nutrients and information across the ecosystem — a phenomenon often called the “Wood Wide Web.” RCF uses this idea as both a metaphor and a model for education. Instead of rigid hierarchies, we imagine learning as a living network: students, teachers, ideas, and environments connected in a system where knowledge moves freely and everyone contributes to collective growth.
Working as a speculative “mock institution,” the Royal College of Fungi piloted in the Royal College of Art from 2016 until 2018, borrowing the structure of the university, with campuses, workshops, and a prospectus, while playfully rethinking what education could be. Its core themes are growth, interaction, and regeneration, encouraging participants to see learning as something organic, collaborative, and constantly evolving.
Through research into the inner workings of the campus, the Royal College of Fungi developed experimental teaching formats inspired by fungal systems. “Poetry as a Form of Spores” was a performative collective poetry workshop designed by observing and mimicking fungal growth, where participants generated and dispersed lines of text like spores, allowing ideas to spread and connect across the group.
Research into the segmentation of traditional courses also led to the Feedback Mode, inspired by cyber fungi networks, where students and staff exchanged feedback during shared creative walks, circulating ideas through conversation and movement rather than formal reports.
Another intervention, Prose Tuesdays, reframed one day each week as Nutrient Day, when all staff and students wrote in prose to collectively “feed” the ecosystem of the institution. Together, these practices explored more ecological, collaborative ways of learning and sharing knowledge.
Part research project, part creative platform, the Royal College of Fungi asks a simple question: What might education look like if it behaved more like a forest than a hierarchy?
Ecology of Inspiration, 2018
Ecology of Inspiration (EoI) is a collaborative research project developed with educators working in alternative preschool settings in Bodrum, Turkey. Bringing together practitioners from Reggio Emilia, Waldorf (Steiner), and Montessori-inspired schools, the project explores how teachers sustain inspiration, reflection, and creative teaching practices within the everyday rhythms of the classroom.
EoI focuses on the often-overlooked spaces of teaching practice: staff break times and in-class moments where educators navigate challenges such as overstimulation, habitual behaviours, and classroom hierarchies. Through conversations, workshops, and shared experimentation, the project investigates how these moments shape both teacher wellbeing and the learning environment for young children.
At the centre of the project is an open archive where educators can upload or mail materials, texts, and resources that inspire their practice. This growing collection functions as a shared platform for exchange, enabling teachers across different pedagogical approaches to connect their experiences and support one another.
The project also developed a series of experimental tools through workshops with participating teachers. These included Energy Sands, a visual sand-timer system that helps teachers communicate their energy levels and signal when a break is needed, and Help Screen, a classroom-based interface that allows educators to seek advice from a collective group when encountering challenging classroom situations.
Through these experiments, Ecology of Inspiration investigates how collaborative infrastructures,archives, communication tools, and reflective practices, can help maintain inspiration and support within alternative education environments.
