Dark Matter Labs

UNIVERSAL BASIC NUTRIENT INCOME ☘️ Entry Point #1 True Cost Accounting and the Healthcare System 🚨 What is the COST of NOT transitioning to healthy and sustainable diets? In Sweden, the direct 💉healthcare costs associated with diet-related cardiovascular diseases could technically cover the 🥗 cost of providing each year till 2040, 665 days per year (!) full, free EAT Lancet Planetary Health Nutrition to those sick from the disease. This means that 182% of the annual meals for patients suffering from the disease could have been prescribed as part of the healthcare system. This time, the True Cost Accounting unit at Dark Matter Labs has quantified the healthcare costs associated with current Swedish diets till 2040. The cost of not transitioning from the current average Swedish diet to the EAT-Lancet diet amounts to €302,842,944 (3.5 billion SEK) over the next 15 years. These direct costs arise from four major diseases linked to the consumption of just three food groups: (i) beef, lamb, and pork, (ii) saturated oils, and (iii) added sugars. And this is just a start - if quantifying the indirect costs, such as e.g. cost of sick leave, this number only would grow. This leads us to a question asked by many: ➡️ Current market prices do not fully capture the impacts of food leading to behaviors which further influence human- and earth ecosystems health. True Cost Accounting (TCA) offers a promise to change that through providing an evidence base for increased civic awareness, policy, taxation, outcome & performance based-investing in public health. Incorporating the negative health effects of food products into their pricing is a critical step toward addressing the external costs associated with poor dietary choices. These societal healthcare costs, which represent a significant negative externality, can be mitigated by recognising the economic benefits of healthier diets and the potential savings in healthcare expenditures. ⁉️ How can we invest future costs of unhealthy consumption in present measures that promote healthy and sustainable dietary patterns? Thanks to great work of Alexandra Hansten, Alberto Hernandez Morales, always inspired by Linnea Rönnquist. UBNI is a speculative design project and emerging programme co-developed by Dark Matter Labs, MiljöMatematik Malmö AB, and is part of the Vinnova 9outof10 - Protein Shift Innovation Platform.

La semana pasada acogimos la Asamblea General del proyecto europeo URBREATH Horizon Europe Project en Madrid 👏 🤝 Como parte de un gran equipo local, formado por el Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Basurama Collective, Centro de Innovación en Tecnología para el Desarrollo Humano itdUPM y Dark Matter Labs, hemos organizado una jornada de 3 días para compartir los avances que estamos haciendo en el Distrito de #Villaverde con el resto del consorcio europeo. 🗨️ En el seno de esta jornada, realizamos una sesión y taller técnico-politico con 9 departamentos del Ayuntamiento de Madrid para abordar transformaciones urbanas en torno al #cambioclimático. #URBREATH es un proyecto que busca impulsar Soluciones basadas en la Naturaleza #SbN combinando metodologías y tecnologías que mejoren la toma de decisiones en la administración pública. En #Madrid, estamos trabajando para diseñar e impulsar una metodología de innovación pública, que busca construir un grupo de trabajo interdepartamental en el Ayuntamiento, capaz de abordar la adaptación climática desde diferentes enfoques. 🌱 Trabajamos para construir una visión de distrito que permita coser Villaverde, un distrito fragmentado y con importantes retos socioeconómicos. Lo haremos pensando en itinerarios, o corredores verdes, que integren mejoras en la #movilidad, el espacio público, la revitalización del comercio, el empleo, y la #regeneración de áreas industriales. Durante la semana pasada tuvimos la suerte de disfrutar de La Nave y el International Lab , así como de organizar una cena en el #Mercado de Villaverde Alto, enseñando a nuestros partners europeos la riqueza de nuestro pequeño comercio y la importancia de pensar en ellos cuando hablamos de renaturalización. 👇 Podéis leer más aquí: https://n9.cl/wlr4ro [ENG] Last week we hosted the General Assembly of the European #URBREATH project in Madrid. As part of a great local team, made up of Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Basurama Collective, Centro de Innovación en Tecnología para el Desarrollo Humano itdUPM and Dark Matter Labs, we organized a 3-day event to share the progress we are making in the District of #Villaverde with the rest of the European consortium. Within this day, we held a technical-political session and workshop with 9 departments of the Madrid City Council to address urban transformations around #climatechange. URBREATH is a project that seeks to promote Nature-based Solutions combining methodologies and technologies that improve decision making in public administration. In #Madrid, we are working to design and drive a public innovation methodology, which seeks to build an interdepartmental working group in the City Council, able to address climate adaptation from different approaches.

Navigating the Difference Engine: the Fragility of Identity and Change in a Volatile World As we grapple with rising “discourse” on migration and immigration , I find myself reflecting: why does issue of migration—trigger such powerful reactions across certain societies? At its core, I would suggest that this isn't just about migration. It's about the fragility of personal identity, purpose, and direction of becoming in a world that feels increasingly volatile and fragile. When people feel uncertain about their place in society, they often look for ways to reduce external differences to regain a sense of control and security a social illusion of certainty and a visual community of fate. Migration, being highly visible, often becomes the first "difference" to be targeted. But this is only the first-order difference. Once migration is "addressed," attention I would hypothecate often shifts to other forms of difference—be it political views, gender identity, or even socioeconomic status. What’s concerning is that this reactive cycle can lead societies down a very dark path if we don’t address the fundamental drivers of fear and instability. The key challenge I would suggest we face is not migration itself, but the structural factors driving volatility in our world—factors like climate breakdown, economic inequality, political instability, and the rapid technological disruptions transforming industries and communities. These forces erode the foundations of stability, making people more susceptible to fear and division. Addressing these underlying factors requires a much deeper response than merely reacting to the symptoms. We need systemic reforms that tackle the root causes of fear—by fostering belief, economic resilience, investing in civic infrastructure, etc. The future we build will, I suggest, depend not on how we react to superficial and designed differences, but on how we strengthen the structures that allow people to feel secure, purposeful, and in shared “communities” of fate in an ever-changing world. This is debate is a symptom of this structural challenges we face. The real failure is our unwillingness to really face up to the structural challenges that we face, yet persistently indulge in picking at the symptoms and maintaining a blind eye to the structural questions. One could argue that the increasing focus on migration, and the growing societal attention to this issue, serves as a powerful indicator of systemic governance failure. It reflects a collective inability of governments to move beyond addressing symptoms, becoming increasingly locked into symptom management rather than creating the conditions for more viable long-term outcomes. Just a thought..

Last week, I had the pleasure to attend Placemaking Week in my now home city of Rotterdam. It was great to see placemaking recognised as a transformative approach to tackling complex challenges in climate adaptation 🌍, and a powerful driver for systemic change, with communities at the heart of building resilience from the bottom up. For the event I presented some of the work of my colleagues at Dark Matter Labs' TreesAI, where we explored the importance of revaluing nature 🌳 as critical and investable urban infrastructures. I was also able to join several other discussions focused on the challenges and opportunities to implement nature in cities • In the session "𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗨𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲", by UrbanShift, and hosted by Bruno Hernandez Incau from World Resources Institute, we learned from the experiences of three Latin American cities 🌎 and discussed the difficulty of gaining support for nature solutions, both in communities as within city administrations, which requires better ways of understanding and communicating the value of nature in our cities. Maria Jose Leveratto • In "𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 & 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀", curated by the Gemeente Den Haag, Bradford Council , and Vilanova de Famalicao, and housing associations from Paris Habitat and Woonstad Rotterdam, we explored how cities can help residents future-proof their communities 🌱 through community garden initiatives, and discussed the long-term challenges of sustaining these critical initiatives, from ensuring resources and shared ownership to fostering stewardship over time. Thank you Matthijs Van Muijen and others for the great session. • In "𝗖𝗼-𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲-𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 & 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘀", featuring insights from the cities of Dordrecht, Bradford, and Thessaloniki, and facilitated by Stephanie Patterson from C40 Cities, we explored how under-utilized public spaces can be leveraged to test and scale up innovative urban nature typologies, building climate resilience and fostering innovation at the community level 🌿. Thank you Dimitra Zouni and Resilient Cities Network for your valuable contributions. Overall, it was incredibly inspiring to take part in such rich discussions, both in the sessions and beyond, and to see the role of placemakers and nature being recognised ever more as essential for creating a more equitable and resilient urban future 🏙️. A big thank you to Placemaking Europe STIPO and Gemeente Rotterdam for organising such a fantastic event, and to all colleagues, old and new, for making these days so memorable! 👏 📷@Maria Blau #nature #placemaking #investing #resilience #urbandesign

Today marks the first of three days of the general assembly of the URBREATH Horizon Europe Project in Villaverde, Madrid! 37 organisations from 12 countries have come together to promote urban regeneration and climate resilience through Nature-Based Solutions. Madrid, along with Aarhus, Athens, Cluj-Napoca, Kajaani, Leuven, Parma, Pilsen & Tallinn are exploring how to leverage technology and participatory processes to promote the systemic adoption of Nature-Based Solutions for urban regeneration. In Villaverde, Madrid, Ayuntamiento de Madrid and supporting partners Dark Matter Labs, Traza Consultoría, Basurama Asociación and Innovation and Technology for Development Centre - itdUPM, aim to design, implement and evaluate a new approach for cross-departamental, public-realm interventions that provide cool corridors, ecological connectivity, increased accessibility and social and economic benefits in the district. Dark Matter Labs with TreesAI, aims to support Madrid in testing a cross-departmental approach to urban planning, utilising new digital tools, data sharing processes, and innovative civic-public maintenance strategies. We are keen to hear from other cities and organisations working on similar innovations! #URBREATH #NatureBasedSolutions #NetZeroCities #UrbanInnovation #SustainableCities #HorizonEurope

🌐In Arantzazulab we analyse global trends in democracy innovation; we contribute from our context; we are part of networks; we explore advanced experiences; we identify innovative approaches and test them in our institutions. 📲On the second day of #DBJ2024, Paolo Gerbaudo -Universidad Complutense de Madrid- will share his thoughts on democracy and new technologies. He will describe how we often participate in democracy without reflecting, and how new technologies open up new possibilities and raise new contradictions.   💬Second inspiring talk on day 2 of #DBJ2024, Fang-Jui 'Fang-Raye' Chang -Dark Matter Labs- will share initiatives she has been involved in and research she is doing to deepen democracy through technology and design; among others she has worked in governments in the UK (at Policy Lab UK on open policy making) and Taiwan (with former digital Minister, Audrey Tang on digital democracy, open government, and social innovation). She argues that democracy is being ostracised and that she is focusing on the post-democracy era. 👉The representatives of the 3 universities of #IkerketaElkargunea (the collaborative research space) will talk about the space for collaborative research, research on democracy and ways to understand it. The researchers Andoni Eizagirre, Mondragon Unibertsitatea; Antonio Casado da Rocha, UPV/EHU; and Eider Landaberea Abad, Universidad de Deusto, will join this panel. 💥The second innovation ecosystem we promoted is #KosorkuntzaEkosistema. On the second day of #DBJ2024, in a second panel we will talk about the systemic contribution of this space, the knowledge and practices developed, together with Leire Cancio Orueta -Beta eraldaketa-, Garazi Camino Herrero -MARAKA- and Iranzu Guijarro Plaza (She/Her) -ColaBoraBora. During the three days of #DBJ2024, we will have a very special guest who is doing a fellowship at Arantzazulab: Adam Kahane -Reos Partners-. 📑He will join the reflections and present a synthesis of what has been covered on democracy innovation at the end of the second and third days. ℹ️ https://lnkd.in/d7k8_br4 #DBJ2024 #DemocracyInnovation

Maybe we need to radically rethink our approach to #BusinessModels in the context of collapse and transition. Caterpillars with wings are not the transformation we are looking for. So what is the butterfly in the world of business models? Based on long and deep conversations with a few colleagues at Dark Matter Labs, I've put some thoughts into writing. It's total work in progress and very much builds on many other publications of Dm and other great thought leaders in this space. Not claiming any of this is new. But maybe it triggers a distributed conversation that helps us unearth new insights and ways forward. In the spirit of collective learning and advancing the field: – What are the most radical and alternative approaches you've seen in business model innovation? True butterflies, not caterpillars with wings. What are the most audacious experiments out there? – Who are key actors in this field? – How does this all link to the world of #investment and #finance more broadly? There are lots more questions than answers in this (even more in the doc) but maybe in a highly emergent space like this, asking the right questions is the most powerful thing we can do to catalyse progress, step by step. I greatly welcome peoples' thoughts – both here and in the doc itself! Link to Google Doc: https://lnkd.in/eeKq-jb7

Are you interested in our Strategic Projects Manager role at DM Netherlands but unsure if you should apply? 💭 We’re hosting an online 40-minute Q&A session next Monday, October 7th, at 6 PM CEST. Whether you’ve applied already or not, you’re more than welcome to join us! Feel free to write us at join@darkmatterlabs.org to say hi and register 👋 Kind reminder: this role requires full fluency in Dutch (oral and written) and being based in the Netherlands with weekly in-person work in Amsterdam. Melissa Watkins Romy Snijders Joost Beunderman Jorn Verbeeck Andrea Vos 🦊 Arjan Hassing Theo Campbell Robert de Jong Leon Seefeld Gurden Batra Marlies Weyergang Yvonne de Meij van Streefkerk Lilian Leermakers Eveline Bakker Fanauw Hoppe

We're back from New York and the UN #Summit of the Future - and we asked our network what they made of the developments. Here's Alexandra Bekker from Dark Matter Labs: #UNGA #PactfortheFuture

💥#DBJ2024 W𝗵𝘆 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆? Governments and social actors need innovative approaches, strategic vision, transformative leadership and new models of collaboration with citizens. Arantzazulab wants to intervene in this field. 💬On the first day of the #DBJ2024 conference, Nicole Curato -University of Canberra-will speak about the crisis of voices around the world and the constrained context in which we live.🌱 She will then describe a blueprint for innovation, with examples of meaningful public innovation around the world. 📌In the second keynote on the opening day, Lucy Kimbell -Central Saint Martins, University of The Arts London will describe how design has the potential to renew democracy and strengthen democratic innovation efforts🔎She will build her presentation on a philosophical foundation, drawing on examples from around the world.   👉At the opening panel of the #DBJ2204, we will have a conversation with close advisers and close collaborators ( Miren Larrea, Orkestra-Basque Institute of Competitiveness; Jayne Engle, Dark Matter Labs; Xabier Barandiaran Irastorza, Universidad de Deusto)✳️We will talk about Arantzazulab's journey and ambitions for the future to strengthen democracy from our value system. ℹ️ https://lnkd.in/d7k8_br4 #DBJ2024 #DemocracyInnovation