The path towards a biointelligent future – White Arkitekter takes part in Vinnova’s futures prototype

The Vinnova initiative invites designers, researchers, forest stakeholders and innovators across the value chain – from forestry and industry to academia – to explore how the forest can be managed, valued and governed in a time of climate urgency and systemic change. Among the selected proposals, The Guardians’ Boardroom was recognised for its strong potential to address the sector’s most pressing challenges – while inspiring new ways of thinking.

Led by Emelie Ekblad and Fiona Hazell (MAD), together with Maria Bergmark from SVID, the Swedish Industrial Design Foundation, and Arctic Design Centre, in collaboration with White Arkitekter, the project investigates how decision-making in the forest industry can shift towards a regenerative, inclusive and long-term model – aligning with White Arkitekter’s vision for 2030, where all architecture supports regenerative development.

Decision-making led by ecosystem intelligence

The Guardians’ Boardroom brings together perspectives from across the spectrum: industry leaders, Indigenous voices, biomaterial innovators, architects, investors, AI advisors, human rights experts, researchers and land stewards – alongside non-human perspectives. Through a scenario-based approach and foresight tools, the group navigates a speculative future where decisions are guided by ecological intelligence, circular business models and collective resilience.

The work is grounded in a model for ecosystem-led governance – shifting the focus from extraction to restoration, and from short-term profit to long-term adaptability. Through new materials, reimagined value chains and alternative governance models, The Guardians’ Boardroom envisions how the forest industry could become a regenerative force – not a burden.

Exhibition: Prototyping futures together

In late May, the project was presented as an exhibition at White Arkitekter in Stockholm. The exhibition, Explore – Evoke – Evolve, forms part of The Guardians’ Boardroom and offers a tangible glimpse into the prototype’s methods and outcomes. Through scenario-based methods and future techniques, it explores how people, ecosystems and technology might collaborate to shape sustainable value chains rooted in respect and care for forest resources.

Set in 2035, six imagined rooms reveal how forestry by-products can power circular and regenerative futures – from new forms of living and growing, to cultural practices, economic models and enhanced resilience. Where linear flows end, lifeflows begin.

The Guardians’ Boardroom is more than a vision. It’s a participatory platform for co-creation and inquiry – asking what it might mean to make decisions in the future when ecosystems, humans and technology all hold an equal place at the table.

A digital publication capturing the content and context of the exhibition will be released alongside the project’s final report in autumn 2025 – with more information to follow.