Networked Intelligence and Biomimicry for Regenerative Agriculture: An NGO inspired by Mycelia

---

Danny Diskin

Founder and co-director of RAIN (Regenerative Agroforestry Impact Network)

: Expert Opin Environ Biol

Abstract

---

Could the networked intelligence of a distributed global collective respond to challenges we fail to meet as individuals? Nature's networks—including ant colonies, slime mold amoebas, and the mycorrhizal network that connects trees beneath the forest floor—are successful because they know how to share resources and information for mutual resilience. Individuals in the collective work together, merging into a super organism that is greater than the sum of their parts. They act with surprising intelligence, mapping territories, distributing resources, and predicting patterns in time to ensure collective resilience. They communicate important information to respond to threats and opportunities in their environments. RAIN is inspired by and modeled on these networks, applying their distributed wisdom to every aspect of the business, from media strategy and communication to governance and project management. For us, working in a decolonial fashion means trading and learning from partners rather than making gifts to beneficiaries. What can we in the NGO sector learn from these networks? How can they inform our work and help us respond to challenges that ultimately threaten the entire human race?

Biography

---

Danny Diskin is the founder and co-director of RAIN (Regenerative Agroforestry Impact Network), a decolonial and distributed network supporting community-led regeneration projects with Indigenous nations, black women's groups, and other marginalized populations in Brazil. He founded RAIN after his time living in Brazil connected him to the diversity of her landscapes and cultures. He is determined to do what he can to stop their rapid destruction, and for him, that means facilitating communication and cooperation between communities separated by huge cultural differences and a shared history of colonial abuse. He focuses on general strategy, relations between the UK and Brazil, and communications. His background is in education, therapy, and public speaking. He is fascinated by the power of networks to regenerate social and ecological landscapes and enable mutual aid and ecosystem restoration for the resilience of the whole.