The Future is Fungi
How Mycelium Can Build Our Sustainable Future
Overview
⏱️Schedule: Doors 18:30 → Talk 19:00→ Q&A → Mingle
🌐 Language: English
We live in a world grappling with resource scarcity and mounting waste. Traditional manufacturing processes often deplete natural resources and create pollution, leaving us searching for new, sustainable solutions. What if the answer isn't in inventing something entirely new, but in harnessing an ancient, hidden power that's been beneath our feet all along? Imagine a future where we grow our materials instead of manufacturing them, where waste is transformed into valuable products.
Join microbiologist Stefano Roccio as he unveils the incredible potential of fungi to transform industries. With deep expertise in fungal biotechnology, Stefano will explore how mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms, can become a cornerstone of a circular, bio-based future. He’ll cut through the hype to reveal both the promise and the practical challenges of bringing this fungal revolution to life.
What we'll cover:
3. From lab to industry: where mycelium-based technologies are already being explored, from construction and textiles to fermentation, pigments, enzymes, and circular systems.
4. The real challenges behind the hype: scalability, reproducibility, durability, regulation, quality control, and industrial acceptance.
5. A fungal future: how biology, design, and engineering can work together to create new materials and rethink the way industries use resources.
Speaker
Stefano Roccio
Research Scientist at MNEXT
Stefano Roccio is an Italian microbiologist and Research Scientist at MNEXT, specializing in fungal biotechnology and biomimicry. With Master’s degrees in Molecular Biology and Genetics and Bio-Inspired Innovation, his expertise spans diverse scientific fields. MNEXT is a research center in material and energy transition within Avans Hogeschool in Breda, the Netherlands. At MNEXT, Stefano focuses on mycelium-based materials, smart fermentation, and fungal biotechnology, exploring how fungi can contribute to sustainable applications in construction, design, and alternative proteins.