Economic Prototypes: From Time Banks to Bioregional Currencies
Testing new models of exchange and value that keep wealth local. This includes reputation-based systems, mutual credit networks, and asset-backed community coins.
Posts
Building the Distributed Campus: Hubs, Living Labs, and Residencies
The Institute has no central quad. Instead, it's a network of sites across the region where research, learning, and making happen embedded in community.
The Ethics of Futurology: Avoiding Colonialism in Tomorrow's Appalachia
Who gets to imagine the future? The Institute maintains a rigorous ethics board to ensure its work empowers rather than imposes, and centers marginalized voices.
Hydro-Futurism: Managing Water in an Era of Deluge and Drought
Climate change brings intensified floods and deeper droughts. The Institute's water strategies include ancient rain-harvesting techniques and modern sensor networks.
The Appalachian Seed Bank and Climate-Adaptive Silviculture
Preserving the genetic diversity of native trees and crops is critical for climate resilience. This project identifies and propagates future-adapted strains.
Demographic Futures: Welcoming New Arrivals and Supporting Aging in Place
Addressing both population decline and potential climate migration, the Institute develops models for intentional community growth and dignified elder care.
The Role of Mycotechnology in Remediation and Material Science
Fungi are the future. This research explores using mycelium to clean polluted sites, create sustainable building materials, and even as a computing substrate.
Archiving the Future: The Living Library of Appalachian Possibilities
This is not an archive of the past, but a curated collection of prototypes, plans, and stories for futures that could be. It serves as a seed bank for the regional imagination.
The Energy Futures Lab: From Coal to Geothermal and Beyond
Harnessing the region's deep geothermal potential and pioneering small-scale hydro, the Institute maps a just transition for energy workers and communities.
Modeling Polycentric Governance for Post-Carbon Mountain Communities
How will decisions be made in a decentralized, resilient Appalachia? The Institute uses complex simulation games to test new forms of nested, adaptive governance.
The Future of Appalachian Craft in an Age of Automation
Can a robot carve a dulcimer? Should it? This post examines collaborations between master artisans and AI to preserve and evolve traditional making.
Bridging the Urban-Rural Divide Through Futurist Exchange Programs
The Institute facilitates structured residencies where city planners and rural community leaders trade places and perspectives. The goal is to forge symbiotic, not extractive, relationships.
The 100-Year Food Forest Project and Perennial Agriculture
This long-term experiment in agroforestry aims to transform marginal lands into layered, productive ecosystems. It blends Cherokee forest gardening with modern silvopasture techniques.
Speculative Storytelling as a Tool for Community Visioning
Using fiction, games, and oral history, the Institute facilitates workshops where residents imagine potential futures. This process makes abstract trends tangible and democratizes foresight.
Digital Sovereignty and the Appalachian Mesh Network Initiative
The HollerNet project builds community-owned internet infrastructure resilient to outages and corporate control. This post details the technical and social architecture of a decentralized web.