2026 Theme
Emergent Integration
In 2022 we themed the RMC “Honoring Succession” to draw awareness to the importance and complexity of Earth’s constant flux, which fungi guide so well. In 2024 we looked to “Recompose and Catalyze” our collective mycogeist, and to explore the meaning below the growth of the first fungi that arise in a habitat impacted by wild fire.
For 2026, we take step deeper into patterns of recovery and regeneration to consider the tone, temperament, and timings of life in an ecosystem – a world – that is newly redesigning itself in the wake of older forms.
Ecological or cultural succession are never linear. For though the history of a place or people may rhyme, they never repeat. The slightest additions or losses to a community of plants or ideas can have widespread impacts, with novel combinations creating collaborative expressions and emergent notions that would otherwise be impossible to enact by the parts laid alone. Such acts of emergence are seen mycologically in the growth of complex mushrooms from chaotic webs of mycelium, and in the varied shapes of lichens, which result from the unique combination of hundreds of members inside each thallus. It is also seen in the impacts of mycorrhizal fungi as they curate the assemblage of a habitat’s plants, thereby determining which herbivores and other animals thrive in that space.
In the human world, we celebrate emergence when it arises as a collective will drawn from shared experience, or when it surfaces in the self actualization that comes from a person’s discovery of their own inner ecosystem.
The birth of an emergent whole is not without effort, though. For not only is the creation process at times trialing, understanding and acceptance of what has been brought into the world is needed from whatever or whoever came before. To integrate novelty with peace and stability, members within and outside of the new must seek a balancing point, and a lens through which to see the value in the other.
Fungi teach of integration through their ability to digest and transmute all that they encounter (including unfamiliar challenges) into healthier habits – whether by the ways their mycelia weave into the roots and aerial systems of plants, or in their slow growth into popular culture.
For humans, integration is a word used to describe the healing process of aligning emotional responses with thoughts, memories, and behaviors to become a more consistent and self-aware whole.
These are just a few of the ways that we believe new beginnings can inform and inspire us as one works to connect with the fungi near them. As we plan to gather for the 2026 Radical Mycology Convergence, we invite all attendees, teachers, performers, and artists to consider the meaning of Emergent Integration in their life and in the wondrous humans, habitats, and hyphae around them.
Featured Fungi
Pleurotus – The Grand Recomposer
The genus we lift up this year as the embodiment of this theme is Pleurotus, the well-known, yet ever-surprising Oyster mushrooms.
Familiar species in the grocery aisle and a welcomed (and often abundant) find during spring and fall forays, Oysters are one of the first species that cultivators learn to grow thanks to the tenacity and adaptability of these mushrooms.
Ecologically, Pleurotus species are early stage decomposers that catalyze the breakdown of woody materials through their powerful white rot abilities – traits that have been known for decades to degrade a range of persistent toxins. Immune system supporting, Pearl Oysters are renowned for their production of lovastatin, which can assist with cholesterol issues in humans. While ecologically, some species surprise us through their nematode-trapping mycelial loops and copious release of white spores.
In many ways, Oysters combine all of the things we love about mushrooms – they are an integrated whole with few drawbacks and a diversity of expressions found in both color and emergent form. They are often the first stepping spore for beginners into the world of fungi. And they offer a consistent point of reference throughout one’s journey in mycology, whether for their taste, texture, prowess, commonality, or ease of acquaintanceship.
In many ways, they are the genus to first look toward when redesigning a human-made system into one that is more mycologically aware. They enable easy conversation, and they provide a grounded mycelial mat from which to spawn new ideas from. With a seemingly unlimited potential, each Pleurotus mushroom is uniquely the result of timing and intention. They are always the same, yet ever-changing within their context, – sculpted by and with the experiences of all who encounter their world.
