We humans are learning more and more about fungi and plants. For a long time we thought that the fungal and plant kingdoms were isolated worlds, but since the last century we have known that they work together to survive. Fungi are attached to the hair roots of plants with their threads, so that they can exchange the nutrients they need with each other. That’s called mycorhiza. Science continues to unravel how ingenious this system is. For example, a forest turns out not to be a collection of loners, but a family of trees that send information to each other over great distances via the fungal networks underground. The following has been true for a long time: better together.
Our Better Together project can also learn from this. Within human society we have created a living world of residents and a system world of governments. Both try to tackle the major problems that arise in society, each in their own way: one more chaotic, the other more structured. Both are busy with the energy and climate problem at a local level. Our position is that such a social problem will be solved more quickly if more mycorhiza comes between the living and system world. The more inspiration, knowledge, skill and execution power flows from one to the other, the better for all. In short: better together. With the added bonus of reducing the gap between citizens and government. [text John Verheijden]