Designing Beyond Speciesism: Embracing Multispecies Cultures in Insect Biorefinery

Development is not a neutral phenomenon; thus, an ethics of care framework is essential for addressing complex challenges in sustainable organisations. Insect Biorefinery (IB) for feed and food is often promoted as a sustainable solution to upcycle nutrients from food loss and waste but faces significant challenges. Many existing IB organisations exhibit speciesism—prioritising certain species (mammals primarily) over others (insects)—while relying on one-size-fits-all solutions that overlook diverse ecological and social contexts in which they operate. This approach undermines the principles of democratic practices, which emphasise participation, representation, and respect for all stakeholders, including nonhuman entities. This research investigates how designers can develop more inclusive business models by co-creating with multispecies agencies to pursue equitable development. The core hypothesis is that applying a speculative capabilities approach to multispecies justice can establish objectives in designing IB organisations.Our ongoing study focuses on scaling IB within Europe, discussing (1) Black Soldier Fly capabilities in natural and artificial habitats through multispecies storytelling and (2) overlooked human situated knowledge via speculative co-fabulation. Central contributions are: 1. Identifying multispecies and autobiographical approaches as tools for challenging speciesist narratives; 2. A framework to co-design with multispecies cultures; 3. Synthesis and ranking of competing designs for democratic IB.