I am guest editing a special issue in Interface Focus, published by the Royal Society, on stigmergy and decentralized coordination across biological, human and artificial systems. The issue is titled 'Metamarks and Collective Coordination Spanning Biology to Digital Society' and is co-edited with Muhammad Salman.

Stigmergy was first described by Pierre-Paul Grassé in 1959 to explain how termites construct complex nests through environmental traces rather than direct communication. The concept has since traveled far beyond entomology. Researchers now apply stigmergic thinking to ant colony optimization, online collaborative platforms, urban infrastructure and the design of resilient distributed networks.

The special issue is organized around the concept of metamarks, which are environmental modifications through which distributed agents shape each other's behavior without any explicit intention to coordinate. Contributors will address both foundational theory and applied questions, including whether digital symbolic traces qualify as stigmergic signals and how stigmergic systems respond to adversarial manipulation in large-scale networks.

We have confirmed contributors from ecology, cognitive science, public administration, complex systems research, comparative psychology, ceramics, applied physical sciences, creative media, information systems, urban planning, architecture, design and cybernetics across multiple geographies. The cross-disciplinary scope reflects what Interface Focus does best and what stigmergy as a framework genuinely demands.

Manuscripts are due November 5, 2026, with publication expected in mid-2027.