---
type: summary
title: The BFF Pattern Cards
description: A public set of 87 pattern cards, in seven types, for designing Bioregional Financing Facilities, from instruments and institutions to deep code shifts.
status: draft
confidence: medium
validation: machine
timestamp: 2026-10-09
licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
tags: [bff-pattern-cards, bioregional-financing-facilities, financial-instruments, governance-principles, capital-allocation, design-tools]
sources: []
---

# The BFF Pattern Cards

*The public Notion database of BFF Pattern Cards published by Dark Matter Labs. This page describes the database as read on 24 September 2026, when it held 87 cards (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, header). Read for this page: every card's properties and text. Linked Google Docs and provocation pages could not be read.*

## What it argues

The cards are a design kit for Bioregional Financing Facilities (BFFs). Each card names one reusable pattern. It may be an instrument, institution, tool, capability, principle, shift in logic or reason to fund (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, card Type fields). Many cards list what they require and what they are required for (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, T-01 Project Database). That structure suggests the cards are meant to be combined into a facility design (synthesis).

The set leans towards systemic finance (synthesis). Several cards describe portfolios, risk and value as properties of a whole place. The Portfolio Ecology capability, for example, designs portfolios on ecological principles (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, C-07 Portfolio Ecology). Many cards hold only a summary so far, with an empty detailed description (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, I-01 to I-22).

## Key points

- **Seven types.** It holds 22 Instruments, 27 Allocation Motifs, 8 Technologies, 8 Capabilities, 8 Governance Principles, 7 Institutions and 7 Deep Code Shifts (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, card Type fields).
- **How cards are tagged.** Instruments are tagged market, community, state or a mix. Technologies and Institutions carry a pillar: data and intelligence, projects, governance or finance. These three types also carry a difficulty of basic, medium or advanced (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, card properties).
- **Instruments, for example.** Bioregional Resilience Bonds borrow from catastrophe bonds to reinvest insurance savings into resilience (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, I-09). Bioregional Improvement Districts use a voluntary levy to fund shared infrastructure (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, I-08).
- **One instrument rests on many cards.** The Bioregional Investment Fund requires 12 other cards, including all eight Governance Principles (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, I-01). Bioregional Health Metrics are required for nine other cards (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, T-03).
- **Capabilities ask questions.** Each opens with a "How might our BFF design" question. It then says what the capability is, why it matters and what it enables (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, C-01 to C-08). Systemic Risk Management treats risk as a property of connected systems (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, C-06).
- **Deep Code Shifts contrast two logics.** The Time card moves from linear temporality to deep time. It states "The future is treated as a stakeholder" (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, DCS-03). Others cover value, extraction, risk, scarcity, relationality and growth (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, DCS-01 to DCS-07).
- **Governance Principles are short commitments.** One says allocation decisions "will not be made behind closed doors" (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, GP-05). Another treats in-person convening as an investment in system coherence (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, GP-04).
- **Allocation Motifs match reasons to funders.** Most name a type of financial capital and relevant funders. Ground Force Defence proposes rewetting wetlands as natural defence, funded through security finance (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, Ground Force Defence). Others cover avoided damage costs, supply chains and iconic species (raw/bff-pattern-cards-notion-2026-09-24.md, Allocation Motifs).

## Where it sits in this wiki

- [[The bioregions platform: programmes and pages]] describes the BFF Game built on these cards and the form that opens the online repository.
- [[Bioregional Financing Facilities (book, 2024)]] sets out the facility model the cards break into parts (synthesis).
- [[The Bioregional Health Framework]] relates to the Bioregional Health Metrics and Bioregional Observatory cards (synthesis).
- [[Bioregioning as Critical Infrastructure (Seefeld, 2026)]] makes the security argument that motifs such as Ground Force Defence put into practice (synthesis).