Top 3 must-sees: Biomimicry in the built environment
When it comes to incorporating biomimicry into the built environment–all the spaces that we create to live, eat, sleep, play, and work in–the design potential is hugely exciting.
Read MoreBSpec deadlines approaching: Bring biomimicry into your sphere
It’s always fun to look at this map that shows the growing network of Certified Biomimicry Specialists, or as we like to call them BSpecs, who have graduated from our program and gone on to integrate biomimicry into their careers. In fact, there are many more red dots we need to add, as more and more innovators are added to our alumni list. They’re doing things like helping plan the next international biomimicry conference and running companies that apply the principles of biomimicry to increase investment opportunities. You can meet those grads here. It’s exciting to see them integrating biomimicry principles and tools into their primary disciplines, and become leaders in the emerging network of biomimicry researchers and practitioners. Can you see yourself doing the same? The deadline to apply for the Fall B session of the graduate certificate is August 1. You can apply again for the Spring A session on November 1. All the details are here. Our BSpec program has evolved as these...Read More >
Read MoreBiomimicry and human-centered design: A pathway to high-impact innovation
We’re excited to introduce a new strategic partnership this week, setting us up to fuse biomimicry with human-centered design. Just like it’s name suggests, human-centered design puts humans at the center of the design process. Our new partner, Azul 7, is the expert consulting firm when it comes to doing that. Pairing our biological intelligence services with the power of Azul 7’s expertise will give clients a beautiful design experience–one that creates products, processes, systems, and services that benefit humans AND the Earth. Read on for the full partnership rundown: Azul 7, a human-centered design consultancy based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Biomimicry 3.8, the world’s leading bio-inspired consultancy headquartered in Missoula, Montana, are inviting companies to re-imagine how they solve problems through a new fusion of biological intelligence and human-centered design. The companies recently announced a strategic partnership that will enable clients to engage a high-impact innovation platform that inspires design solutions that work for humans—and for the planet. “Combining...Read More >
Read MoreNucleated cells: Setting the stage for an evolutionary explosion
Scientists estimate that there could be up to a trillion species on Earth today! Though most are microbes, it’s an astounding amount of Life. But consider this: together, we represent less than 1 percent of all the species that have ever lived since Life first appeared on Earth 3.8 billion years ago. So where did all this diversity come from? It starts with the fact that nature loves to design and innovate. Nature has been conducting R&D for 3.8 billion years, and amongst a wide collection of successful and repeated strategies, nucleated cells is a big winner. We’re celebrating the “birthday” of nucleated cells this week as a part of our year-long Happy Birthday Life celebration. In March, we told you about the day photosynthesis appeared. And, we told you about how Life first appeared on Earth in the form of a single-celled organism on February 25. That’s according to Earth’s calendar year calculations, which compress the age of Earth (4.5...Read More >
Read MoreNetherlands workshop: Social innovation inspiration via social media
Our latest Biomimicry Thinking for Social Innovation immersion workshop wrapped up last week in The Netherlands, where participants gathered with Dr. Dayna Baumeister, Biomimicry 3.8 Co-founder, and Toby Herzlich, founder of Biomimicry for Social Innovation, in De Spreeuwelse Heide, near Eindhoven in Westelbeers, for five days of exploration of the fusion of biomimicry and social innovation. The workshop took the crew through sand dunes, moors, and woodlands in the Netherlands as they learned to apply design lessons from nature to help grow resilient organizations and foster a regenerative society abundant with innovative leaders. It made for a “mind-blowing” workshop, participant Leen Gorissen said on Twitter. We got to live vicariously through the crew thanks to social media, which provided a snapshot of the experience (and the views). Here’s a sampling of the shares: Finally, a Facebook post from Karen de Moss, who showed off her completion certificate, noting that “We made it!” Learn more about our immersion workshop, biomimicry, and Biomimicry 3.8, connect with us...Read More >
Read More100 ways to spark new ideas: A daily dose of biomimicry news
Scrolling through the Synapse by Biomimicry 3.8 newsfeed raises more than a few interesting questions: Can sunflowers save the bees? How does slime mold “decide” how to move toward food? What if we designed trusses like dragonfly wings? What kind of engineering tips can we get from a killer trapdoor plant? That’s one of the great things about biomimicry; you never know what kind of thought-provoking design inspiration might be found when you look to nature for answers. We recently hit a milestone on our new Synapse by Biomimicry 3.8 newsfeed when we published our 100th post, each of which includes expert commentary on recent biomimicry news articles, papers, and innovations. The newsfeed provides a daily does of biomimicry news in the form of commentary from our experts, including Janine Benyus and Dr. Dayna Baumeister. Reaching the 100-post mark means we’ve compiled a tidy, scrollable list of 100 nature-inspired ways to spark new ideas on how to use nature’s genius to...Read More >
Read MoreHuman-nature connection: Student videos give powerful perspective
Whether you’re an engineer fascinated by the concept of being able to emulate the designs created by nature during 3.8 billion years of evolution, or a lover of the outdoors looking to reconnect with the natural world and apply its wisdom to your career, biomimicry–by default or by design–puts people in touch with nature. “Biomimicry is all about emulating life’s genius. It’s learning from nature….That begs the question: what is nature? What does it look like and how can we wrap our mind and arms around the notion of nature? From there, you ask, ‘what is my personal connection with nature?’ “said Thomas Baumeister, an instructor for the Master’s of Science in Biomimicry at Arizona State University. Biomimicry 3.8 and ASU partnered in 2014 to begin offering the world’s first accredited master’s degree program for biomimicry, and to create the Biomimicry Center. Baumeister’s 517 class explores the human-nature connection, allowing students to dig deep into the concepts of how they...Read More >
Read MoreNew Inspired by Nature Training: We’re headed to San Francisco
We’re heading into the redwood forest outside San Francisco to explore the answer to that question–for a bit at least–during the first of our new training offerings: A three-day training specifically focused on biomimicry design for the built environment. Registration is now open for Inspired by Nature Training: Biomimicry for the Built Environment, which will be held at the HOK office in San Francisco’s Financial District November 2-4. Along with learning in the HOK offices, we’ll head to the California Academy of Sciences and the redwood forest. That’ll give participants a chance to explore nature’s design lessons and experiential play with lessons from local habitats. Then, they can take those lessons back and apply them to their own ecologies and project types. Applying biomimicry design to the built environment can inspire thinking that can help achieve resilient, sustainable design by accessing nature’s proven strategies and design successes defined through 3.8 billion years of evolutionary R&D. It can be applied by architects, planners, designers, design teams,...Read More >
Read MoreActivating purpose: Sharing nature’s lesson on purpose-driven leadership
Sustainable Brands will hold it’s annual conference in San Diego next week, focusing the four days of events on sustainably-led innovation that creates scalable impact and profitability. No doubt that achieving that kind of innovation requires strong leadership. And while design innovations inspired by nature are inherently life-friendly (we always like to say there are no landfills in nature), nature also has much to teach us about effective leadership. That’s the idea Janine Benyus is bringing to Sustainable Brands this year. She’ll take the main stage on Tuesday, June 7, to explain what nature can teach executives about effective, purpose-driven leadership. Janine talked biomimicry and it’s array of innovation inspirations when it comes to combatting things like climate change, contributing to a clean 3D printing revolution, and about the best ways organizations of any kind can integrate biomimicry into their innovation process with Sustainable Brands editor Jen Elks in advance of the conference. In the article, she explained the increased interest...Read More >
Read MoreSpring Flock: Online learners gather in desert for in-person meet up
A typical “meet up” of Master’s of Science in Biomimicry students includes video chats and virtual coursework assignments as they work toward their degrees. But during the Spring Flock at Rancho Robles in Arizona in May, students gathered in-person, where they met their classmates and the faculty and worked together on learning exercises in the Sonoran Desert. It was an optional, low-cost gathering organized by Dr. Dayna Baumeister, The Biomimicry Center co-director and professor of practice at ASU. “There was lots of fun and laughter,” Baumeister said. “We put faces to names and had great dialogue.” Biomimicry 3.8 and ASU partnered in 2015 to begin offering the world’s first accredited master’s degree program for biomimicry. The Biomimicry Center at ASU helps facilitate biomimicry education and research. The program graduated its first group of MS students in the Fall of 2015. Learn more about the programs here The Spring Flock was Baumeister’s idea. It was open to all students enrolled in...Read More >
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