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 >
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Posted in Featured, Innovation Insights on June 23, 2016 by jenna
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 >
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Posted in Inspired by Nature on June 16, 2016 by jenna
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 >
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Posted in Biomimicry in Action on June 9, 2016 by jenna
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 >
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Posted in Biomimicry in Action, Innovation Insights on June 1, 2016 by jenna