Discover Nature’s Genius for Social InnovationJune 10-16, 2022 | North Cascades Institute, Pacific Northwest
After putting our immersion workshops on hold for two years, we are thrilled to once again bring together Toby Herzlich, founder of Biomimicry for Social Innovation, and Dayna Baumeister, cofounder of Biomimicry 3.8, to offer an immersive workshop into the world of biomimicry as applied to social innovation. This is our sixth year of collaborating in this space and we are excited to bring you the “best of” what we’ve learned and practiced over the years.
Through a cross-pollination of the fields of social innovation and biomimicry, this seven-day immersion will explore the lessons nature has to teach us about creating a more adaptable, resilient, cooperative, and networked world. It’s a results-driven approach that’s been used by organizations of all kinds—from corporations to nonprofits to government entities—to solve some of their toughest challenges and create a better way of doing business, and change how we make change. In one of the most intact wildlands in the contiguous United States, you’ll discover how nature’s genius can help grow resilient organizations and foster a regenerative society abundant with innovative leaders.
Bring your organization’s toughest challenge and discover how biological intelligence can drive cutting-edge social innovation solutions. Through six days of experience-driven and science-based discovery and leadership practice, you’ll work with interdisciplinary teams to discover how nature’s genius can foster better collaboration, create successful systems, and navigate change in complex conditions or in times of disturbance. These lessons from nature will help you lead the way to a more adaptable, resilient, cooperative, and networked world.
Who Is It For
Regardless of your familiarity with biomimicry, the workshop is for anyone who wants to re-imagine solutions to social and organizational challenges. Executive, business, non-profit, education, public policy, faith, and government leaders have used this course to change they way they tackle challenges. If you want to learn from nature to inspire new ways of doing business and begin gathering the biomimicry tools you need to elevate the way you think, work, and lead–this workshop is for you.
Where Is It
The workshop will be held at the 8,000-acre Blacktail Ranch, where Montana’s Rocky Mountains meet the prairies in a dramatic convergence of rocky cliffs and grassy hills. You’ll be inspired by the beauty and ruggedness, as well as one of the most biologically rich regions in the entire country. Accommodations include the historical lodge and cabins, and fantastic local, organic food.
The Greater North Cascades Ecosystem (GNCE) is one of the finest expressions on the North American continent of nature's beauty and diversity.
Dayna Baumeister and Toby Herzlich are your experienced facilitators for the week.
Our home base for the week will be the North Cascades Institute in the heart of the North Cascades National Forest.
Explore life’s resilience strategies in meadows of alpine wildflowers while connecting with Life’s Principles, a Biomimicry 3.8 tool that summarizes the rules for how life survives and thrives on Earth, and how our organizations and systems might too.
You’ll join a motivated, hopeful, interdisciplinary crew of participants from around the world.
Deepen your understanding of Life’s Principles as we canoe on glacier-fed Diablo Lake, spotting for bald eagles, trumpeter swans and beaver.
You’ll join a motivated, hopeful, interdisciplinary crew of participants from around the world.
Mountains, rising nearly from sea level, are the signature of this magnificent place. Fifteen peaks tower over 9,000 feet while nearly 300 rise in elevation between 7,000 and 9,000 feet in the Greater North Cascades Ecosystem.
Each room has 4 beds and will be set up as double shared room with a shared bathroom. There will be a limited number of private rooms with a shared bathroom offered.
Diablo Lake, Sourdough Mountain and a sea of peaks make up the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center's neighborhood. Photo taken by John Scurlock
What To Expect
Every immersion workshop is tailored to the local ecosystem, ensuring each day is brimming with content and exploration. You should plan to clear your agenda and fully immerse yourself in the biomimicry experience! From our home base of the North Cascades Institute in the heart of North Cascades National Park, we’ll explore glacier-fed lakes, beautiful meadows and old-growth forests. We’ll be mentored by osprey and pikas as we hike the rocky slopes and explore cascading streams as we reflect on the endurance of nature’s genius. It makes for a jam-packed seven days of full-on, biomimicry-based exploration. Click below to get an inside look at one of our immersion workshops.
Over the course of the workshop, our expert biomimicry instructors will teach participants to:
Practice applying biomimicry thinking toward individual and team challenges
Define leadership challenges for which nature’s examples can best provide solutions
Re-imagine organizational leadership, strategy, planning, and operations with inspiration from healthy and evolving ecosystems
Apply the biomimicry process to model teams and organizations after healthy and evolving ecosystems and to become skillful at adaptive change
Be part of a diverse learning network guiding the growth of biomimetic applications for organizational development and social innovation
Apply design lessons from nature that can help grow resilient organizations and foster a regenerative society
What can you expect to experience while you Discover Nature’s Genius for Social Innovation in the North Cascades? Here’s a preview of what each day will include:
Day 1: Meet the group at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) Airport for the shuttle to the North Cascades Institute. Settle in at the venue and spend the afternoon getting oriented to biological wonders of the North Cascades Ecosystem while getting to know your fellow participants. We’ll provide an overview on how organizational leadership, strategy, planning and operations can draw inspiration from healthy, evolving ecosystems.
Day 2: With the first full day at the North Cascades Institute, you’ll be introduced to the Biomimicry Thinking tools and methodology. Immerse yourself in the new skills as you meet the species in the North Cascades. Practice seeing with your new biomimicry lenses.
Day 3: Begin honing your observation skills during exploration of the cedar forest. Explore life’s resilience strategies in meadows of alpine wildflowers while connecting with Life’s Principles, a Biomimicry 3.8 tool that summarizes the rules for how life survives and thrives on Earth, and how our organizations and systems might too.
Day 4: Deepen your understanding of Life’s Principles as we canoe on glacier-fed Diablo Lake, spotting for bald eagles, trumpeter swans and beaver. Regroup back at the North Cascades Institute and discuss the experience of abstracting Life’s Principles in the field. After dinner, we’ll look to apply those lessons through an ecosystem-audit of your own organization or social-change endeavor.
Day 5: We’ll explore one of the world's densest ancient forests for lessons on endurance, as we look to apply design lessons to help grow resilient organizations and foster a regenerative society. We’ll practice applying lessons to model teams and organizations to become skillful at adaptive change. Spend the evening sharing your team’s design ideas inspired by the day’s discoveries.
Day 6: New lessons await as we explore a riparian zone and discuss as a group the dynamics of change in nature. After lunch, spend the rest of the day on a continued journey of discovery into your selected biological phenomena and share with the group what you’ve learned and what ideas it has inspired. Give thanks to the wisdom found in this rich biome and celebrate the final evening of the workshop with the group!
Day 7: On the final day, if we haven’t yet, perhaps we’ll get to see the elusive grizzly bear. Reflections on building the diverse learning network of practitioners of biomimicry in social innovation wraps up our time. We’ll close the workshop after lunch for you to head back to the airport… or stay in the Pacific Northwest to continue traveling–either way, the next biomimicry adventure awaits!
Instructors
Dr. Dayna Baumeister | With a devotion to applied natural history and a passion for sharing the genius of nature, Dr. Dayna Baumeister has worked in the field of biomimicry with business partner Janine Benyus since 1998, traveling the world as a biomimicry thought-leader, business consultant, and professor. Together they founded the Biomimicry Guild consulting practice, The Biomimicry Institute 501c3, and Biomimicry 3.8, a B-Corp social enterprise that helps clients find innovation inspired by nature and offers the highest level of biomimicry training to professionals worldwide.
Dayna’s foundational work has been critical to the biomimicry movement, establishing it as a fresh and innovative practice, as well as a philosophy to meet the world’s sustainability challenges. As an educator, researcher, and design consultant, Dayna has helped more than 100 companies consult the natural world for elegant and sustainable design solutions, as diverse as Nike, Interface, General Mills, Boeing, Google, Natura, Herman-Miller, Kohler, Seventh Generation and Procter & Gamble. Dayna is a natural systems thinker and brings a unique perspective to her work to help others see nature as model, measure, and mentor. She designed and teaches the world’s first MSc in Biomimicry as a Professor of Practice at ASU, co-founded, is director of The Biomimicry Center at ASU. She compiled more than 20 years of experience in the practice of biomimicry into the world’s only textbook for the field: Biomimicry Resource Handbook: A Seed Bank of Knowledge and Best Practices (2014).
Toby Herzlich | Biomimicry for Social Innovation Founder Toby Herzlich is a leadership trainer and ICF-certified coach, master facilitator, and certified Biomimicry Specialist. Toby is committed to the creation of a just, healthy, and regenerative society, and heartfully enthused about the transformative potential of applying nature’s wisdom to humanity’s sustainability aspirations. With more than 25 years of facilitation experience, she is a Senior Trainer with the Rockwood Leadership Institute, co-founder of Cultivating Women’s Leadership, and a faculty in B3.8’s Biomimicry Professional Certification Program. As a consultant, Toby advances climate solutions initiatives at organizations such as the Sierra Club and the AgroEcology Fund. With a commitment to race equity at the center of her work, Toby finds much of her purpose in catalyzing diverse networks of social change innovators, and is growing a co-evolving network of leaders using nature’s intelligence as inspiration and guidance.
Registration and Deadlines
The all-inclusive price for the workshop includes delicious, organic, and when possible, locally harvested breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks; overnight accommodations for six nights; all activities during the week; tuition and course materials; transportation from the Everett, WA Paine Field Airport (PAE); and administration costs. All rooming types are limited and available on a first come, first served basis. Reserve your seat for only $500.
Lodging is in European-style lodges with guest rooms offered in single or double occupancy in twin beds and shared gender-specific bathrooms with private showers. Bedrooms also include wi-fi, writing desks and built-in wardrobes.
Shared double room | $3,500 The majority of the room options are a shared room. You may request a specific roommate or we will assign you a roommate of the same gender.
Private room | $3,950 There are a limited number of private rooms.
Registration for this workshop is closed.
Scholarships and Discounts
Scholarships
A limited number of scholarships are available to BIPOC leaders, change agents working in non-profit social change or climate/environmental organizations, and to students and people with lower incomes who would otherwise not be able to attend. Scholarships will be awarded by the workshop leaders with the purpose of building a broad and diverse cohort and are based solely on your answers on the application.
Discounts – Limited Availability!
All discounts have limited availability, are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis, and may not be combined.
Student discount: Enrolled university students save $250. Must upload copy of current student ID upon registration.
Biomimicry Global Network member discount: Members of a local Biomimicry Global Network save $250. Must upload brief, written endorsement from local network leader upon registration.
In addition to a life-changing experience, immersion workshop participants also receive access to the Introduction to Biomimicry online course and earn credit toward a Biomimicry Specialist Certificate.
Convince your boss by downloading and sharing our PDF that outlines the professional benefits and values biomimicry immersion workshops can add to any organization. Download Convince Your Boss pdf here.
Covid-19 Cancellation Policy | We are planning now with optimism for gathering with the utmost health safety measures.We will follow the Covid protocols set by the state of Washington and the venue at the time of the workshop. If the workshop is canceled due to COVID-19, you will receive a full refund and will be given the opportunity to sign up for a later workshop.
CO-SPONSORED AND ORGANIZED BY
"I highly recommend this workshop to people who are leaders or want to become leaders, across all disciplines. The workshop provided a rare opportunity to connect with individuals from extremely diverse perspectives. The approach of using nature as a mentor not only for solving design and sustainability problems, but also in complex social environments was truly unique to this workshop. I will draw inspiration from this experience for years to come."
