Immersion Workshop | Biomimicry Thinking for Social Innovation
June 25-30, 2016 | De Spreeuwelse Heide, near Eindhoven in Westelbeers, the Netherlands
The registration for this workshop is now closed.
Join us as Biomimicry 3.8, Biomimicry for Social Innovation, and Biomimicry Netherlands collaborate to explore the fusion of biomimicry and social innovation this summer, bringing the highly acclaimed Biomimicry Thinking for Social Innovation workshop to Europe for the first time. During an immersion experience that will take place among the moorlands and heather fields of the Netherlands, workshop participants will explore the lessons nature has to teach us about thriving in a more adaptable, resilient, cooperative, and networked world.
This immersion workshop cross-pollinates the fields of social innovation and biomimicry by applying design lessons from nature to help grow resilient organizations and foster a regenerative society abundant with innovative leaders.
Over the course of the workshop, experienced biomimics 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
- Conduct an ecosystem-audit of an organization or social-change endeavor
- 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
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.
What to Expect
Each immersion workshop is tailored to the local ecosystem. In the Netherlands, we’ll be exploring unique landscapes such as sand dunes, moors, and woodlands with support of a local naturalist and through daily excursions into nature. Near the region of Eindhoven, for example, participants will learn among the iconic heather brush, which has thrived for centuries in often mineral-poor soil, helping create just one of the country’s diverse ecosystems. The sand dunes of Loonse en Drunense Duinen provide a vivid example of landscape characterized by its ability to adapt to constant change.
Participants will meet on June 25 at De Spreeeuwelse Heide Conference Hotel, a 25 minute taxi ride from the regional airport in Eindhoven or a 1.5 hour car ride from the Schiphol International Airport. After spending an afternoon settling into your room and exploring the gorgeous woodlands surrounding the hotel, the workshop will commence with a delicious dinner followed by an introductory evening session.
Each day will be brimming with content, and you should plan to clear your agenda and fully immerse yourself in the biomimicry experience! You will have exposure to nature’s design lessons, experiential play with those lessons in a range of habitats, and immediate and direct application to social innovation challenges in an interactive collaborative setting. We will learn both on site and in the field.
The workshop will close at noon on June 30, when you can head back to the airport or stay in the Netherlands to continue traveling—either way, the next biomimicry adventure awaits!
Aside from transportation to the workshop, expenses are minimal. All-inclusive price for the six-day, workshop is $3,500(€3,135). Delicious and healthy breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks, overnight accommodations for five nights at the fantastic Spreeuwelse Heide Conference Hotel, field trips, tuition, and administration costs are included. Private rooms are available for an extra fee; full pricing information is listed on the registration form. You can reserve your seat for only $500.
Workshop Location
Nestled in the woods of the southern Brabant region of the Netherlands, the Spreeuwelse Heide Conference Hotel is known for its hospitality and proximity to natural surroundings including moorlands, river valleys, and forests. The hotel is situated in the northern part of a local nature reserve, allowing guests back-porch access to a host of ecosystems teeming with butterflies, amphibians, and birds.
Workshop Leaders
Our workshop is facilitated by the deeply experienced founders of Biomimicry 3.8 and Biomimicry for Social Innovation.
Dayna Baumeister
Biomimicry 3.8 Co-Founder
Dr. Baumeister is a world-renowned biomimicry lecturer and consultant as well as the Director of the Biomimicry Professional Certificate Program and co-director of The Biomimicry Center at ASU. With a background in biology, a devotion to applied natural history, and a passion for sharing the wonders of nature with others, Dayna has worked in the field of biomimicry with business partner Janine Benyus since 1998 as a business catalyst, educator, researcher, and design consultant. As a workshop leader, she will share her 18+ years of experience bringing biological intelligence to a wide range of audiences as well as her visionary leadership for the meme.[/two_third_last]
Toby Herzlich
Biomimicry for Social Innovation Founder
Toby Herzlich is a leadership trainer, master facilitator, certified Biomimicry Specialist, and the founder of Biomimicry for Social Innovation. 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 on the faculty of several national training programs. She finds much of her purpose in catalyzing diverse networks of social change innovators, including the Young Climate Leaders, and intends to germinate a co-evolving network of leaders using nature’s intelligence as guidance and inspiration.
Who Should Attend
This workshop is open to professional- and university-level participants from all backgrounds and levels of experience with biomimicry. The agenda is designed for:
- Change-agents who want to deepen their commitment to sustainability as a central practice in their work as leaders in nonprofit or for-profit environments
- Sustainability leaders looking for new models, methods, and metaphors that align with the purpose of their work
- Those who may not consider themselves “leaders,” but who want to help facilitate social transformation
- Biomimicry enthusiasts interested in organizational and cultural applications of the field
- Individuals interested in earning the Biomimicry Specialist Certification
Credit Toward Biomimicry Specialist Certification
This immersion workshop counts as one of two required in-person units for the Biomimicry Specialist Certification Program. Learn more about the units required for the Biomimicry Specialist Certification.
Regular registration has now closed.