From designers at Nike to R&D teams from Johnson & Johnson to university students looking to jumpstart their careers, Biomimicry 3.8 has been inspiring the next generation of change-makers through its week-long immersion workshops since 2002. A visionary kind of professional training, our immersion workshops introduce participants from diverse, multi-disciplinary backgrounds to biomimicry while they’re immersed in stunning ecosystems around the world. Participants dive deep into the biomimicry methodology, gaining hands-on application training under the guidance of our expert instructors.
Who should attend?
Our workshops are designed to inspire new ways of thinking for anyone open to discovery, no matter their professional background or experience with biomimicry. CEOs, government leaders, engineers, interior designers, professors, teachers, directors of innovation, architects, entrepreneurs, and more have used our trainings to find new, more innovative ways to tackle challenges. You’ll join a motivated, hopeful, interdisciplinary crew of participants to discover how biomimicry can unlock a new way of thinking and drive meaningful change.
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Takeaways include:
Access to world renowned experts During the highly interactive immersion, our experts guide you as you learn how to apply the latest biomimicry thinking to your industry, company, and challenges.
Building a toolbox to take home All participants receive our Immersion Workshop Participant Package, including the participant workbook, the Digital Biomimicry Resource Handbook, a curated list of recommended reading and resources, and a basics of biomimicry PowerPoint presentation to share.
Earning credit toward Biomimicry Specialist Certification Designed to be highly flexible and affordable, our Biomimicry Specialist Certification professional training program combines online coursework accredited through Arizona State University with two immersion workshops, Discover Nature’s Genius and Biomimicry Thinking. One of each workshop type must be taken.
Boost creativity to drive change
We don’t do biomimicry in boring places, because when it comes to practicing biomimicry—applying lessons from nature to your challenges—immersing yourself in nature and learning among a community is essential. The immersion workshop experience centers around taking people outside to (re)connect with nature, allowing the sustainable strategies that have evolved in nature over 3.8 billion years to be discovered.
Participants leave refreshed and inspired to engage new ways of working, collaborating, and viewing challenges at hand. Highlights of learning in the field include:
Unplugging to boost creativity The workshops provide the ultimate unconference experiences, giving you an opportunity to step outside your daily experience and (re)connect with nature in a way that actually yields insights.
Purposeful networking Our average workshop group size of 20 allows for real connection, high impact instructor interaction, and meaningful networking that brings together participants from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds.
Access to the experts Our highly interactive workshops were developed and are led by world renowned biomimicry experts with a broad background and experience who can help participants apply the latest biomimicry thinking to their industry, company, and challenges.
Setting you up to drive change Participating in an immersion workshop not only yields surprising and relevant inspirations, but also leaves participants ready to begin applying nature-inspired lessons learned at the workshop to their toughest challenges.
Workshop types
There’s no wrong way to learn biomimicry. In fact, there are many ways to begin to discover innovation ideas from the natural world. Our workshops are formatted to kickstart the ideation process in several ways. Our main workshops and trainings are detailed below for you to explore. If you have any questions about the best fit for you, email us at workshops@biomimicry.net and we’ll walk you through the options.
Discovering Nature’s Genius
From the tropical rainforest to the rugged Rocky Mountain Front, Discover Nature’s Genius introduces participants to biomimicry in unique ecosystems around the world. Explorations through the local ecosystems deepen participants understanding of the biomimicry methodology, giving participants front door access into the world of nature’s genius and demonstrating how to apply its lessons. The Discover workshops emphasize Life’s Principles—the most important design lessons from nature—and the essential rules for the way life creates conditions conducive to life.
These workshops also emphasize the biology to design approach. In the biology-to-design approach, a biological phenomenon suggests a new way to solve a human design challenge. This approach is most appropriate when your process initiates with an inspirational biological insight (including a Life’s Principle) that you want to manifest as a design. Those who might follow this path include inventors and entrepreneurs, students who don’t yet have their own design process, those interested in discovering strategies that might inform new innovations, and educators interested in sharing biology in ways that generate interest with non-biologists.
Upon completing a Discover Nature’s Genius immersion workshop, you’ll be able to:
- Identify sustainable innovation strategies in nature
- Understand functional objectives being achieved by forms, processes, and systems in nature
- Translate biological intelligence into relevant and applicable solutions and strategies
- Recognize and use Life’s Principles—a Biomimicry 3.8 tool that identifies design lessons from nature—that can be modeled to create innovative strategies and be used as a sustainability benchmarks
Biomimicry Thinking
Re-frame and refresh your approach to problem solving by adding the Biomimicry Thinking methodology to your design process. A science-based approach implemented by Fortune 500 corporations and nonprofits alike, Biomimicry Thinking harnesses the power of asking: “How would nature…?” by exploring how intelligence from nature can elevate your design process, leading to innovation that is cutting edge, effective, elegant, and inherently sustainable.
These workshops emphasize the challenge to biology approach. The challenge-to-biology approach is useful for scenarios when a specific problem is at hand and you are seeking strategies and insights from nature for the solution. Each step of the Biomimicry Thinking process is detailed during an interdisciplinary team-based design challenges based on real-world questions. It will equip you with tools and knowledge of the methodology so you can begin to implement biomimicry into design applications.
Upon completing a Biomimicry Thinking immersion workshop, you will be able to:
- Employ the Biomimicry Design Lens, a set of tools with a proven methodology for tapping into and applying nature’s most innovative design strategies
- Use creative problem solving skills to re-frame design challenges in a way that launches discoveries of nature’s genius and harnesses the power of asking: “How would nature..?”
- Think like a biologist and access the power of biological intelligence to discover and differentiate nature’s design lessons at the form, process, and system levels for application to a wide variety of challenges
- Practice ecosystem-like thinking by developing creative, biomimicry-based solutions that draw from interdisciplinary perspectives to simultaneously drive innovation and sustainability
- Learn to use inspirational biological insight to guide and inform the innovation design process using the biology to design path
Biomimicry Specialist Certification
Both Discover Nature’s Genius and Biomimicry Thinking count toward the Biomimicry Specialist certification. Learn more
Locations
Workshop locations are selected using strict criteria. We seek out intimate venues with a high commitment to sustainability, proximity to nature and comfortable accommodations all found in an interesting and unique ecosystem.
Workshop Pricing
Costs vary depending on workshop type and location. All cost details are included on individual workshop pages. Generally, food, overnight accommodations, airport transportation, all activities during the week, tuition, and administration costs are included in the all-inclusive price.
History (2015-present)
We’ve been teaching immersion workshops since 2003, but here’s our latest offerings.
2024 Discover Nature’s Genius in Costa Rica, April 1-7, 2024
2023 Discover Nature’s Genius in Brazil, Nov. 4-10, 2023
Discover Nature’s Genius for Social Innovation in Tennessee, Oct. 2-8, 2023
Biomimicry Thinking for Design and Innovation in the California Redwoods, March 6-11, 2023
2022 Discover Nature’s Genius for Social Innovation in North Cascades, June 10-16, 2022
Discover Nature’s Genius in Costa Rica, December 5-11, 2022
2019 Nature’s Genius for Social Innovation, Slovenia, June 10-16, 2019.
2018 Biomimicry for Social Innovation in New York City, June 12-14, 2018
2017 Discover Nature’s Genius in Costa Rica, December 4-9, 2017
Biomimicry Thinking in Georgia, October 22-27, 2017
Discover Nature’s Genius for Social Innovation in Montana June 6-11, 2017
Discover Nature’s Genius in California, April 3-8, 2017
2016 Discovering Nature’s Genius: Cape Tribulation, Australia Sept. 5–10, 2016
Biomimicry Thinking for Social Innovation: Netherlands June 25-30, 2016
Biomimicry Thinking for Design: Sonoran Desert, Arizona, March 5-10, 2016
2015 Biomimicry Thinking for Social Innovation: California April 19–24, 2015
Discovering Nature’s Genius: South Africa November 9–14, 2015
Discovering Nature’s Genius: Montana August 2–7, 2015
Questions?
Check out our frequently asked questions.
Email us at professional.training@biomimicry.net
