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Meet a Biomimic: Alessandro Bianciardi
Our next guest on the Meet a Biomimic series is Alessandro Bianciardi. As an environmental engineer with a wealth of experience, Alessandro works towards solving complex human problems in a more sustainable way. He co-founded Planet, a company dedicated to leading biomimicry education and innovation, and serves as the education and product innovation advisor. He is also the co-founder of Biomimicry Italy, and the team leader for Team Planet, a finalist team currently participating in the first-ever food system Biomimicry Accelerator in the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge. Read on to learn more about his journey.
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Don’t call it snail mail – this improved mail delivery system was inspired by ants
Tharalelo Mokgokong is way more than your average recently-graduated master’s degree student. In addition to being an avid runner of half marathons, a mentor to underprivileged children, and an advocate for sustainable business development in rural areas, Tharalelo has essentially redesigned the South African Post Office’s delivery system by looking to nature for inspiration.
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Meet the new food system game-changers
We are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2016 Challenge, culled from 86 entries from 18 countries. The winners range from high schoolers to professionals, from all kinds of professional backgrounds and geographic locations, but they all share the same drive to reinvent our food system, using blueprints from the living organisms that surround us. We’re so proud of these teams and can’t wait to be a part of their next steps as they work to make their designs a reality.
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The power of the Biomimicry Design Spiral
Spirals are everywhere in nature because they perform so many functions. It is no wonder, then, that when Carl Hastrich set out to create a design process for biomimicry, he turned to the spiral. That is very fortunate for all of us, because the spiral design process not only allows us to tap into the power of nature, it allows us to tap into the power of our own creativity and imagination — exactly what we need to tackle the tremendous challenges that we face today.
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How might we fall in love with industrial waste? Create value from landfill-bound materials.
Sustainability is a journey and we have to start where we are today. How might we create real change within an industry? Embrace waste and all of its potential. This is an inside look into how our team is working to change industry from within a large manufacturing corporation by turning what we normally think of as waste into something better.
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What does planetary thinking mean?
We are human beings, who live as part of a planet. It behooves us not to gloss over either of these facts or the relationship between them.
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From an “aha” moment to a thriving network: A look at Biomimicry India
We’ve all seen renditions of Hollywood movies that depict our protagonists’ breakthrough moment where suddenly the clouds part, revealing blue skies and sunshine, and miraculously they know exactly what it is they are meant to do. For architect Seema Anand and entrepreneur and architect Prashant Dhawan of Biomimicry India, that revelation came in the form of a lecture. The duo describes their first encounter with biomimicry at a sustainable urban futures lecture given by Peter Head as an “aha” moment.
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It’s full speed ahead for the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge Accelerator teams
It’s been a busy six months for the 2015 Biomimicry Global Design Challenge finalists. Last October, eight teams from around the world were chosen to be part of the first-ever biomimicry food systems accelerator. After pitching and getting feedback on their design concepts in-person during SXSW Eco in Austin, TX, these intrepid innovators began working furiously to test and prototype their nature-inspired design concepts.
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Meet a Biomimic: Julia Chiang
Our next guest on the Meet a Biomimic series is Julia Chiang. Julia is from Taiwan and works as a public relations manager for an agriculture company. She spends much of her time doing outreach as the Secretary General of Biomimicry Taiwan. Some of her recent efforts have been to translate the film “Biomimicry” by Tree Media and other news for native Mandarin speakers. This is no small feat considering Mandarin is the world’s most common language with approximately 14.4% of the human population! Read on to learn more about Julia.
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Want to build an organization that lasts? Create a superorganism.
As an evolutionary biologist, a businessperson, and a biomimic, I’m always looking for the deep patterns in life, trying to find out what lasts. And here’s one thing I know is true:
Organizations can’t keep growing the way we structure them today.
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Building resiliency in the face of a rising sea: How coastal communities can learn from nature
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges the world has ever faced. Flooding, storm surge, and sea level rise are serious threats to natural resources, infrastructure, and human communities in coastal areas. In effort to adapt to these changing conditions, planners and policymakers should consider nature’s strategies when developing coastal resiliency plans to protect communities from increasing coastal erosion and flooding due to rising sea levels.
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What nature’s information network can teach us
Today, we are well on our way to a complete digital transformation – where smart sensors and interconnected devices will reshape our economy. But as we build this new Internet of Things, how can we avoid the pitfalls and waste of our current system? In an article on Circulate, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s blog, Janine Benyus explores examples of how the ways that natural systems interact and share information can help us create intelligent assets that maximize our resource productivity while minimizing waste.
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Strengthening the “fragility of grand discoveries” with biomimicry
Close calls make for compelling origin stories, but the sheer randomness of this approach to scientific innovation means that we may be missing a lot. It’s discouraging to think that small decisions and chance events have enough sway to knock innovators off course so easily, even with the rigors of the scientific process. So what can we do to strengthen this “fragility of grand discoveries?” We can start by looking in the right places to begin with.
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Meet a Biomimic: Colleen Mahoney
If you heard about the great BioBlitz of the Americas earlier this month, then you might be familiar with our next guest for the Meet a Biomimic series: Colleen Mahoney. Colleen is a principal architect, and as a parent and a recognized advocate for sustainable building practices, she has set a new standard for family-focused residential architecture with hundreds of projects to date. Beyond her work, Colleen spends her time fostering a community of nature lovers as the co-director (along with biomimicry specialist AJ Wacaser) of the Coastal Redwood Biomimicry Network. She continues to share her love and passion for the natural world by teaching kids and adults alike, encouraging them to contribute to the health and well-being of our planet. Read on to learn more about her path and what she aims to accomplish.
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