News and Ideas from the Biomimicry Institute
A Startup Support Program Focused on Founders and Their Connection to Nature
The Biomimicry Institute helps startup founders challenge themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally by taking them to camp (literally). Read about how this approach helps to unlock creativity, tap into next-level networking connections, and expand opportunities for business that would have otherwise been missed.
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6 Ways Education Can Mimic Evolution
Traditional and antique educational systems require their next evolution. Learn Biomimicry asks: what can we learn from nature in how we create evolutionary education using biomimicry?
Biomimicry and Philosophy
The biomimicry movement is highly practical in orientation. And yet, underlying and motivating the practices of biomimicry, there lies a distinctive philosophy–a profound way of understanding and relating to nature that challenges many of the core assumptions of contemporary thought. In this blog post, Dr. Henry Dicks discusses the relationship between biomimicry and philosophy.
5 Nature-Inspired Ways to Do Good This Giving Tuesday
The countdown to the biggest celebration of generosity has begun. On Tuesday, November 29, communities worldwide are joining together to support a cause, issue area, culture, or identity. Giving Tuesday is a day that encourages people to do good, and this simple idea kickstarts the holiday season with a tone of selfless kindness.
A Ray of Hope: Top Biomimicry Startups Making an Impact
“From nature’s blueprints, these companies are commercializing what our world so urgently needs—products that solve problems without creating new ones… ” Learn more about this year’s Ray of Hope Prize® First Place Recipient GreenPod Labs, an India-based agricultural biotechnology startup focused on tackling food loss problems in developing countries, and Second Place Runner-Up Fusion Bionic, a company that has engineered a nature-inspired solution for surface textures to eliminate the need for harmful chemicals.
Looking Within: Design Inspired by Teeth and Bones
It’s easy to focus on the salient features of any living being: the color of a bird’s plumage, an elephant’s immensity, the musculature of the human leg. However, when you look deeper, the incredible durability and structure of bones is an engineering marvel. It turns out bones and teeth are capable of inspiring innovation in a variety of fields, including aeronautics, architecture, and automotive engineering.
Disappearing Freaks of Nature—and the Secrets Going With Them
The ultimate freak show is an understatement: Armed worms, sex-crazed fish, poison-hungry butterflies, polka-dotted flying good luck charms, and the most despicable creature born with a grin whose blood fights gravity. No one knows all the secrets they hold, but what’s clear is that the strangest amongst us are showing us a better way to live. The catch? They are teaching us their survival skills as they disappear.
6 Innovations Shaped by the Most Powerful Force on Earth
What does it mean when a shrimp shapes the future of aircraft, dolphins predict tsunamis, and invisible organisms help solve the plastic crisis? It means in a world dominated by market-driven solutions and rushed progress, it’s our billion-year-old planet that’s shaping the future of technology and commanding the attention of obsessed innovators, conservationists, and hardcore business folks. Just by being. Makes you think: Who are the real masters of technology?
Opening Doors: STEM Learning and Access for all
As both a teacher in a public school for over 20 years, and a nonfiction writer, the question of how to deeply engage my learners and readers is always on my mind. What is their entry point? How do they connect? I’ve discovered there are so many ways.
An Invitation to Be Curious, Learn, and Adapt
A decade ago I felt lost, confused, and anxious. I had just learned about climate change and was shocked the state of our planet wasn’t introduced to me sooner. Once my privilege bubble popped and I realized I was actively contributing to the problem, I immediately began changing my habits. But the more I learned, the more wicked the global quandary became. I marched for climate action, was trained by Al Gore and his team through the Climate Reality Leadership Corps, and joined a full-service public relations firm focused on sustainability. Still, I found myself paralyzed and distraught to find my place in the agency of change.
This Earth Day, Invest in Our Planet and AskNature
Bring biomimicry education into your community, further your own learning through professional development, and hear from practitioners in the new biographies series.
The Relationship Between Climate Change and Adapting Viruses
The movement to be more sustainable and to ‘go green’ has finally become a priority in many areas of the world. It has encouraged thousands of people to reevaluate the choices they are making and the many rippling impacts that those choices have. Many are demanding changes to the economy and industries that they purchase from to help them achieve sustainability goals.
What We Fear Most May Help Keep Us Alive
We know what’s at stake. It’s an active decision to pursue innovations and strategies that honor life for the long-haul versus choosing quickies that lead to our next extinction. And if fact-based efforts and “last chance” climate emergency conferences have hardly moved the needle (COP26 summit agreements resulted in 0.1 degree C from future climate breakdown) then maybe fear, or the very real fear of losing what we love, will.
A Look Back at 2021
We are proud of the major accomplishments we’ve achieved over the past year. Here is a snapshot of what we’ve been up to—made possible by the generous support of our global community. To read the full impact in our 2021 Year in Review report, visit biomimicry.org/impact.
The Nature of Fashion Turns to Action
The Design for Decomposition is a bold initiative to realign the underlying principles of both the fashion and waste management industries with the laws of physics and biology to create cascading benefits for climate, biodiversity, and social equity. Such an ambitious aim requires partners who are courageous and have vision.