Upcoming AskNature Hive Events
🌍 October 9 — From Soil to Soul: A Film Screening & Conversation with Co-Founders
4:00 PM PT
Join us for a special screening of From Soil to Soul: Food Justice in LA, a 15-minute pilot episode from the upcoming documentary series exploring how communities are looking to nature for inspiration in re-imagining food systems (check out the trailer here). This film highlights community-led food sovereignty initiatives in Los Angeles, including a neighborhood garden in Compton, a food forest flourishing in a once-abandoned alleyway in Fullerton, and the planting of native edible and medicinal plants in residential lawns to strengthen local food resilience. These stories echo core biomimicry principles—such as adapting to changing conditions, fostering cooperative relationships, and creating conditions conducive to life. Just as ecosystems thrive through diversity, resource cycling, and resilience, these initiatives demonstrate how human communities can design food systems that reflect nature’s strategies.
Following the screening, participants will engage in breakout discussions to reflect on biomimicry principles, share personal stories, and explore how re-connecting with natural models can guide healthier, more resilient food and community systems.
🐝 October 15 – Social Swarm
1:00 PM PT
Join fellow biomimics from around the world for an informal networking session focused on community building and shared inspiration. This is a space to connect, exchange ideas, and spark collaborations grounded in our collective hope for a future shaped by nature’s wisdom. Whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or just beginning your journey, come as you are—curious, creative, and committed to designing a better world together.
Hosted by AskNature Hive Manager Lily Urmann.
What can we learn about resilience, reciprocity, and adaptation from communities who live in close relationship with some of Earth’s most vulnerable ecosystems? In The Archipelago of Hope: Wisdom and Resilience from the Edge of Climate Change, Gleb Raygorodetsky shares stories from Indigenous peoples across the globe who hold generations of wisdom about living in harmony with place. These narratives reveal not only the fragility of ecosystems under stress, but also the deep knowledge and resilience that emerge when humans see themselves as part of nature, not apart from it.
As a biomimicry community, we’ll reflect together on how these lived examples of reciprocity and co-evolution resonate with our own practice of learning from life’s genius. The book invites us to imagine design, innovation, and community-building rooted in relationship with the Earth, and offers inspiring pathways toward hope and action in a time of uncertainty.
Hosted by Jenélle Dowling, Head of Programs at The Biomimicry Institute.
🌍 November 4 — Designing with Nature & Building for Life: Insights from Michael Pawlyn
12:00 PM PT
The Biomimicry Institute invites you to a conversation with renowned architect and biomimicry leader Michael Pawlyn, whose work asks one of the most important questions of our time: How can we build a world that is truly life-friendly?
Drawing on lessons from nature, Pawlyn will share how biomimicry offers not just design solutions, but also a framework for systems change—moving beyond incremental improvements to transformative shifts that align human activity with the conditions that support all of life. From circular resource flows to regenerative architecture, his vision opens new possibilities for rethinking how we design, create, and collaborate. This event asks you to imagine pathways to systemic transformation, grounded in ecological wisdom and practical design strategies. Whether you’re an architect, innovator, changemaker, or simply curious about the potential of nature-inspired solutions, you’ll leave with a deeper understanding of how biomimicry can guide us toward a flourishing future.
This conversation is live on Zoom, and open to the public.
🌍 December 11 — Biomaterials and the Future of Manufacturing: Lessons from Tim McGee
11:00 AM PT
Join us for a conversation with Tim McGee, who will explore how manufacturing and materials can draw inspiration from living systems; from mussel byssal threads that produce self-healing fibers to cable bacteria that hint at future electronic systems. Grounded in 3.8 billion years of nature’s strategies, his work reveals how biology can spark a materials revolution, offering new ways to build resilience while reshaping our relationship with the living world.
For over a decade, Tim has guided organizations in turning biological insight into real-world innovation, using biomimicry to connect science with the technologies shaping our future.
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