Movers and Shakers
Janine Benyus: "The more our world functions like the natural world,
the more likely we are to endure on this home that is ours, but not ours alone"
Consider the TEDTalks in Biomimicry with: Scientist, Robert Full; Biologist, Sheila Patek;
Journalist, Janine Benyus; and Oceanographer, David Gallo.
TedTalk videos
National Geographic: Biomimetics: Design by Nature
What has fins like a whale, skin like a lizard, and eyes like a moth?
The future of engineering.
read article
Ray Anderson: "...creating the technologies of the future-kinder,
gentler technologies that emulate nature's systems.
I believe that's where we will find the right model. Ultimately, I believe we must learn
to depend solely on available income the way a forest does, not on our precious stores of
natural capital. Linear practices must be replaced by cyclical ones. That's nature's way.
In nature, there is no waste; one organism's waste is another's food."
watch video
News, Events, and the 2008-2009 CBID Seminar Series
Biomimicry: Are Humans Smarter Than Sea Sponges?
BioPower Systems' wave power device (Biowave) mimics the
swaying motion of the sea plants found in the ocean floor. The system
consists of three floating blades which are constantly oscillated by
the motion of the sea, generating electricity as they do so. The
flexibility of the blades enables them to deal with heavy seas without
breaking, unlike more rigid designs.
learn more
The Eden Project
Overall we believe the world we live in is facing radical change - and our aim is to help find positive futures in the face of that change.
To get in shape for the challenges of the future we need a culture that
knows how to sustain the things that sustain us and at the same time nutures
creativity, imagination and adaptability.
how it works
The Sahara Forest Project
The Seawater Greenhouse was designed to address the problem of irrigating crops in
arid coastal regions by evaporating seawater and condensing it into fresh water. This helps
to reverse the trend of desertification created by normal industrial greenhouses, which can
use up to five times more water to irrigate crops than the respective region's average annual
rainfall. The system works by mimicking the natural hydrological cycle where seawater heated
by the sun, evaporates, cools down to form clouds and returns to the earth as rain, fog or dew.
learn more
Bioneers
Biomimicry's Climate-Change Solutions: How Would Nature Do It?:
Biomimicry is based on the premise that nature has done everything human beings
want to do, but without destroying the biosphere or mortgaging our future.
The emerging science of Biomimicry, "innovation inspired by nature," may well
be the single most important field of science capable of actually solving problems
on the scale of climate change, while making the successful transition to a truly
sustainable civilization. Its rapid adoption and advancement are imperative over
the next decade.
October 20, 2008
Schumacher College
Biomimicry: Nature as mentor, model & measure:
Dayna Baumeister, Michael Pawlyn, Andy Middleton
Natural structures and systems are inherently sustainable as well as being beautiful,
efficient and elegant. Biomimicry brings together design and biology to solve design
challenges by asking "what would nature do here?" This course will outline the
philosophy and ethics of biomimicry, introduce life's inherently sustainable design
principles and apply them to a range of professional practices. Participants will
develop a method for bringing natural forms to the design table and a whole new way of
viewing and valuing the genius that surrounds us.
June 8 - 12, 2009
