Podcasts about Biomimicry Institute

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Best podcasts about Biomimicry Institute

Latest podcast episodes about Biomimicry Institute

EcoJustice Radio
Emulating Nature's Wisdom: The Biomimicry Blueprint

EcoJustice Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2025 58:53


Janine Benyus, the world-renowned “Godmother of Biomimicry,” and her colleagues at Biomimicry 3.8 have been demonstrating what it takes to design human settlements—cities, village, homes, and businesses—that create the same ecological gifts as the wildland next door. We also feature excerpted discussions from advocates like Anne LaForti and Dayna Baumeister, both from Biomimicry 3.8. Learn how biomimicry isn't just about emulating nature's aesthetics but understanding its functional mechanisms for survival and thriving. Unpack the principles of biomimicry, its implications for industries, and the ethical considerations of borrowing from nature's playbook. Support the Podcast via PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url Biomimicry aspires to create a world mentored and inspired by Nature's 3.8 billion years of infinite creativity and evolutionary ingenuity. Janine Beynus's seminal book: Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature defines biomimicry as a "new science that studies nature's models and then imitates or draws inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems." Designing, creating, and innovating in a generous and abundant vs extractive way that regenerates and reciprocates life is a fundamental aim of biomimicry. For an extended interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio LINKS Janine Benyus, from the film Biomimicry https://youtu.be/sf4oW8OtaPY?si=7W26J9cyuTayDTda Janine Benyus, from the Bioneers Conference keynote 2025: https://youtu.be/2ioEtnUjzQw?si=oawftg0O_wWGJVeY Interview with Anne LaForti on EcoJustice Radio: https://soundcloud.com/socal350/biomimicry-innovation-inspired-by-nature Dayna Baumeister "Learning From Nature" Omega Institute for Holistic Studies https://youtu.be/2SvltP8IcTk?si=5cqOAduiyyK2M26O Janine Benyus, from a TED Talk https://youtu.be/k_GFq12w5WU?si=4i1ChxIT7q6xe1FR Janine Benyus, a winner of countless prestigious awards, world-renowned biologist, thought leader, innovation consultant and author of six books, including 1997's foundational text, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, is widely considered the “godmother of Biomimicry.” In 1998, she co-founded the Biomimicry Guild, which morphed into Biomimicry 3.8 [ https://biomimicry.net/], a B-Corp social enterprise providing biomimicry consulting services to a slew of major firms and institutions. In 2006, Janine co-founded The Biomimicry Institute, a non-profit institute to embed biomimicry in formal education, and over 11,000 members are now part of the Biomimicry Global Network. Among various other roles, Janine serves on the board of the U.S. Green Building Council, the advisory board for the Ray C. Anderson Foundation, the advisory board for Project Drawdown and as an affiliate faculty member at The Biomimicry Center at Arizona State University. Anne LaForti has a Master's Degree in Biomimicry from Arizona State University, and is a project manager supporting nature-based innovation in the built environment and beyond at Biomimicry 3.8 [http://biomimicry.net]. She is deeply interested in ITEK (Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge), regenerative agriculture and landscapes, and is constantly curious about how to grow nutrient dense foods. Anne was the 2022 Spring Nature, Art & Habitat Residency (NAHR) Fellow [https://nahr.it/] in Santa Ynez, CA, working on "Soil as Pattern Language: Emulating Healthy Soil Communities" and has been a NAHR Ambassador since 2022. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url Executive Producer and Intro: Jack Eidt Hosted by Carry Kim Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats Episode 258 Photo credit: Janine Benyus

KPFA - The Visionary Activist Show
The Visionary Activist Show – Biomimicry (replay)

KPFA - The Visionary Activist Show

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2025 59:58


  Replay, from Fall 2008 – but so powerfully pertinent to now… Janine will be speaking at Bioneers (and will be re-joining us as a radio guest in the weeks to come!).   “Biomimicry,” as sine qua non for life on planet… that humans humbly cooperate with Nature's guiding design Genius Again we are drawn to replay this most fantabulous show from the archives with Janine Benyus. Benyus describes herself as “Scientist, animist, poet,” founder of Biomimicry Institute. “Let's learn democracy from bees! Before our arrogance destroys the bees, who truly know how to vote.” “Range voting.” Grief and ingenuity… innovation & limits   biomimicry.net/bios/janine-benyus     *Woof*Woof*Wanna*Play?!?* · www.CoyoteNetworkNews.com · The Visionary Activist Show on Patreon The post The Visionary Activist Show – Biomimicry (replay) appeared first on KPFA.

Nordic FoodTech
Biomimicry Institute on imitating nature's genius

Nordic FoodTech

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2025 72:02


What if we looked to nature first? Innovation often starts in our heads, but what if it began by observing the world around us? Nature has been solving complex challenges for billions of years. In this episode, we dive into the science of biomimicry with Dave Hutchins, Technical Director at the Biomimicry Institute, a non-profit supporting entrepreneurs, engineers, designers, and artists worldwide in learning from nature's genius to inspire solutions, designs, and processes for our planet's most urgent problems.This conversation is packed with vivid examples, offering both an introduction to biomimicry and a practical guide for anyone seeking to harness nature's wisdom in their work. From food systems to textiles, business strategies to new models of collaboration, Dave reveals how nature holds endless inspiration for building a better, more regenerative world.What We Cover:What is Biomimicry? Understanding how nature's time-tested strategies can solve modern challenges.Nature-Inspired Innovation: How biomimicry is shaping industries from food and agriculture to materials science and design.Transforming Food Systems: The role of biomimicry in creating sustainable, regenerative food production and supply chains.Collaboration for Impact: Why cross-disciplinary teamwork is key to advancing biomimicry-driven solutions. Bringing Biomimicry into Business: Practical steps for entrepreneurs and industry leaders looking to integrate biomimicry into their work.Related Links⁠Biomimicry Institute⁠On Being with Janine BenyusThe Kogi on bringing nature into the room Ask NatureAquaporin on using nature's genius to solve for water Iceland Ocean Cluster on 100% fish The Textile Mountain The Telepathy TapesTeeming by Tamsin Woolley-BarkerAn Immense World by Ed YoungConnect with DaveWant to connect with Dave? Subscribe to the Future Food newsletter to access her contact details and the episode transcript. You'll subscription will also power the production of more episodes like this. Get access now!About Analisa WintherAnalisa Winther is an ecosystem developer, consultant, and executive coach for leaders working on food system transformation. For more information on working together visit: Website: www.analisawinther.comNewsletter: www.analisawinther.substack.comInstagram: @analisa.wintherShow Host: Analisa WintherHashtags:FutureFood, RegenerativeAgriculture, Sustainability, Collaboration, InnovationLeadership

Journal of Biophilic Design
Architect Amanda Sturgeon on Biophilic Design and Biomimicry

Journal of Biophilic Design

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 12, 2025 44:08


In a world increasingly dominated by sterile, lifeless buildings, one architect is on a mission to reawaken our innate connection to the natural world. Amanda, CEO of the Biomimicry Institute, is a passionate advocate for biophilic design - the practice of incorporating elements of nature into the built environment to enhance human health, wellbeing and productivity. "Many of our buildings today are like barren tombs, where people's souls and creativity go to die," Amanda laments. Her own experiences working in windowless offices, devoid of natural light, fresh air and sensory stimuli, left her feeling disconnected and uninspired. This personal frustration fuelled her determination to transform the way we design the spaces we inhabit. Amanda's journey began with her childhood in a small English village, where she spent endless hours immersed in the outdoors. Travelling through Australia and Southeast Asia as a young adult further opened her eyes to the profound relationship between architecture, culture and the natural environment. "I saw buildings that were so in tune with the climate, responding to it in a way I'd never witnessed before," she recalls. This epiphany set Amanda on a path to redefine the role of the architect, moving away from the "hero on a horse" mentality of individual, ego-driven design towards a more holistic, place-based approach. Biophilic design, she believes, is not about simply adding a few plants or water features to a building, but rather deeply understanding the unique ecology, climate and community of a site, and weaving those elements seamlessly into the fabric of the structure. Amanda points to the humble termite mound as a prime example of biomimicry in action - traditional architecture that mimics the natural ventilation systems of these industrious insects. "It's the same principle we see in biophilic design, creating buildings that are climatically responsible and connected to place," she explains. The benefits of this approach are well-documented. Studies have shown that access to natural light, views of greenery and sensory connections to the outdoors can significantly improve health outcomes, productivity and learning. Yet, Amanda laments, the majority of our schools, hospitals and workplaces remain stubbornly disconnected from the natural world. "We've created this separation between humans and nature, which has allowed us to destroy ecosystems and indigenous cultures without remorse," she says. "Now, we need a revolution in the way we design and think about the built environment." Amanda envisions a future where forests and green spaces reclaim the urban landscape, where buildings are designed to support not just human inhabitants, but all living systems. It's an ambitious vision, but one she believes is essential if we are to address the pressing challenges of our time, from climate change to biodiversity loss. "We have the knowledge and the tools to create buildings that are truly in harmony with nature," Amanda says. "What we need now is the collective will to make it happen." Amanda has an unwavering passion and a lifetime of experience in the field, and encourages us all to create a biophilic, biomimetic future, one that reconnects us to the natural world and, in doing so, restores our own sense of purpose and belonging. https://amandasturgeon.com.auIf you like this, please subscribe!Have you got a copy of the Journal? You can now subscribe to the digital edition or purchase a copy directly from us at the journalofbiophilicdesign.com or Amazon. If you like our podcast and would like to support us in some way, you can buy us a coffee if you'd like to, thank you xWatch the Biophilic Design Conference on demand here www.biophilicdesignconference.com Credits: with thanks to George Harvey Audio Production for the calming biophilic soundscape that backs all our podcasts. Did you know our podcast is also on Audible, Amazon Music, Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher, vurbl, podbay, podtail, and most if not all the RSS feeds?Facebook https://www.facebook.com/journalofbiophilicdesign/Twitter https://twitter.com/JofBiophilicDsnLinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/company/journalofbiophilicdesign/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/journalofbiophilicdesign

Where Shall We Meet
On Biomimicry with Janine Benyus

Where Shall We Meet

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2024 53:41 Transcription Available


Questions, suggestions, or feedback? Send us a message!Our guest today is Janine Benyus, who is the Co-founder of Biomimicry 3.8. She is a biologist, innovation consultant, and author of six books, including Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. Since the book's 1997 release, Janine's work as a global thought leader has evolved the practice of biomimicry from a meme to a movement, inspiring clients and innovators around the world to learn from the genius of nature.She has personally introduced millions to biomimicry through two TED talks, hundreds of conference keynote presentations, and a dozen documentaries such as Biomimicry, produced by Leonardo DiCaprio's Tree Media, 11th Hour, Harmony, and The Nature of Things with David Suzuki, which aired in 71 countries.In 1998, Janine co-founded the Biomimicry Guild with Dr. Dayna Baumeister. That consultancy morphed into Biomimicry 3.8, a B-Corp social enterprise providing biomimicry consulting services to clients like Nike, General Electric, Herman Miller, Procter and Gamble, and Levi's.In 2006, Janine co-founded The Biomimicry Institute, a non-profit institute to embed biomimicry in formal education and informal spaces such as museums and nature centers. Over 11,000 members are now part of the Biomimicry Global Network, working to practice, teach, and spread biomimicry in their region. In 2008, the institute launched AskNature.org, an award-winning bio-inspiration site for inventors.Janine believes that the more people learn from nature's mentors, the more they'll want to protect them. This is why she writes, speaks, and communicates so prolifically about biomimicry.We talk about:Learning from biological systemsWaging war against nature rather than allyingHow profitable emulating nature can beFitting form to functionHow ant colonies inspire mobile phone networksThe dependence of the agricultural system on oilPhotosynthetic Reaction CentreNature is the best chemistAI helping the detective work of biologistsLet's get inspired by nature!Web: www.whereshallwemeet.xyzTwitter: @whrshallwemeetInstagram: @whrshallwemeet

Learning from Nature: The Biomimicry Podcast with Lily Urmann
Behind the Scenes Biomimicry: Inside the Launchpad Program

Learning from Nature: The Biomimicry Podcast with Lily Urmann

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2024 33:02


The Biomimicry Institute's Launchpad program supports scientists and designers who are addressing some of our biggest challenges with nature-inspired ideas. Every year, a cohort of innovators from around the world comes together to learn from each other and receive guidance and inspiration through mentoring, networking, and community-building. Dave Hutchins is the Launchpad Program Manager and dives into what it takes to get a biomimetic product to the next stage and the pathways that The Biomimicry Institute offers for folks who are in this space. Dave is an engineer, entrepreneur, creator, and educator who is passionate about expanding and deepening the biomimicry ecosystem. Whether you are pursuing a project or just want to peek behind the curtain, listen in for some motivation and a good dose of hope!  Explore The Launchpad.Learn more about The Biomimicry Institute.Grab some Learning from Nature merch including shirts and sweatshirts.If you want to begin your own learning from nature journey, take a course from Learn Biomimicry. Gain the skills to apply 3.8 billion years of research and development to your business, projects, and daily life.Listeners can save 20% on the Biomimicry Short Course Set, and 10% on the Biomimicry Practitioner and Educator Program with code LEARNINGFROMNATURE or by visiting this link.Thank you Pine Peak Productions for helping to evolve Learning from Nature to the next level! Support the show

The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
Biomimicry: Applying Nature's Wisdom to Human Problems with Janine Benyus

The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 7, 2024 96:09


(Conversation recorded on June 25th, 2024)   Although artificial intelligence tends to dominate conversations about solving our most daunting global challenges, we may actually find some of the most potent ideas hiding in plain sight in the natural world around us. In this episode, Nate is joined by Janine Benyus, who has spent decades advocating for biomimicry – a design principle that seeks to emulate nature's models, systems, and elements to solve complex human problems in ways that are sustainable and holistic. What would our social and technological innovations look like if we started from the foundational requirement that they create conditions conducive to life? In what ways has biomimicry been inspiring projects for the last few decades, revolutionizing everything from energy production to food storage? How can we take biomimicry to a deeper level, changing the way we design and build to be attuned with local habitats and ‘return the favor' to nature – helping foster cleaner and more resilient ecosystems?    About Janine Benyus: Janine Benyus is a biologist, innovation consultant, and author of six books, including Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, in which she popularized an emerging discipline that emulates nature's designs and processes to create a healthier, more sustainable planet.  In 1998, Janine co-founded Biomimicry 3.8, the world's leading nature-inspired innovation and training firm, bringing nature's sustainable designs to 250+ clients including General Electric, Google, Herman Miller, Levi's, and Microsoft.  In 2006, Janine co-founded The Biomimicry Institute, a non-profit that empowers people to create nature-inspired solutions for a healthy planet. The Biomimicry Institute runs annual Design Challenges, a Global Network of tens of thousands of educators and entrepreneurs, and AskNature.org, the award-winning bio-inspiration site for inventors.   Support Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future Join our Substack newsletter Join our Discord channel and connect with other listeners   Show Notes and More Watch this video episode on Youtube   

The ZENERGY Podcast: Climate Leadership, Finance and Technology
Jared Yarnell-Schane | Director of Innovation, Biomimicry Institute

The ZENERGY Podcast: Climate Leadership, Finance and Technology

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2024 29:29


Biomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges in a regenerative way. The Biomimicry Institute empowers people to create nature-inspired solutions for a healthy planet. Their goal today is for biomimicry to become a natural part of the design process, to create a new generation of innovators who support all life on this planet. Jared brings his entrepreneurial background and startup coaching experience to the Biomimicry Institute, where he supports startups as they commercialize biomimetic innovations that are addressing major climate and environmental issues. Before joining the Institute, Jared developed and ran startup training programs with Penn State University's incubator and accelerator programs and was the Program Director of Thought For Food, a global community of food and agriculture entrepreneurs. He is the creator of the open-source startup training toolkit Startup Guts, was an initial founding member of the AgTech company GreenTowers, and started a small food preservation company in rural Kenya. He has an Executive Certificate in Social Impact Strategy from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State University. Show Notes: [1:21] - What is biomimicry? Jared explains what this means and how understanding biomimicry can help us solve a lot of climate challenges. [3:36] - Jared did not begin his career in this space. He shares how he found himself in the climate space and why it has become so important to him. [6:40] - You can't predict future customers if you don't understand their past behaviors. [7:34] - One of the most successful and exciting programs the Biomimicry Institution offers is a startup support program called The Ray of Hope Accelerator. [8:29] - Jared shares some of the data and statistics that show the success from The Ray of Hope Accelerator. [11:58] - Jared describes some of the companies that are a part of the Biomimicry Institute's portfolio. [13:21] - If we work with nature instead of against it, we can make things stronger. [14:36] - There is a lot to learn from nature and many ways to apply what we learn. [16:18] - A key component of the Biomimicry Institute's support is education. [19:25] - Jared shares how he and his team stay up to date on their own education and learning in the industry. [22:54] - What sets the Biomimicry Institute apart? [25:13] - There are several things that Jared is excited about when it comes to new technologies and new things to explore that could impact the climate world. [28:51] - This area has a ton of growth opportunities and potential for positive change. Links and Resources: Biomimicry Institute Website

On Being with Krista Tippett
Janine Benyus and Azita Ardakani Walton — On Nature's Wisdom for Humanity

On Being with Krista Tippett

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 6, 2024 76:20


In this all-new episode, Krista engages biomimicry pioneer Janine Benyus in a second, urgent conversation, alongside creative biomimicry practitioner Azita Ardakani Walton. Together they trace precise guidance and applied wisdom from the natural world for the civilizational callings before us now. What does nature have to teach us about healing from trauma? And how might those of us aspiring to good and generative lives start to function like an ecosystem rather than a collection of separate, siloed projects? We are in kinship. How to make that real — and in making it real, make it more of an offering to the whole wide world?Krista, Azita, and Janine spoke at the January 2024 gathering of visionaries, activists, and creatives where Krista also drew out Lyndsey Stonebridge and Lucas Johnson for the recent episode on Hannah Arendt. We're excited to bring you back into that room.Janine Benyus's classic work is Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. She is the co-founder of the non-profit Biomimicry Institute. She also co-founded Biomimicry 3.8, a consulting and training company. Azita Ardakani Walton is a philanthropist and social entrepreneur. Her projects have included, among many things, the creative agency Lovesocial and the experimental investment vehicle, Honeycomb Portfolio. Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.______Sign up for The Pause — a Saturday morning companion newsletter to the On Being podcast season, and our mailing list for news and invitations all year round. Be the first to know as tickets go on sale for the On Being 2025 live national conversation tour.

KPFA - The Visionary Activist Show
The Visionary Activist Show – Biomimicry (Replay)

KPFA - The Visionary Activist Show

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2024 59:58


  “Biomimicry,” as sine qua non for life on planet… Again we are drawn to replay this most fantabulous show from the archives with Janine Benyus. Benyus describes herself as “Scientist, animist, poet,” founder of Biomimicry Institute. “Let's learn democracy from bees! Before our arrogance destroys the bees, who truly know how to vote.” “Range voting.” Grief and ingenuity…innovation & limits From Fall 2008 – but so powerfully pertinent to now… www.JanineBenyus.com The post The Visionary Activist Show – Biomimicry (Replay) appeared first on KPFA.

Polarised
ReGeneration Rising S2E1: Biomimicry with Janine Benyus & Dayna Baumeister

Polarised

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2024 49:13


ReGeneration Rising is a specially-commissioned RSA Oceania podcast exploring how regenerative approaches can help us collectively re-design our communities, cities, and economies, and create a thriving home for all on our planet. In this first episode of the second series, co-hosts Philipa Duthie and Daniel Christian Wahl talk to Biomimicry pioneers Janine Benyus and Dr Dayna Baumeister about the practice of learning from life's enduring patterns and wisdom. Over 3.8 billion years life has evolved to create the conditions conducive to life. In comparison, the history of human innovation is vanishingly brief. What might we learn if we looked to nature as our teacher, not only for inspiration in physical design but in ways of learning, relating and collaborating?Janine Benyus is a biologist, author, innovation consultant, and self proclaimed “nature nerd.” She may not have coined the term biomimicry, but she certainly popularized it in her 1997 book ‘Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature'. She is Co-founder of Biomimicry 3.8 and the Biomimicry Institute. Janine has introduced millions to the meme of biomimicry through two TED talks, hundreds of conference keynotes, and a dozen documentaries. In 2022, Janine was awarded the annual RSA Bicentenary Medal for her remarkable contribution to regenerative design.Dr Dayna Baumeister's foundational work has been critical to the biomimicry movement, establishing it as a fresh and innovative practice, as well as a philosophy to meet the world's sustainability challenges. As an educator, researcher, and design consultant, Dayna has helped more than 100 companies consult the natural world for elegant and sustainable design solutions. She is Co-founder of Biomimicry 3.8.Explore links and resources, and find out more at  https://www.thersa.org/oceania/regeneration-rising-podcast  Join the Re-generation: https://www.thersa.org/regenerative-futuresReduced Fellowship offer: In celebration of the launch of Regeneration Rising, we're offering a special promotion for listeners to join our global community of RSA Fellows. Our Fellowship is a network of over 31,000 innovators, educators, and entrepreneurs committed to finding better ways of thinking, acting, and delivering change. To receive a 25% discount off your first year of membership and waived registration fee, visit thersa.org and use the discount code RSAPOD on your application form. Note, cannot be used in conjunction with other discount offers, such as Youth Fellowship. For more information  email fellowship@rsa.org.uk.  

The Integral Stage
SOUL OF AI #11 w/ Cris Beasley

The Integral Stage

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2023 78:42


For the eleventh episode of The Soul of AI, Layman sits down with healer, artist, and AI entrepreneur and consultant, Cris Beasley, to talk about the interface of art and AI; the narcissistic dynamics that drive much of our modern structures, and bringing healing to those dynamics; "Letting the piranha eat us"; the difference between artificial intelligence and augmented intelligence; the potential for AI to take over the "synthesizing intelligence" and function of our leading-edge thinkers, and what then is left for humans still to develop and do; and much more. Cris founded a sustainable AI company nine years ago – well before it was the latest thing on the block. It was featured in a cover story of The Atlantic. She stopped Sequoia Capital from trying to build an AI that was obviously never going to work. It was obvious if you bothered to do the back-of-the-envelope math, which Amazon did not do. They attempted the same thing, failed, and wasted a few million bucks. They should've had someone like Cris on their team. Before that, she led the redesign of Firefox support, which resulted in an extra 7MM users per year finding the answer to their questions immediately. Cris was selected to be in the first cohort of ambassadors to the Interledger Foundation. Their $15k grant supported her project about Jungian emotional polarities, Becoming Dragon, which was covered in Forbes. She advises Earthcodes.org on strategy for their regenerative data cycles project, AI for Gaia, in partnership with the Biomimicry Institute. In her copious spare time, she convinces two mischievous black cats to come when they're called, paints with watercolors, makes AI-generated short films, and plays electronic music that takes you into meditative theta brainwave states. Cris Beasley portfolio https://www.crisbeasley.com/portfolio Becoming Dragon Oracle Cards http://www.crisbeasley.com/

Meaningful Learning
Denise DeLuca: Approaching life from Nature's paradigm

Meaningful Learning

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2023 59:10


How might we approach life from Nature's paradigm rather than from the dominant paradigm?In this episode, I speak with Denise DeLuca. Denise is the founder of Wild Hazel. She is an adjunct faculty and the former Director of MCAD's Sustainable Design program. She was co-founder of BCI: Biomimicry Creative for Innovation, a network of creative professional change agents driving ecological thinking for radical transformation. Denise is the author of the book Re-Aligning with Nature: Ecological Thinking for Radical Transformation. She also teaches with the Amani Institute.Denise's previous roles include Education Director for the International Living Future Institute, Project Manager for Swedish Biomimetics 3000, and Outreach Director for The Biomimicry Institute. Denise is a licensed civil engineer (PE) and holds a master's degree in civil and environmental engineering with a focus on modelling landscape-scale surface and groundwater interactions. In addition, Denise is a Biomimicry Fellow and a member of the Advisory Council of The Biomimicry Institute, Board Member of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP), on the editorial board of the Journal of Bionic Engineering, and anExpert with Katerva.We discuss:

Transitional Matters
Episode Eighteen: Looking to the future through the Biomimicry lens with Jared Yarnall-Shane

Transitional Matters

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 7, 2023 31:20


Jared is the director of Innovation at the Biomimicry Institute. An institute that sets itself the task of solving humanity's biggest challenges by using nature's proven solutions. As they describe it, 'we are the bridge between biology and design, advancing the adoption of nature-inspired strategies to help solve the most pressing problems of our time.'  In this fascinating and wide-reaching conversation, Jared brings to life what he see's going on in the world around him, both from his personal experience and from his position at the Biomimicry Institute. All in all, you will not only find the innovation going on fascinating - and perhaps even mind-blowing - but this episode really does leave you with a true sense of optimism for the future.  Find out more by heading over to the Biomimicry Institute website https://biomimicry.org/

On Being with Krista Tippett
Janine Benyus — Biomimicry, an Operating Manual for Earthlings

On Being with Krista Tippett

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 23, 2023 68:43


There is a quiet, redemptive story of our time in this conversation — a radical way of approaching the gravest of our problems by attending to how original vitality functions. Biomimicry takes the natural world as mentor and teacher — for, as Janine Benyus puts it, "we are surrounded by geniuses." Nature solves problems and performs what appear to us as miracles in every second, all around: running on sunlight, fitting form to function, recycling everything, relentlessly "creating conditions conducive to life.” Janine launched this way of seeing and imagining as a field with her 1997 book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. Today she teaches and consults with all kinds of projects and organizations, including major corporations, as you'll hear. Welcome to this unfolding parallel universe in our midst, which might just shift the way you see almost everything about our possible futures.This conversation was part of The Great Northern Festival, a celebration of Minnesota's signature cold, creative winters.Janine Benyus is the author of several books, including Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. She is the co-founder of the non-profit Biomimicry Institute and Biomimicry 3.8, a consulting and training company.Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.___________Please share On Being with friends, family, book clubs, neighbors, colleagues, and perfect strangers in the checkout line at the grocery store. And if you can take a minute to rate On Being in this podcast app, you'll be bending the arc of algorithms towards this community of conversation and living.Also: sign up for our Saturday morning ritual of a newsletter, The Pause, for replenishment and invigoration in your inbox — and of course all things On Being — at onbeing.org/newsletter. And delve more across our social channels: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok.

Wonderspace
#100 Christiana Bukalo (Statefree) [S8:E6]

Wonderspace

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 9, 2023 19:49


Today we reach the milestone of 100 Wonderspace Podcast episodes. Over the past two and a half years we have welcomed guests from over 50 cities around the world who have all shared their wonders and stories of hopefulness. We have decided to use our 100th episode to amplify the issue of STATELESSNESS which impacts over five hundred thousand people in Europe and over fifteen million worldwide. To bring the issue alive, we asked our six Wonderspace questions to an extraordinary and inspiring woman called Chistiana Bukalo from Germany who founded Statefree and is herself stateless. We also feature Chris Nash who is the Director of The European Network on Statelessness. We would love you to consider listening to this special 20 min episode and sharing it out as a way of bringing attention to an issue that is rarely talked about. To find out more go to https://www.statelessness.eu and https://statefree.world Thanks to all our amazing Wonderspace guests and to the team at Ask Nature and the Biomimicry Institute who have provided weekly moments of wonder. Finally thanks to Dan Potter and Sam Cole who have edited, designed and produced every episode. You can listen to all 100 episodes at https://ourwonder.space Here's to many more orbits! Love, Steve Cole (host) James Perry and the Panahpur Trustees (Wonderspace is an expression of Panahpur) To view the episode page with a summary of the interview, links to social media and projects mentioned, go to https://ourwonder.space/episodes/_100

Earthlings Podcast
S2E2 Plastic Diet with Patricia Kombo, Kam Sripada, and Beth Rattner

Earthlings Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2022 58:22


Plastic is everywhere. And it could be making you sick. As higher concentrations of microplastic particles are found throughout the world, in the air, soils and water, more and more research is suggesting that all this plastic could have negative health impacts, including on babies, children, and our ability to have children. This is particularly a danger for the Global South, which is suffering disproportionately from plastic pollution.In Plastic Diet, co-hosts Lisa Ann Pinkerton (former NPR reporter) and Christian Roselund (formerly of Rocky Mountain Institute, Pacifica) look at where plastic waste comes from, where it goes (hint: not some magical “away” place), what's in it, and what research tells us it is likely doing to our bodies. And we look at what we can do about it, including how we can design for a different world without plastic pollution.Plastic Diet features UN-recognized Land Hero, social entrepreneur, and journalist Patricia Kombo, scientist and researcher Kam Sripada, centre manager at the Centre for Digital Life Norway, and Beth Rattner, the executive director of the Biomimicry Institute.Subjects discussedSources of plastic pollutionImpact of plastic pollution on the Global SouthDocumented health risks from toxins in plasticsStatus of research on health effects of plastic pollutionChallenges in studying health impacts of microplastics and nanoplasticsThe false promise of recycling as a solution to plastic pollutionFashion's role in microplastic pollution Techniques for redesigning textiles to mimic nature Plastic-eating fungus, (yes, you heard us- a new magic mushroom)Alternatives to single-use plastics (a.k.a. Milk ATMs)Resources/LinksDo away with plastic additives wreaking havoc on our health (Patricia Kombo, The Standard)Report: A Children's Health Perspective on Nano- and Microplastics (Kam Sripada et al.)Report: Nature of Fashion (Biomimicry Institute)Report: The Real Truth About the U.S. Plastics Recycling Rate (Beyond Plastics, The Last Beach Cleanup)Also: Want more information about children's health, microplastics, and other environmental hazards? Check out Little Things Matter, where Kam and an international team of scientist-advocates share the latest research and tips for families to reduce their exposures. You can find videos and more information on their website: littlethingsmatter.ca/

What Could Possibly Go Right?
#88 Janine Benyus: Biomimicry to Inspire and Design Better Systems

What Could Possibly Go Right?

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2022 42:16


Janine Benyus is the co-founder of Biomimicry 3.8 and Biomimicry Institute. She is a biologist, innovation consultant, and author of six books, including Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. Since the book's 1997 release, Janine's work as a global thought leader has evolved the practice of biomimicry from a meme to a movement, inspiring clients and innovators around the world to learn from the genius of nature.She addresses the question of “What Could Possibly Go Right?” with thoughts including:The inspiration we can take from systems in nature for ourselves and communitiesThe value of a biomimetic approach to infrastructure development and business operationsThe difference in designing systems for positive output, beyond simply net zeroResourcesBiomimicry 3.8 www.biomimicry.netBiomimicry Institute www.biomimicry.orgSupport the show

Rewildology
Ep. 95 | Designing a Green & Interconnected Planet through Biomimicry with Andrew Meador

Rewildology

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2022 52:46


To teach us about biomimicry, today we're sitting down with Andrew Meador, biomimicry expert and educator for the Biomimicry Institute. In college, Andrew studied chemistry and physics and began his career as a nanotechnologist after graduation. While he loved being at the forefront of science, he missed social interactions and decided to become a formal educator. After ten years of teaching in all sorts of science courses, he switched his career again after learning about biomimicry and is now an educator for the Biomimicry Institute and is currently working towards his Master's in the field. Having both strong science and education backgrounds, Andrew is the perfect person to teach us all about what biomimicry is, what it isn't, and how it can be used to solve design problems on any scale to create a greener, more interconnected world. Our Rhino Conservation Campaign with The Katie Adamson Conservation Fund is still running! Purchase a specially designed hoodie or t-shirt for rhino conservation! Proceeds are donated to KACF. https://rewildology.com/shop/ If you're liking the show, please hit the follow button and share with someone you think would enjoy this episode. Sharing is the best way to help the show grow! Check out ways to support the podcast! https://rewildology.com/support-the-show/ Recording gear provided by Focusrite: https://store.focusrite.com/en-gb/categories/focusrite/vocaster/vocaster-one Discover more ways to watch, listen, and interact: https://linktr.ee/Rewildology Join the Rewildologists Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rewildologists Follow Rewildology Instagram: https://instagram.com/rewildology/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rewildology Twitter: https://twitter.com/rewildology YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxNVIeC0km8ZGK_1QPy7-iA

Positive Talk Radio
317 | Lex Amore - The Biomimicry Institute Nature Clean Living

Positive Talk Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2022 56:05


The Middle Way with Dr. Matthew Goodman
Lex Amore - What is Biomimicry?

The Middle Way with Dr. Matthew Goodman

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 17, 2022 60:14


Nature has produced some magnificent designs... including the beautiful and brilliant YOU! Are there lessons we can learn from nature when designing higher performing and more sustainable products, companies, communities, and other systems? In this episode I speak with Lex Amore of the Biomimicry Institute about nature-inspired design. Lex is Communication Director at the Biomimicry Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering nature-inspired design. She has advocated for sustainability with thought leaders for over a decade, bringing expertise in writing and strategic communications to each project. Lex achieved her Master of Science degree in Biomimicry from Arizona State University in 2018 and bachelor's degree in journalism from Georgia State University. She has also received extensive training from the Climate Reality Leadership Corps, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), and in sustainable design by working with a multitude of industry leaders across the globe. We discuss: Lex's journey from feeling hopeless about nature and the world to finding hope and purpose. Why we should look to nature to help solve modern problems. How to define biomimicry. What a complex system is and why it matters for human design. Examples of biomimetic products (e.g., medical bandage inspired by the immune system, antimicrobial material inspired by shark skin). The benefit of having multiple disciplines "at the table" in design and decision making processes. The role of ethics (e.g., ecological friendliness) in biomimicry. The future of biomimicry and why companies like Microsoft have teams dedicated to this. Healing trauma and chronic pain through biomimicry and connection with nature. Plus... Lex's experience free-diving with sharks and other aquatic life! Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3MmZmGi7Lis Follow Dr. Goodman: Instagram: @matthewgoodmanphd The Middle Way Consulting: the-middle-way.com Upcoming Improv + Mindfulness for Anxiety Course!: https://www.the-middle-way.com/class-mindfulness-improv You can support the show for as little as $1 per month. Other ways to support include leaving a rating/review or sharing it with someone who would enjoy it! Thanks for listening! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matthewgoodmanphd/support

Issues and Ideas
Big Brothers Big Sisters SLO, and Fort Hunter Liggett's whole blood transfusion capability

Issues and Ideas

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2022 58:15


(Broadcast date: August 15, 2022) Lex Amore, of the Biomimicry Institute speaks with KCBX's Brian Reynolds. Also Big Brothers Big Sisters of SLO County are finding mentors for local kids in need. And, Fort Hunter Liggett is America's first Army base with whole blood transfusion capability.

Soulutions for Earth
Biomimicry Institute

Soulutions for Earth

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 28, 2022 47:27


The Fires Are BurningBut it's okay the middle schoolers are on it.Lex is the Communications Director for the Biomimicry Institute an educational center whose mission is Empowering People to Create Nature-Inspired Solutions for a Healthy Planet.-When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. That includes your relationship with the natural world.This moment is all we have. DEEP.The Ray of Hope Prize awards funding to top nature-inspired solutions addressing humanities grandest challenges, helping them to scale at speed.Biomimicry reminds us that we're enough. -Thank you Lex! You're an amazing communicator. @lexvamore   https://biomimicry.org/

Create Good
Lex Amore - Biomimicry Institute

Create Good

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2022 29:56


About Lex:Lex Amore combines her background in biomimicry and communications to serve as a connective tissue between humans and the natural world. She works with media, organizations, brands, and influencers to enhance advocacy and engagement for nature-inspired design. Lex also guides the communications strategy for the Institute to further biomimicry education and application across industries and audiences. She has advocated for sustainability thought leaders for the past decade, bringing expertise in writing and strategic communications to each project aimed at making a positive impact on the world. Lex achieved her Master of Science degree in Biomimicry from Arizona State University in 2018 and bachelor's degree in journalism from Georgia State University. She has also received extensive training from the Climate Reality Leadership Program, LEED, and in sustainable design by working with a multitude of industry leaders across the globe. Her ultimate mission is to inspire others with actionable, positive movement forward using nature-inspired innovation and community collaboration.Connect: InstagramBiomimicry WebsiteWhat is Biomimicry?30 Days of ReconnectionBiomimicry Videos --------------About Create GoodPodcast: The Create Good podcast is a conversation with change makers and rabble-rousers to find out what makes them tick and how they create good. We created the podcast because we were missing the connections and community that came from conferences and gatherings. Our goal is to share some awesome nonprofit folks with the community. Subscribe to follow along.Event: Create Good started as a conference, the first one was in 2017, to gather nonprofit communications leaders creating breakthrough work and share them in a fun and inspiring space. Like everyone else, we had to pivot due to the pandemic. We moved the conference online and this year we are pivoting again to a series of webinars and podcast. We are hoping to return to our in-person conference in 2023. Visit the site to see past sessions and sign up for the newsletter to find out when we will meet in person again at the next Create Good Conference. www.creategoodconference.com--------------About BC/DC IdeasWe are a full service marketing and communications agency who focuses exclusively on nonprofits for the last 11 years. From strategy and social media to web sites and video production, we can do it all. Let's talk about how we can bring your vision to life. www.bcdcideas.com--------------Intro Music by ItsWatR  from Pixabay

Go Green Radio
Encore The Biomimicry Institute

Go Green Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 8, 2022 55:42


Biomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies used by species alive today. The goal is to create products, processes, and policies — new ways of living — that solve our greatest design challenges sustainably. The Biomimicry Institute was founded in 2006 by Janine Benyus and Bryony Schwan to share nature's design lessons with the people who design and make our world, and empower people to create nature-inspired solutions for a healthy planet. Today we'll talk with the Executive Director of the Biomimicry Institute, Beth Rattner.

Go Green Radio
Encore The Biomimicry Institute

Go Green Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 8, 2022 55:42


Biomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies used by species alive today. The goal is to create products, processes, and policies — new ways of living — that solve our greatest design challenges sustainably. The Biomimicry Institute was founded in 2006 by Janine Benyus and Bryony Schwan to share nature's design lessons with the people who design and make our world, and empower people to create nature-inspired solutions for a healthy planet. Today we'll talk with the Executive Director of the Biomimicry Institute, Beth Rattner.

Wonderspace
Episode 80: feat. Andrew Howley [S6:E11]

Wonderspace

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2022 17:16


For the last Wonderspace podcast before our summer reset we welcome a regular contributor to the Wonderspace Podcast, Andrew Howley who has spent over 10 years working for National Geographic, is now the Chief Editor of asknature. Over the past 40 episodes, Andrew has been producing mind-blowing one minute pieces of audio to help us re-wonder. To mark the end of another Wonderspace year we were keen to honour Andrew and listen to his science/nature rooted wisdom through our six Wonderspace questions. We wanted also to promote the amazing work of asknature which is a project of the Biomimicry Institute. For more info: asknature.org and biomimicry.org To view the episode page with a summary of the interview, links to social media and projects mentioned, go to https://ourwonder.space/episodes/_80 View the video orbit here: https://youtu.be/rFXGMKFHodY To listen to the previous 79 Wonderspace editions go to https://ourwonder.space/episodes -------------- More about Wonderspace: https://ourwonder.space Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBUt53ifgsf4Hu9tQTWjEmA/videos Facebook: http://facebook.com/ourwonderspace Instagram: http://instagram.com/ourwonderspace Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourwonderspace --------------- Music: https://theade.me Re-wonder: https://asknature.org

Positive Talk Radio
Lex Amore- Communications Director- Biomimicry Institute

Positive Talk Radio

Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2022 55:49


Lex combines her background in biomimicry and communications to reconnect humans with their place in the animal kingdom. She guides the Institute's outreach and communications strategy to further biomimicry education and application across industries and audiences. She has advocated for sustainability thought leaders for over a decade, bringing expertise in writing and strategic communications to each project aimed at making a positive impact on the world. Lex achieved her Master of Science degree in Biomimicry from Arizona State University in 2018 and bachelor's degree in journalism from Georgia State University. She has also received extensive training from the Climate Reality Leadership Corps, LEED, and in sustainable design by working with a multitude of industry leaders across the globe. Her ultimate mission is to help people heal themselves so they can be empowered to act with positive movement forward using nature-inspired innovation and community collaboration.  

Good Garbage with Ved Krishna
Biomimicry and System Intervention with Dr. Dayna Baumeister | #5

Good Garbage with Ved Krishna

Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2022 51:14


Hello, hello! Ved's discussion today is with his friend, his teacher, and one of the world's most influential biomimicry educators, Dr. Dayna Baumeister. Dr. Baumeister's work alongside her Biomimicry Institute co-founder, Janine Benyus, has helped reshape the systems of fortune 500 companies and mold the minds of future biomimetic practitioners through a pioneering master's program with Arizona State University. To hear her speak is to know her fierce commitment to both the philosophy behind biomimicry and the many lessons humanity can learn from nature's design. Good Garbage Episode 5 Presented by Pakka

Celestial Citizen
Astrobiofuturism

Celestial Citizen

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2022 56:39


On this week's episode, we're joined by Billy Almon to discuss what it means to be an astrobiofuturist, how nature can inform design both on and off this planet, and maybe even a little bit about the infamous lunar tardigrade incident.Billy is an astrobiofuturist, exploring biology-inspired solutions to improve the human condition for those of us on Earth and those who will travel to the stars.  He speaks to multiple generations of inventors, designers, scientists, and engineers on designing the future they wish to see.  Previously, Billy was a creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering, leading efforts to develop immersive experiences and environments around the world.Billy is an inventor and holds a master's degree in Biomimicry from Arizona State University and a bachelor's degree in Architecture from Howard University.  Billy sits on the Board of Directors for the Biomimicry Institute, the world's leading authority on nature's solutions to design challenges.  He also teaches biomimetic design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

The Climate Daily
The Biomimicry Institute, Using Biomimicry to Cool Buildings, Biomimicry Institute's "Design for Decomposition," Northeast Sustainable Energy Association

The Climate Daily

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2022 7:31


The Biomimicry Institute, plus using biomimicry to cool buildings. The Biomimicry Institute's "Design for Decomposition," and the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association.

Learning from Nature: The Biomimicry Podcast with Lily Urmann
All About AskNature with Andrew Howley

Learning from Nature: The Biomimicry Podcast with Lily Urmann

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2022 35:05


AskNature.org is an incredible platform developed by the Biomimicry Institute that showcases a collection of biological strategies and a growing number of innovations inspired by them. Join Andrew Howley, the chief editor of AskNature, as he explains how to use this resource, the importance of understanding how nature works, and ways to explore connections between us and our neighbors on Planet Earth. Whether you are totally new to biomimicry or have been practicing for years, AskNature can be a crucial tool for your journey!

Positive Talk Radio
PTR Lex Amore- The Biomimicry Institute

Positive Talk Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2022 56:06


The (Hopeful) Path to a Regenerative Future: A New Day 1 by Lex Amore | Apr 21, 2020 | Blog, Biomimicry and Climate Change It's not always easy choosing the path of optimism, but if I've learned anything in the past month, it's that we humans can come together when we need to — and even if our current system crumbles, there is still soil beneath our feet, and we can rebuild together.

Positive Talk Radio
KKNW 1150 AM PTR- Lex Amore- Biomimicry Institute

Positive Talk Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2022 59:51


In this KKNW exclusive, Holly, Rob and I talk with Lex Amore Communications Director for Biomimicry about the company and a holistic way to save our planet and all of us. Please listen to this important discussion~

sustainabiliME
Biomimicry

sustainabiliME

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 22, 2022 31:39


Today I will be talking with Megan Dwyer, Brand Marketing Director for AskNature.org which is a project by the Biomimicry Institute. We will be chatting about the institute as well as what the concept of biomimicry actually is. From a high level, it is design inspired by nature. Follow us on social media @sustainabiliME.pod Biomimicry Institute asknature.org Design for Decomposition Spintex Tip of the week: 30 Days of reconnection

Talking with Green Teachers
Episode 29: Biomimicry: Taking design lessons from nature

Talking with Green Teachers

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 1, 2022 46:22


With Rosanna Ayers of The Biomimicry Institute When facing a design challenge, ask yourself, what would nature do? Or rather, what does nature do? How can the “three seeds of biomimicry” be applied to human design? Where does regeneration fit into this framework? How can we learn more from Mother Nature? This is where educators can play an important role in learners' development. Learners bring a lot of cultural knowledge to the design process, too. It's just a matter of unleashing it! In this discussion with TBI's Director of Youth Education, Rosanna Ayers, join us in exploring the intricacies of biomimetic design and what educators can do to open students' eyes to the wisdom of nature. Guest: Rosanna Ayers has a Bachelor of Science in International Business, a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, an Administrative Service Credential, and a Master of Education in Leadership and School Development, with an emphasis on Next Generation Science Standards. She teaches graduate-level integrated science courses for teacher candidates at a university and lives in the countryside with her husband and children. Rosanna is the Director of Youth Education at the Biomimicry Institute where she directs the Youth Design Challenge and other educational programs in support of increasing the scope of biomimicry in education.  

Changing The Climate
Changing The Climate #93 - Lex Amore

Changing The Climate

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 28, 2022 56:03


Lex Amore is the Communications Director at the Biomimicry Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to empower people to create nature-inspired solutions for a healthy planet. Check out: https://biomimicry.org/

Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature | Bioneers Radio Series
Environmental Literacy and Social Justice | Beth Rattner, Juanita Chan, Kavita Gupta, Emily Schell, and Caleb Jordan-McDaniels

Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature | Bioneers Radio Series

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 1, 2022 64:48


Environmental literacy and social justice are inextricably linked, and recent changes in California's curricula fully encourage pedagogical exploration of this linkage. Three new academic content frameworks (in Science, History-Social Science, and Health) promote challenge-based learning, in which student inquiry leads to student action in local communities. Students are also discovering nature-inspired design, i.e. Biomimicry, as part of this process. In this session, a school district representative, a teacher, and a student, share their perspectives about this intersection of environmental literacy and social justice. The panel also leads hands-on immersion into the Biomimicry design process with a focus on ways to apply these methods in our own schools and communities. With: Beth Rattner, Biomimicry Institute; Juanita Chan, Rialto Unified School District; Kavita Gupta, Freemont Union High School District. Moderated by Emily Schell, Executive Director, California Global Education Project; Caleb Jordan-McDaniels, Redwood High School.  

Inside Ideas with Marc Buckley
Tuning in to nature, with Billy Almon

Inside Ideas with Marc Buckley

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2021 93:50


Billy Almon is my guest on Episode 125 of Inside Ideas with Marc Buckley. Billy is an Astrobiofuturist, exploring biology-inspired solutions to improve the human condition for those of us on earth and those who will travel to the stars. He speaks to multiple generations of inventors, designers, scientists and engineers on designing the future they wish to see. He has spoken to groups at: Harvard University, Rhode Island School of Design, Arizona State University, NASA, NAACP, Hidden Genius Project, Comic Con, and more. Previously, Billy was a creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering, leading efforts to develop immersive experiences and environments around the world. He is an inventor and holds a Masters degree in Biomimicry from Arizona State University and Bachelors degree in Architecture from Howard University. Billy sits on the Board of Directors for the Biomimicry Institute, the world's leading authority on nature's solutions to design challenges. https://www.billyalmon.com/

Citizens Prerogative
S2 E25 New Economics a la Doughnut

Citizens Prerogative

Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2021 33:10


Episode discussion topics Get your externalities outa here! Enter: Doughnut Economics brought to us by Kate Raworth. The World Economic Forum featured this short piece that serves as a nice introduction, "Meet the doughnut: the new economic model that could help end inequality." Her book is also available via the usual methods. This episode makes the case for why we find this new model of thinking about economics a very compelling upstart worthy of our attention. Honestly, RWJ and MVP find this view really appeals to their strategy gaming heads-up-display instincts. The Doughnut model provides a status overview of our biosphere and living conditions. Developing this type of broader worldview sense will be critical for anyone hoping to terraform a hostile world. At least ours is still a little bit friendly to our lives. We citizens want our economies and societies to live in the Goldilocks habitable zone, which we call the doughnut, between where the ecosystem can be sustained and above which point we experience starvation, dehydration, or disease. The red parts are an informational status overlay of where we're ranking. Welcomed are the ideas around how to embrace complexity and for us to begin designing dynamic feedback loops and control measures to manage foreseeable and unforeseeable shocks (climate swings, volcanoes, meteorites, etc.). By installing dynamic components in our economy, it will become more resilient and perhaps even offer stability during unstable times. MVP mentioned Bioneers in the episode and if you're unfamiliar, in their own words, "Bioneers is an innovative nonprofit organization that highlights breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet." In a similar lane, an ideation sensation that might tickle your thinker in one word: biomimicry. According to the Oxford dictionary, it is "the design and production of materials, structures, and systems that are modeled on biological entities and processes." check out the Biomimicry Institute for more information. Your hosts: Michael V. Piscitelli and Raymond Wong Jr. More info One aside made it to air about our dear mammalian cousins: Whales. The May issue of National Geographic features an article about how these amazing creatures keep surprising us in how many ways we are like them. Disney+ also has a series dedicated to this released on Earth Day 2021. Did you know that we made cows? I didn't know that. Just like our dogs, a domesticated branch of a wild bunch. Cows are descended from an extinct form of Ox or Yak from Mesopotamia. Holy cow. I just heard this little snippet from the latest episode of Science Fridays, one of MVP's favorite podcasts. Please feel free to share your thoughts through our Contact Us page or on Facebook. Learn more and reach out Head to Citizens Prerogative for additional information and log in or sign up to leave a comment. Don't forget to join our free newsletter and get 10% off at our shop! Go the extra mile by supporting us through Patreon. Please contact us with any questions or suggestions. Special thanks Our ongoing supporters, thank you! Our sponsor CitizenDoGood.com. Graphic design by SergeShop.com. Intro music sampled from “Okay Class” by Ozzy Jock under creative commons license through freemusicarchive.org. Other music provided royalty-free through Fesliyan Studios Inc. 

Dear Future, I'm Ready!
DF #21for21 - #2 - Hugo Araujo

Dear Future, I'm Ready!

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 20, 2021 29:51


Have you ever told someone, when he or she was facing a challenge or was wondering about a life concept: LOOK AT OR ASK NATURE?. Most of us have. But how much do we actually do that? Biomimicry is the practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges — really asking nature, you might say. In this episode of Dear Future, I'm Ready #21for21 we are very happy to be talking to Hugo Araujo, about exactly that: what can we ask nature, and specifically, how can biomimicry help us solve problems and transform better and more sustainably? About Hugo Araujo Hugo is one of the first 30 Biomimicry Professionals Worldwide, certified by the Biomimicry Institute in 2013. He has taken part in ground breaking research in the field of Biomimicry, travelled to remote locations exploring diversity of ecosystems. Hugo is also an artist and an entrepreneur with special focus on sustainable innovation and business. His main drive is to find a balance between humans and nature. Hugo is the creator of the #7Vortex - a collaborative platform for a new kind of problem-solvers. Find out more about Hugo's projects and work: Sustentavía (2009) 7vortex (2017) 7V Health (2019) Virtual Gaia (2020) Biominga (2021)

Teaching Learning Leading K-12
Samuel Cord Stier - Engineering Education for the Next Generation: A Nature Inspired Approach - 358

Teaching Learning Leading K-12

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2021 48:40


Samuel Cord Stier talks with me about his book - Engineering Education for the Next Generation: A Nature Inspired Approach. This is episode 358 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast. Samuel Cord Stier is the Founding Director of The Center for Learning With Nature, a non-profit organization providing STEM curricula and teacher training founded on the captivating power and modern importance of the natural world. You can find more information at www.LearningWithNature.org. A National Science Foundation Fellow in STEM curricula design, Sam was appointed to the NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) review team by the State of Montana's Department of Education in 2012.  An ecologist by training, Sam has been an environmental consultant for The Nature Conservancy, WWF, Monterey Bay Aquarium, World Bank and others, and founded and directed the Youth and Public Education Programs at the Biomimicry Institute (started by author Janine Benyus).  In addition to directing The Center for Learning with Nature, Sam also teaches bio-inspired design at the College of Engineering at Texas Tech University and at Otis College of Art and Design. Today we are going to talk about his book - Engineering Education for the Next Generation: A Nature-Inspired Approach. Lots to learn today! This is an amazing conversation! Thanks for listening! Could you do me a favor? Please open the podcast app that you are listening to me on and would you rate and review the podcast? Please? That would be Awesome. Thanks! By the way, don't forget to go to my affiliate sponsor Boon's Titanium Rings at www.boonerings.com. When you order a ring use my code - TLLK12 - at checkout to get 10% off and help the podcast get a commission. Thanks!!!   Connect and Learn More: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393713770 https://wwnorton.com/author/22633 https://www.learningwithnature.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-stier-9739195/ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cats-help-astronauts-space-sam-stier/ Affiliate Info: Check out Teaching Learning Leading K12's Affiliate Sponsor - Boone's Titanium Rings. At check out use my code TLLK12 and get 10% off your order and help Teaching Learning Leading K12 with a commission. Boon's Titanium Rings www.boonerings.com   Length - 48:40

The Unconventionalists with Mark Leruste
#147 The role of soul in business with Duke Stump

The Unconventionalists with Mark Leruste

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 4, 2021 64:20


Duke Stump's goal is to obsolete Harvard Business School. As an economics major playing hockey at Vermont University who loved philosophy and nature, Duke was learning all about business. But at the same time he's watching Ben & Jerry's down the road dismantle everything he's learning in the classroom about what it means to be in business. Through compassion, vulnerability, courage and honesty, Duke believes in challenging the status quo and daring to play in completely different jet streams. Today, Duke loves building bonfires with soul: powerful, emotionally charged brands that stand for something meaningful in the world. Recently cited by Forbes as one of the top 50 Game-Changing CMO's, Duke has spent the last 30+ years helping to build iconic global brands (NIKE, Seventh Generation, lululemon). In addition, he has served in BOD and mentor roles with The Biomimicry Institute, 21c Hotels, Unreasonable Group, Healthy Child Healthy World and Love Your Brain. A lover of nature, slow food, horsemanship and yoga, Duke and his family live on a small ranch in idyllic Ojai, CA along with horses, dogs, cats and chickens. This is a powerful conversation about embracing change, the unknown and being open to what may be. Especially when it's scary. Enjoy this powerful conversation! @markleruste Shownotes: Bonfire With Soul: www.bonfirewithsoul.com No F*cks Given podcast with Sarah Knight: www.link.chtbl.com/uaXD3gld This week's episode was brought to you by: The Podcast Revolution: https://theunconventionalists.com/launch-a-successful-podcast-from-scratch - Use code "PODCASTTRIBE" to get 20% off the entire course.

Physics Alive
Biomimicry in the Classroom – An intersection of physics, engineering, biology, and problem solving

Physics Alive

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2021 36:11


“Biomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges — and find hope along the way.” This is the introduction on the Biomimicry Institute’s website. “The goal of biomimicry,” they continue, “is to create products, processes, and policies — new ways of living — that solve our greatest design challenges sustainably and in solidarity with all life on earth.” Biomimicry is just as much physics and engineering as it is biology. Plus, it’s solving real challenges in our world while also encouraging entrepreneurship. In this episode, find out how bringing biomimicry into the classroom can bring Physics Alive.Show notesExamples of biomimicry discussed in this episodeClassic biomimicry example– The kingfisher and the bullet trainA newer biomimicry example– The mantis shrimp, Helicoid industries, and impact resistant compositesYouth Design Challenge winner– The Texas Horned Lizard and the moist brickSee their video pitchGlobal Design Challenge finalist– Emulating mycorrhizal networks to increase food access to vulnerable populations Resources mentioned in the episodeYouth Design Challenge - for middle and high school studentshttps://youthchallenge.biomimicry.org/Global Design Challenge - for university students and young professionalshttps://biomimicry.org/globaldesignchallenge/Online database and search engine of over 1700 biological strategieshttps://asknature.org/Biomimicry design curriculum for high schoolhttps://biomimicry.org/biomimicry-and-science-hs-curriculum/Biomimicry toolboxhttps://toolbox.biomimicry.org/And many more educator resources:https://biomimicry.org/education/The three essential elements of biomimicryIt emulates something in natureDeep sustainability mindsetReconnecting to natureQuestions? Reach out to info@biomimicry.org Todays's GuestsRosanna AyersRosanna directs the Youth Design Challenge and the development of resources and programs to support educator interactions with the Biomimicry Institute. As a Science Coordinator, Rosanna supported the implementation of Next Generation Science Standards in 20 school districts. She has nearly 20 years of experience as a classroom educator, a college instructor and a county office administrator for science. Rosanna holds a K-8 Teaching Credential along with a supplemental authorization for Business in Secondary education. Rosanna has a bachelor’s in International Business, a Masters in Educational Leadership and School Development and an Administrative Credential for K-12 education. Michelle GravesMichelle is responsible for maintaining, expanding, and improving the Global Design Challenge and Launchpad programs of The Biomimicry Institute. Introducing people to the natural world, helping them understand the interconnectedness of living systems, and inspiring them to value a healthy planet has been her lifelong passion. Michelle holds a bachelor’s degree in ecology and evolutionary biology, and a master’s degree in marine biology.

Interviews with Technical People
Ep 17: Dorna Schroeter: Sustainability and Biomimicry

Interviews with Technical People

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2021 76:35


In this episode we are joined by Dorna Schroeter, an educator and author, for a conversation about sustainability and biomimicry. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from the origins of 20th century behaviors and habits that recently impacted our planet, to better understanding the fundamental operating principles of our planet and the role that we can play. Information for additional reading and research:The Biomimicry Institute: https://biomimicry.org/AskNature https://biomimicry.org/asknature/TBI Youth Design Challenge https://biomimicry.org/youthdesignchallenge/Drawdown https://www.drawdown.org/Ecological Footprint https://www.footprintnetwork.org/resources/footprint-calculator/Ecological Footprint for young people https://kids.lovetoknow.com/kids-activities/carbon-footprint-calculator-kidsNatural Services http://www.fao.org/ecosystem-services-biodiversity/en/Earth Overshoot Day https://www.overshootday.org/ and https://www.overshootday.org/newsroom/past-earth-overshoot-days/Mushroom packaging https://ecovativedesign.com/news/goodbye-mushroom-packaging Dorna's website https://anideafromnature.com/FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/AnIdeaFromNaturePodcast Cover Art courtesy of Dorna Schroeter

asterisco*
#10 - Negócios ecossistêmicos: como redesenhar organizações inspiradas na natureza.

asterisco*

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 2020 46:27


Como buscar inspirações na natureza para repensar a lógica organizacional dentro das empresas? Em nosso último episódio da 1º temporada do asterisco*, Fred Gelli conversou com Carol Freitas - designer e biomimeticista - sobre liderança, descentralização, trocas e ciclos de mudança na natureza. ____ CURADORIA CAROL FREITAS 1. Livro Teeming - Tamsin Wooley-Barker https://teeminnovationgroup.com 2. Livro Biomimicry resource handbook - Dayna Baumeister e Janine Benyus https://biomimicry.net/product/digital-handbook 3. The Bio-leadership Project- Leadership inspired by nature: https://bio-leadership.org 4. Livro Economia Donnut - Kate Raworth: https://bit.ly/34bzlrW 5. Cobiom - swarm innovation for sustainability decade: https://cobiom.com 6. Biomimicry Institute: https://biomimicry.org ____ Assine a nossa newsletter e receba as novidades do asterisco* no seu e-mail: http://tatil.com.br/asterisco ____ Coordenação: Thiago Klein Estratégia e Pesquisa: Luiza Magalhães Design: Thaiane Gomes Consultora e Pesquisa: Thalita Campbell Executiva de Conta e Produção: Luísa Simões Produção e Edição: Malícia Visual

Leadership BITES
Duke Stump, Nike, Lululemon, Lime, Seventh Generation

Leadership BITES

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2020 49:15 Transcription Available


Duke Stump blew me away in this episode. I am rarely affected by a persons manner, insight and personal characterists. Duke has 'something', that I put down to honesty. He is honest with himself and then with you. Duke's hoensty though comes from a place of consciousness, he is purposeful, there is intent in his life and his conversations. He appears to me to be an explorer that wants you to join him on the quest.His new project Bonfire With Soul is a revelation. YOU HAVE TO CHECK IT OUT. Cited by Forbes as one of the top 50 Game-Changing CMO's, I have spent the last 30+ years as an inspired protagonist helping to build iconic global brands (NIKE, Seventh Generation, Lululemon). Duke loves building bonfires with soul: powerful, emotionally charged brands that stand for something meaningful in the world.In addition, he has served in BOD and mentor roles with The Biomimicry Institute, 21c Hotels, Unreasonable Group, Healthy Child Healthy World and Love Your Brain. A lover of nature, slow food, horsemanship and yoga, Duke and his family live on a small ranch in idyllic Ojai, CA along with horses, dogs, cats and chickens. Intoxicated with culture, empathetic leadership and strategy. Unique bonfire brand philosophy and strategy that goes against the grain of conventional thinking. His inspirations come from a diverse range of sources including but not limited to nature, horsemanship, Buckminster Fuller, Jiddu Krishnamurti, introverts, yoga and music.

AS TEMPERATURES RISE
EP8. Joe Brewer: The Planetary Predicament and Regenerating Earth

AS TEMPERATURES RISE

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 26, 2020 71:35


Joe Brewer is a true polymath and lover of Earth! He is executive director of the Center for Applied Cultural Evolution and the founder of the Earth Regenerators network, a study group for restoring planetary health and avoiding human extinction. He is the author of The Design Pathway for Regenerating Earth(which will be self-published soon), where he brings together the fields of complexity, Earth Systems, cognitive science, and cultural evolution. Show notes: * causes of the planetary predicament — difference between learning and instinct * evolution of the human brain and technology, especially language * environmental fitness using technology and building on what came before * human ability to learn culture that can temporarily disconnect from the nonhuman environment (creating a temporary buffer) * disconnected in causality in our short term thinking = displaced causality * if we are to survive this time we will need to spread survival out in space, in time, and in causation * a future that no one can see but somehow still move toward it = we become the past of some future * collapse through the metaphor of hospice * complex sequence of collapses of subsystems of the body * civilizations as one long term living system, example of COVID and shut down as systems * collapse is plural * OPEC oil crisis in 1980 * wealth accumulation is like cancer * collapse of the US economy has been happening for 40 years * Confucius “If your plan is for one year plant rice. If your plan is for ten years plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years educate children. ” and if you’re planning for 1,000 years grow a forest * Aristotle and teleological thinking * the original cathedral is forest building * cultural evolution and design of culture * population genetics * cultural traits * future fitness is our design challenge * bringing sacred relationships to our environment is an essential ingredient * cumulative culture = we can build on culture * cultural scaffolding or developmental scaffolding * David Sloan Wilson and wise management of cultural evolution * regeneration is a dynamic pattern * Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela * autopoiesis = self generated self expression * Janine Benyus and the Biomimicry Institute * real sustainability is regeneration * we need to work with living systems * limits to growth * Joe and his family decisions to move to Barichara, Colombia * having a daughter in this time * what do children need in this time? * our daughter is learning that what normal people do is bring rivers back to life and grow forests * Earth Regenerators Network * regenerating at the bioregional level * local living economies * 97% of our history we lived in small hunter-gatherer tribes evolving with nature * should we humans be here or not? * there is no singular human culture * we (humans) get to decide if we stick around! * without enough complexity and diversity in a food web it will collapse * loss of too much non human species and humans go away too' * should there be too many humans or balance and diversity of life? * “we need to deserve to be here" * The Kogi and pagamentos * debt of gratitude to Tierra Madre * gratitude releases hormones of pleasure * Paul Cherfuka’s addition to the stages of grief: the gift * you grieve because you care * to regenerate land we have to feel what has been destroyed * an ability to love that has no end * The true evolutionary adaptation for humans is teamwork * Your medicine is what you give, it’s your genius * we are the medicine if we realized we are the Earth loving itself * how to live in a landscape - to live in a place you love so much you will give your body to it * where should my body rest? Support Joe: https://www.patreon.com/joe_brewer The Earth Regenerators: https://earth-regenerators.mn.co/ Joe on Medium: https://medium.com/@joe_brewer Support the ATR podcast: https://www.patreon.com/astemperaturesrise Music is “The Light Within” by Gavin Luke

Love Zero Waste
Biomimicry - solutions sparked by nature (with Rebecca Carlson)

Love Zero Waste

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 14, 2020 28:51


What does velcro and the Namib desert beetle have in common? They’re both champions in the field of biomimicry. And what does biomimicry have to do with zero waste? Everything! On the show we’re often talking about designing out waste - but with biomimicry, we’re taking things even further. In nature, waste doesn’t exist, only closed loops, and that’s what designers, engineers and others are trying to mimic and put to good use. Listen to our guest Rebecca Carlson of the Biomimicry Institute, give a crash course on innovation and design inspired by nature, taxonomy, and how we could rethink CO2. Perhaps the latter it’s no longer our enemy - but a valuable resource!? Sources The Biomimicry Institute, https://biomimicry.org/ The Biomimicry Global Design Challenge, https://challenge.biomimicry.org/en/challenge/global-design-challenge-2020 The Biomimicry Toolbox: toolbox.biomimicry.org/ The Taxonomy: https://asknature.org/resource/biomimicry-taxonomy/ AskNature: asknature.org 30 Days of Reconnection: https://biomimicry.org/30days/ The Namib Desert Bettle (Stenocara gracilipes), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stenocara_gracilipes Zero Waste challenge (teaser) on Deedster, https://open.deedster.com/journey/anktNTg3MTE0NDYxMzcwNzc3Ng Plastic Free July, https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/ Support our work through Patreon You can make a one-time or even a monthly donation, starting at 5 USD. Your contribution will help us create more episodes of Love Zero Waste, with even richer content. Your support means the world to us! https://www.patreon.com/lovezerowaste Credits Hosts and creators: Malin Leth and Evelina Lundqvist Jingle by Michael Steinkellner of Merlinn Sound, http://merlinnsound.com Initiators of the Love Zero Waste community: Evelina Lundqvist and Alexandra Poetz Love Zero Waste is a collaboration between Circulous, http://circulous.biz and The Good Tribe, http://thegoodtribe.com.

Reversing Climate Change
S2E11: Can capitalism be regenerative?—w/ John Elkington, author of Green Swans

Reversing Climate Change

Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2020 47:55


Join in on the conversation around regenerative capitalism and if/how capitalism can be made regenerative by tweeting @volansjohn and @nori, and you will automatically be entered to win copy of John Elkington’s latest book, Green Swans: The Coming Boom in Regenerative Capitalism!   Most of us are familiar with Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s concept of a black swan: an unforeseen, adverse event with off-the-scale impact. But what if we were to flip this concept on its head? In his new book, John Elkington envisions a world where capitalism transforms to serve people and planet, where the black swan problems currently leading us to exponential breakdown are mitigated by green swan solutions taking us exponentially toward breakthrough.   John is an internationally recognized authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development, bestselling author, and serial entrepreneur. He currently serves as Chief Pollinator at Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship, and innovation movements. Today, John joins Ross and Paul to discuss his most recent book, Green Swans: The Coming Boom in Regenerative Capitalism, and explain how a green swan differs from a black swan event in its potential for an exponentially positive impact.   John goes on to discuss the idea of regenerative capitalism, explaining why he doesn’t trust incumbents to lead the movement, how we can approach new ventures with a regenerative mindset, and why he suggests transforming the current system rather than scrapping capitalism altogether. Listen in for John’s insight around the unintended consequences of implementing new technologies, and find out what green swans might arise out of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Key Takeaways   [2:52] What John is trying to communicate through Green Swans Black swan = unexpected event, exponential negative impact Raise question re: exponentially positive trajectories   [5:52] How John defines a gray swan and a white swan Gray swans have massive negative impact but were foreseen White swan = template for anything with exponential impact    [8:27] John’s concept of regenerative capitalism Social movements must engage with markets + business Reprogram key parts of system to build resilience   [11:17] The potential for oil and gas to lead the movement Fundamental distrust of incumbents in old economic orders Reptilian instincts, try to undermine opposition   [13:49] Why we shouldn’t just get rid of capitalism Market activity gone on for thousands of years Reform with government, regulatory involvement   [15:57] How to start new ventures with a regenerative mindset Leverage approach of B Corp movement Requires transformation of financial market   [22:19] How a regenerative focus might heal the political divide Potential for transfer of wealth from urban to rural Still dispossessed by tech (automotive, dairy industries)   [25:57] Nori’s potential role in establishing regenerative capitalism Evolving ecosystem of likeminded companies Operate as standard setter of what is regenerative   [30:08] What we need to know about Thomas Midgley  Chemist/engineer with patents for leaded gasoline, freons Single organism who did most damage to planet   [33:26] How to cultivate leaders who put the community’s needs first Reach out to people don’t understand, make uncomfortable Develop ability to listen for weak signals of change   [36:25] What green swans may arise out of COVID-19 Commitment to air quality, places to walk and cycle Universal basic income (has own unintended consequences)   Connect with Ross & Paul    Nori Nori on Facebook  Nori on Twitter Nori on Medium Nori on YouTube Nori on GitHub Nori on Patreon Nori Newsletter Email podcast@nori.com  Nori White Paper Subscribe on iTunes Carbon Removal Newsroom   Resources   John’s Website John on Twitter Volans John Elkington on RCC EP028 Green Swans: The Coming Boom in Regenerative Capitalism by John Elkington The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb Books by John Elkington People of the State of New York v. Exxon Mobil Corporation Hyman Minsky Kate Raworth Mariana Mazzucato Business Roundtable  The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business by Clayton M. Christensen Certified B Corporation Richard Roberts’ Series on Shareholders vs. Stakeholders RethinkX Thomas Midgley ‘To an Uneducated Ruler’ by Plutarch Leaders’ Quest The Finnish Basic Income Experiment Regenerators John Fullerton at the Capital Institute Janine Benyus at the Biomimicry Institute

Masters of Regeneration Radio
Beth Rattner: Biomimicry

Masters of Regeneration Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 3, 2020 78:59


In this episode we talk about healing our gut… about our micro biome and Earth’s different biomes, about these gut-wrenching times our shadows, our personal truth, coming back to our belonging place, this collective healing transition, fermentation as an alternative to the textile industry and letting go of our dependency on oil, and giving Nature her rightful place at the table in our decision making process. Little did we know Nature was going to show us who’s boss now. Beth said something like: “Maybe there are more steps ahead that frighten me”… well here we are. At home, like Mother Nature sent us all to our rooms to think about what we’ve done and reflect on how we move forward now, acknowledging what is truly essential in our efforts to bring back that vibrant world. What is essential? Breathing… drinking water and eating foods that are alive, nourishing our body and mind with gratitude, awareness, presence, wisdom, patience, going within to listen to a knowledge beyond our human mental constructs. We coexist with millions of other species living and adapting to an ever changing environment, and they do it in harmony with Nature. How about covid 19 for an accelerator for Sapiens? How about this for building global Unity Consciousness? It takes a very different mindset than the mainstream one that has prevailed, to recognize all natural organisms we coexist with as beings, as people, just like us. Beth Rattner is the executive director for the Biomimicry Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to helping current and future innovators reconnect to nature so that we may create more regenerative products and services. Beth directs the Institute’s strategic vision and mission to create a new generation of nature-inspired innovators and oversees the organization’s five programs: Youth Design Challenge, Biomimicry Global Design Challenge, Biomimicry Launchpad, Ray of Hope Prize®, and AskNature. The Institute is also the connective tissue for the Biomimicry Global Network, a worldwide network of biomimicry innovators. She is a frequent speaker on how biomimetic design in products, cities, and agriculture can bring about a new level of repair and cooperation to our economy and ecosystem which in turn will spur new levels of social equity.  
 Beth Rattner has been working in sustainability since 2000 and is currently the executive director of the Biomimicry Institute. The Institute brings the practice of bioinspired design to hundreds of thousands of people a year through its education and entrepreneurship programs. Beth speaks publicly on how biomimetic design of human products and systems can restore our economy and environment.   Prior to this position, Beth worked with William McDonough and Michael Braungart on The Upcycle, the sequel to Cradle to Cradle, before she helped co-found the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute and became its executive director.     An attorney by training, Beth was also a managing director for one of the first sustainability business consultant firms, Blu Skye, and business manager for Hewlett Packard’s Emerging Market Solutions (EMS) group. This HP internal “start-up” championed a new lens on providing technology solutions to those who earn less than $2 a day. The team launched HP’s first multi-user, daisy-chained computer for poorly funded schools and a solar-powered printer, providing microfinance opportunities for women who could bring photographs to remote villages for the very first time.     Beth lives in Marin County, California.

Go Green Radio
The Biomimicry Institute

Go Green Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2020 55:42


Biomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies used by species alive today. The goal is to create products, processes, and policies — new ways of living — that solve our greatest design challenges sustainably. The Biomimicry Institute was founded in 2006 by Janine Benyus and Bryony Schwan to share nature's design lessons with the people who design and make our world, and empower people to create nature-inspired solutions for a healthy planet. Today we'll talk with the Executive Director of the Biomimicry Institute, Beth Rattner.

Go Green Radio
The Biomimicry Institute

Go Green Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2020 55:42


Biomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies used by species alive today. The goal is to create products, processes, and policies — new ways of living — that solve our greatest design challenges sustainably. The Biomimicry Institute was founded in 2006 by Janine Benyus and Bryony Schwan to share nature's design lessons with the people who design and make our world, and empower people to create nature-inspired solutions for a healthy planet. Today we'll talk with the Executive Director of the Biomimicry Institute, Beth Rattner.

My Climate Journey
Ep 66: Marilyn Waite, Program Officer, Climate & Clean Energy Finance at William & Flora Hewlett Foundation

My Climate Journey

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 26, 2019 49:39


Today’s guest is Marilyn Waite, Program Officer, Climate & Clean Energy Finance at William & Flora Hewlett Foundation.Marilyn manages the foundation’s grantmaking on climate and clean energy finance with the ambitious goal of addressing climate change by accelerating the transition to a climate-friendly economy. Her grantmaking mobilizes private capital investments in low-carbon and climate-friendly energy infrastructure and systems, seeking to redirect finance from high- to low-carbon activities and encourage wiser energy investments. A key component to this work includes assessing climate finance flows, identifying ways to lower the cost and risk of investment, and supporting innovations in capital markets to address investor requirements for clean energy and climate-aligned projects.Marilyn has worked across four continents in venture investment, startups, and low-carbon energy. She previously led the clean energy practice at Village Capital, where she sourced and performed due diligence for early-stage startups solving energy challenges and built a network of 1,000-plus clean tech entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, and government stakeholders. As a senior research fellow at Project Drawdown, she modeled and forecasted energy solutions to climate change. Marilyn led several operational and research and development projects at AREVA in France, including performing technical and economic studies in the energy-water nexus and the nuclear energy cycle.Author of Sustainability at Work, Marilyn serves on the board of directors for the Biomimicry Institute and lectures on sustainable business at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. She is an E2 1 Hotels Fellow, and as such, her work and writing highlights opportunities in women-led, green economy startups throughout the country.She holds a bachelor’s of science degree in civil and environmental engineering, magna cum laude, from Princeton University and a master’s degree with distinction in engineering for sustainable development from the University of Cambridge.In today’s episode, we cover:Overview of the Hewlett FoundationMarilyn’s professional history, leading her up to her current roleWhen she started caring about climate change, and whyHer current role, focus areas, how they determine how grants are allocated, and some example projectsHow they measure success, and how this work ties into broader climate fightWhat else can be high impact in climate fightHow Marilyn would allocate a big pot of money to maximize its impact in the climate fightMarilyn’s advice for you and I for how we can helpLinks to topics discussed in this episode:William and Flora Hewlett Foundation: https://hewlett.org/New Energy Nexus: https://www.newenergynexus.com/Project Drawdown: https://www.drawdown.org/Village Capital: https://vilcap.com/PCAF: https://carbonaccountingfinancials.com/Multilateral development banks: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R41170.pdfClean Energy Federal Credit Union: https://www.cleanenergycu.org/home/homeWinners Take All book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/539747/winners-take-all-by-anand-giridharadas/Just Giving book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/just-giving-rob-reich/1128553898Decolonizing Wealth book: https://www.amazon.com/Decolonizing-Wealth-Indigenous-Divides-Restore/dp/1523097892Global Alliance for Banking on Values: http://www.gabv.org/You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at info@myclimatejourney.co, where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.Enjoy the show!

The Disruptive Environmentalist
18 - Biomimicry - Taking Inspiration From Nature To Solve Environmental Problems - Megan Shuknecht, The Biomimicry Institute

The Disruptive Environmentalist

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 20, 2019 35:30


Biomimicry is the process of looking to nature for ideas and inspiration on how we can solve human problems and design things that better fit in with life on earth. Taking advantage of 3.8 million years of evolution to give us a ‘jump start' on research and development. In this interview, I speak to Megan Shuknecht who is from the Biomimicry Institute, an organisation set up to promote the use of the principles of biomimicry in design and innovation. As Megan will explain, they do this by hosting design challenges, with a launchpad for new businesses and even an award-winning free tool (AskNature.org) which anyone can access to get inspiration from the natural world. For more information on The Biomimicry Institute head to: https://www.biomimicry.org And for AskNature: www.asknature.org

Climate One
Can a Circular Economy Salvage the Climate?

Climate One

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 20, 2019 50:00


Produce, consume, discard; we all know the routine. Raw materials are extracted, produced into goods, and used – sometimes only once – before turning into waste. And maybe we think that recycling that Starbucks cup or Smartwater bottle is the best we can do for the planet. But that’s the wrong way to think about it, says John Lanier of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation. “Recycling is not the answer or the solution to advancing the circular economy,” Lanier asserts. It's an answer, but actually one of the weakest ones. It’s what we should do as a last result before we throw something in a landfill.” Like his grandfather Ray Anderson, a pioneer in corporate sustainability, Lanier advocates for a mindset in which products are designed and manufactured with a focus on permanence, rather than disposability. “In this vision for the future we become owners of things…not consumers of them,” Lanier explains. “That’s a big and radical shift.” Rethinking our manufacturing methods and energy resources is another key element, says Beth Rattner of the Biomimicry Institute. “When we start talking about pulling carbon out of the air, taking it from source emitters, pulling methane off of farms and creating new kinds of stuff, new kinds of plastic…that’s the recycling story we should be telling.” Finding ways to imitate nature’s most efficient methods, such as structural color, is an exciting new development in product design. “Imagine if everything we made was functionally indistinguishable from nature,” Rattner says. “That's the goal. “Because when you walk into a forest, that whole forest is working toward a single common good, which is the protection of the forest; that is its survival strategy.” And as more and more corporations and consumers embrace the concept of a “circular economy,” it may turn out to be ours as well. Guests John Lanier, co-author, Mid-Course Correction Revisited: The Story and Legacy of a Radical Industrialist and his Quest for Authentic Change (Chelsea Green, 2019) Beth Rattner, executive director, Biomimicry Institute Peter Templeton, president and CEO, Cradle to Cradle Product Innovation Institute Mike Sangiacomo, president and CEO, Recology Related Links: Ray C. Anderson Foundation Biomimicry Institute Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute Recology Nathaniel Stookey's Junkestra: A Symphony of Garbage | The Kennedy Center (Youtube) The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability (Paul Hawken) This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on May 7, 2019

The Hive Podcast
13. Biomimicry, Resilience & Economies Of The Future / Beth Rattner

The Hive Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 4, 2019 48:29


In this episode, I speak with Beth Rattner, the executive director of the Biomimicry Institute, a fascinating organisation whose purpose is to naturalise biomimicry in the culture by promoting the transfer of ideas, designs, and strategies from biology to sustainable human systems design. We explore everything from technological innovation, resilience and the economies of the future, to what it might mean to re-write deeply-held narratives about what it is to be human, in order to tread a more regenerative path. Join in the conversation #hivepodcast, and find out more at www.nathalienahai.com/the-hive-podcast/

Green Sense Radio
Biomimicry innovations/Green automotive news

Green Sense Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2018 28:03


Biomimicry, which is an approach to innovation by emulating nature is the hot area when it comes to innovation. The idea is to create products, processes, and policies well-adapted to life on earth over the long haul. The Biomimicry Institute supports innovators who are working in this way and we’re joined by Megan Schuknecht, the institute’s Director of Design Challenges.   Tom Appel, publisher of Consumer Guide Automotive joins us for Green Automotive News on some of the challenges of connected cars.   

Holistic Nature of Us
Podcast: Holistic Nature of Us: Erika Harrison, Biomimicry Institute

Holistic Nature of Us

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 14, 2018 36:01


The Biomimicry Institue is a non-profit organization that seeks to empower people to create nature-inspired solutions for a healthy planet. Erika gives us examples of innovative designs created through nature's infinite gifts.

The NTM Growth Marketing Podcast
SFH #023: Learning From Nature's Mentors with Janine Benyus, Co-Founder of Biomimicry 3.8

The NTM Growth Marketing Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2018 42:09


As a self-proclaimed “nature nerd”, Janine Benyus, is the Co-Founder of the Biomimicry Institute (a non-profit dedicated to making biology a natural part of the design process ), Founder of Biomimicry 3.8 ( the global leader in biomimicry innovation consulting, professional training, and educational program and curricula development) and author of Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired By Nature. On stage, she has shared two TED talks, hundreds of conference keynotes, and a dozen documentaries such as 11th Hour, Harmony, Second Nature: The Biomimicry Evolution, and The Nature of Things with David Suzuki, which aired in 71 countries. In this episode, we get to learn more about why she believes that the more people learn from nature's mentors, the more they'll want to protect them. Let's AskNature and dive in, with Janine Benyus! — — — For more information on Biomimicry: https://biomimicry.org

The School for Humanity
SFH #023: Learning From Nature's Mentors with Janine Benyus, Co-Founder of Biomimicry 3.8

The School for Humanity

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2018 42:09


As a self-proclaimed “nature nerd”, Janine Benyus, is the Co-Founder of the Biomimicry Institute (a non-profit dedicated to making biology a natural part of the design process ), Founder of Biomimicry 3.8 ( the global leader in biomimicry innovation consulting, professional training, and educational program and curricula development) and author of Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired By Nature. On stage, she has shared two TED talks, hundreds of conference keynotes, and a dozen documentaries such as 11th Hour, Harmony, Second Nature: The Biomimicry Evolution, and The Nature of Things with David Suzuki, which aired in 71 countries. In this episode, we get to learn more about why she believes that the more people learn from nature's mentors, the more they'll want to protect them. Let's AskNature and dive in, with Janine Benyus! — — — For more information on Biomimicry: https://biomimicry.org

Regen360: Creating a Green Legacy
Episode 56 - Beth Rattner

Regen360: Creating a Green Legacy

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 14, 2017 38:27


David sits down to talk with Beth Rattner, Executive Director for the Biomimicry Institute. Listen in as David and Beth discuss how biomimetic design in products, cities, and agriculture can bring about a new level of resilience to our economy and ecosystem.

Green Sense Radio
The viral carbon reduction infographic/Biomimicry Global Design Challenge

Green Sense Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 15, 2017 28:00


“Individual actions multiplied by millions have big environmental results.” We’ve been saying that from day one on Green Sense. Recently, an infographic illustrating just which individual actions can have the most positive impact went viral. Seth Wines with the University of British Columbia, is the author of the report on which it’s based. Biomimicry, or nature-inspired designs to develop solutions to reverse or adapt to climate change continues to be a trend in sustainability. The Biomimicry Global Design Challenge for students has been taking place annually since 2008 and we’re joined by Megan Schuknecht with the Biomimicry Institute to talk about this year’s challenge.    

Hacked Leadership: Innovation Acceleration

bi·o·mim·ic·ry ˌbīōˈmiməkrē/ noun  the design and production of materials, structures, and systems that are modeled on biological entities and processes. -Google Biomimicry is an approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to human challenges by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies. -Biomimicry Institute Nature provides the best examples of working processes yet we often engage in our world mindlessly or use brute force methods to problem-solving and innovating. How can we harness and learn from the world around us? Last week, I blogged about the Power of a Question. The question I would ask is, "Has nature found a solution to this problem?" This question opens up a world of action research, and an opportunity to look at the environment in a new way. Below are some great examples of biomimicry in action. Read more examples here. VELCRO: George de Mestral invented Velcro after his dog returned covered in burdock burrs. He looked at them under the microscope and noticed hook-like structures, and after years of experimenting, he patented velcro in 1955. SUPER ADHESIVE: Geckos scale walls and even walk upside down on surfaces using millions of microscopic hairs on their toes. Scientists used this methodology to create an adhesive where an index-card-size strip can hold up to 700 pounds holding promise as a new medical adhesive to replace sutures and staples. VACCINES - NO REFRIGERATION REQUIRED: Tardigrades, relatives of the arthropod take up to 120 years to dry out after dying. A process called anhydrobiosis protects them. Biomatrica, through an adaptation of anhydrobiosis, realized how to apply this knowledge to live vaccines, preventing the need for refrigeration for up to six months.  Resources for educators: Ask Nature Join in the Biomimicry Design Challenge Look through the lens of curiosity   Sources: Hennighausen, Amelia, and Eric Roston. "14 Smart Inventions Inspired by Nature: Biomimicry." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 23 Feb. 2015. Web. 08 Apr. 2017. "What Is Biomimicry? – Biomimicry Institute." Biomimicry Institute. Web. 08 Apr. 2017.

Highlights from the Disruptive Innovation Festival
Biomimicry and the Circular Economy

Highlights from the Disruptive Innovation Festival

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2016 16:42


Gretchen Hooker of the Biomimicry Institute and Colin Webster of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation discuss the crossovers between two frameworks: biomimicry and the circular economy. The video is intended as a conversation-starter, and it covers design, economics, and misconceptions of both frameworks. Both speakers have extensive knowledge of introducing their respective frameworks to educators.

What is Going OM with Sandie Sedgbeer
Biomimicry with Janine M. Benyus

What is Going OM with Sandie Sedgbeer

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 14, 2016 56:43


Biomimicry – What We Can Learn From Nature Can Save Our World with Janine M. BenyusAired Thursday, 13 October 2016, 7:00 PM ETNature is far more wondrous that we think – in fact, as scientists across the globe are proving, the natural world is full of hidden design clues that can save our world. Biomimicry is a revolutionary new science that analyzes nature’s best ideas – spider silk and prairie grass, seashells and brain cells – and adapts them for human use. In her seminal book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, science writer Janine Benyus reveals how nature is offering real solutions to human design challenges that can help us save our world– from creating toxin-free materials, to developing waste-free products and systems, to building entire cities that function like Redwood forests.Topics will include:* What leaves can teach us about gathering energy * What spiders can teach us about weaving fibers * What chimps can teach us about healing ourselves * And much more…About the Guest Janine M. BenyusJANINE BENYUS is a biologist, author, innovation consultant, and self-proclaimed “nature nerd.” In her 1997 book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, she names an emerging discipline that emulates nature’s designs and processes (e.g., solar cells that mimic leaves) to create a healthier, more sustainable planet. Since the book’s release, Janine has evolved the practice of biomimicry, speaking around the world about what we can learn from the genius that surrounds us.In 1998, Janine co-founded the world’s first bio-inspired consultancy, Biomimicry 3.8 (formerly the Biomimicry Guild), bringing nature’s sustainable designs to 250+ clients including Boeing, Colgate-Palmolive, Nike, General Electric, Herman Miller, HOK architects, IDEO, Interface, Natura, Procter and Gamble, Levi’s, Kohler, and General Mills.In 2006, she co-founded the Biomimicry Institute, a non-profit dedicated to making biology a natural part of the design process. The Institute hosts annual global biomimicry design challenges on massive sustainability problems, mobilizing tens of thousands of students and practitioners through the Global Biomimicry Network to solve those challenges, and providing those practitioners with the world’s most comprehensive biomimicry inspiration database, AskNature, to use as a starting place.https://biomimicry.org/ and http://asknature.org/

Bioneers: Ecological Design
Biomimicry: Life’s Operating Manual | Dayna Baumeister

Bioneers: Ecological Design

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2016 31:01


Envision what our world would and could look like if we actually started reading and following the directions contained in “Life’s Operating Manual.” Co-founder with Janine Benyus of the Biomimicry Guild and Biomimicry Institute, Dayna Baumeister provides an eagle’s-eye view of biomimicry breakthroughs using ecological design and nature-inspired technologies that emulate nature’s profound design sophistication. She has worked in the field of biomimicry with Janine Benyus since 1998 and designed and teaches the world’s first Biomimicry Professional Certification Program. Introduction by Byrony Schwan, Executive Director of the Biomimicry Institute. This speech was given at the 2011 Bioneers National Conference. Since 1990, Bioneers has acted as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world's most pressing environmental and social challenges. To experience talks like this, please join us at the Bioneers National Conference each October, and regional Bioneers Resilient Community Network gatherings held nationwide throughout the year. For more information on Bioneers, please visit http://www.bioneers.org and stay in touch via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Bioneers.org) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/bioneers).

System Smarts - System Design with John Ackley
012: Natural Systems with Curt McNamara of MCAD

System Smarts - System Design with John Ackley

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2016 36:44


Curt McNamara, P.E. is a practicing designer with 30 years experience in medical, commercial, and industrial markets. An active Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers member, Curt received the IEEE Millennium Medal in 2000 for his ongoing work in education. He has worked with the Biomimicry Institute to create content for the Biomimicry Toolbox, is a Biomimicry Education Fellow, and helps with the Biomimicry Education Network. Curt created and teaches the Systems and Innovation courses for the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) Master of Sustainable Design, and works to ensure that every student gets a grounding in the techniques of biomimicry and systems thinking. System Ah-ha! Curt's first Earth Day left him with the awareness that local actions have a global affect. Favorite System Tool "It depends." System mapping, for example GIGA-mapping, especially representing different perspectives. Learning Resource Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Science of Networks, Mark Buchanan Thinking in Systems: A Primer, Donella Meadows Design by Nature: Using Universal Forms and Principles in Design, Maggie McNabb Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, William McDonough Systems Thinking Made Simple New Hope for Solving Wicked Problems, Derek and Laura Cabrera Advice "Taking a systems approach is going to make everything easier and better."  Contact Minneapolis College of Art and Design: Masters in Sustainable Design (mcad.edu/faculty/curt-mcnamara) SystemDesignReview.com LinkedIn: Curt.McNamara    

Is Now A Good Time?
Lauren Argo - inDesign

Is Now A Good Time?

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2016 38:20


Lauren is an industrial designer focusing on user experience and user interface. What makes something well designed? "The fact that when you're using the product or service you don't actually think about the design, you don't even notice it was designed . . . it's when the design actually disappears and it's just so intuitive, that means it's a good design." ~ Lauren Argo If Lauren had to choose a title for her autobiography, what would the title be? Short & Sweet Link to The Biomimicry Institute: http://biomimicry.org/

KGNU - How On Earth
Biomimicry: A New lens on Technology and Innovation

KGNU - How On Earth

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2015 21:42


  Today's special edition of How on Earth, brought to you in conjunction with this week's Conference on World Affairs is a conversation on Biomimicy as a new lens to view science and technology with Margo Farnsworth.  Margo has coached two Top Twelve graduate teams for the International Student Biomimicry Challenge and currently serves as a Biomimicry Institute education fellow. She is also on the board of both the Missouri Prairie Foundation and South Carolina’s Experience Green. She has worked as a park ranger, science teacher, and mammalogist. With degrees in science education and parks administration, her professional accomplishments include research in environmental education, qualitative mammal studies, and involvement in numerous local and state environmental boards and committees. Farnsworth has written pieces for the Center for Humans and Nature as well as Treehugger, and has two biomimicry book projects pending.  She joins us live for an in-depth talk about how Biomimicry has the potential for changing scientific culture. Moderated, Produced, Engineered by Kendra Krueger Executive Producer: Susan Moran Listen Now!

Free Forum with Terrence McNally
Q&A: JANINE BENYUS, Natural Sciences Writer - Biomimicry

Free Forum with Terrence McNally

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2011 54:08


Aired 06/12/11 JANINE BENYUS is a natural sciences writer, innovation consultant, and author of six books, including Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. Since the book's 1997 release, Janine has evolved the practice of biomimicry, consulting with sustainable business, academic, and government leaders. Janine has co-founded the Biomimicry Guild, the Biomimicry Institute, and the web portal http://www.asknature.org/ to further this work. Her next book will be Nature's Code. http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/

Free Forum with Terrence McNally
Q&A: JANINE BENYUS, Writer, Innovation Consultant, & Author

Free Forum with Terrence McNally

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2008 53:25


Aired 12/16/08 After 3.8 billion years of R&D, failures are fossils. The conscious emulation of life's genius is a sustainable survival strategy for the human race. Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a new science that studies nature's best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems. Studying a leaf to invent a better solar cell is an example of this "innovation inspired by nature." The core idea is that nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with. Animals, plants, and microbes are the consummate engineers. They have found what works, what is appropriate, and most important, what lasts here on Earth. We are learning how to grow food like a prairie, build ceramics like an abalone, create color like a peacock, self-medicate like a chimp, compute like a cell, and run a business like a hickory forest. Learn more at www.biomimicryinstitute.org and www.asknature.org Janine Benyus' luscious 1997 book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature is unique and profound. In the book, she not only invents a new field that she has named biomimicry, but she inverts the way we all think about design - the alchemy that turns intention into action. Benyus draws her design inspiration from nature's wisdom, not people's cleverness. Some 3.8 billion years of evolution have exposed the design flaws of roughly 99% of nature's creations - all recalled by the Manufacturer. The 1% that have survived can teach powerful lessons about how things should be built if they're to last. For example, nature's design genius has led to the creation of bat-inspired ultrasonic canes for the blind, synthetic sheets that collect water from mist and fog as desert beetles do, and paint that self-cleans like a lotus leaf. Little plastic-film patches have been designed using adhesiveless gecko-foot technology, so that carpet tiles can be stored in a big roll, but also easily removed. Equally promising, we'll soon make solar cells like leaves, supertough ceramics that resemble the inner shells of abalone, and underwater glue that mimics the natural as forests. Biomimicry isn't biotechnology. Biomimicry learns and emulates how spiders make silk; biotechnology transplants spiders' silk-making genes into goats, then sorts silk from milk and hopes the genes don't get loose. Biotechnology is smart kids in an oil depot with matches; biomimicry is wise adults in a rain forest with flashlights. Biotechnology is pure hubris; biomimicry is luminous humility - treating nature as model and mentor, cherished not as a mine to be stripped of its resources but as a teacher. Steering this design revolution is a centered, gentle, funny, lovely lady who lives in North America's Montana Rockies, observes deeply, writes with rare beauty, and lectures breathtakingly. By reorganizing the biological literature around function not organism - to reveal which organism knows how to solve your design problem - Benyus and her colleagues at the Biomimicry Guild and Biomimicry Institute in Montana are starting to help the world of the made work like, and live harmoniously with, the world of the born. This will change your life. And it may save the world. -- Amory B. Lovins, chairman and chief scientist of Rocky Mountain Institute