Here are the 10 most essential lessons from the natural world that will help to bring nature's genius into your design process. We call them “nature’s unifying patterns” because examples of the patterns can be found broadly across the majority of life on Earth. Our intent is not to present this as a definitive and exhaustive list. Rather, it is a work in progress that we hope will be informed and enhanced by the growing community of biomimics who are practicing applying nature’s lessons to their designs. The intent behind applying nature’s unifying patterns to biomimetic design is to create more sustainable solutions. Bio-inspired design can spur novel ways of thinking and breakthrough ideas, but only by considering nature’s lessons in a systems context can we ensure that our designs will fit in well with life on earth. This is a key step in the practice of biomimicry, and one that distinguishes it from the broader category of bio-inspired design. Once you begin to understand these patterns, you should start applying them at the very beginning of your design process, in the scoping phase, and continue pondering and using them throughout all your design phases. If you're familiar with these patterns, let us know how you've used them! How have they influenced your work? For more, visit https://lnkd.in/grbtgHF2 #biomimicry #design #natureinspired #innovation
Biomimicry Institute
Design Services
Missoula, Montana 29,160 followers
Empowering people to create nature-inspired solutions for a healthy planet.
About us
The Biomimicry Institute (biomimicry.org) is on a mission to help solve humanity’s biggest challenges through the adoption of biomimicry (nature-inspired innovation) in education, culture, and industry. For eons, nature has solved its problems with well-adapted designs, life-friendly chemistry, and smart material and energy use. We exist to shine a light on nature’s genius, and bridge pressing design challenges with proven biological strategies for a better future. Our initiatives across education, innovation, inspiration, and systems change have empowered thousands with the tools and training necessary to create a healthier world, and to improve their lives in the process. To amplify our impact, we unite a global network of educators, innovators, changemakers, scientists, and others passionate about solving environmental and social challenges through nature-inspired design. Our work will not be complete until biomimicry is at the core of the human experience and the sustainable health of the planet is secure.
- Website
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http://www.Biomimicry.org
External link for Biomimicry Institute
- Industry
- Design Services
- Company size
- 11-50 employees
- Headquarters
- Missoula, Montana
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 2005
- Specialties
- Biomimicry Global Network, Science Communication, Startup Acceleration, Entrepreneurship , Design, Regenerative Design, Sustainability, Innovation, Biomimicry, Education, Youth Education, STEMed, nature inspiration, circular economy, AskNature, Biology, and Engineering
Locations
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Primary
PO Box 9216
Missoula, Montana 59807, US
Employees at Biomimicry Institute
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Janine Benyus
Inspired by Nature
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Alessandra Araujo
Founder bio-inspirations , Biomimicry Consulting | ESG integral | Creative Designer | Innovation Designer | Sustainability Strategist | Facilitator
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Angela Nahikian
Circular Economy Advisor, Proven Global Sustainability Leader, Board Chair
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Karen Cowe
CEO at Ten Strands
Updates
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The Biomimicry Institute is proud to introduce the 2024 Ray of Hope Accelerator Cohort—the top 10 nature-inspired startups working to solve crucial environmental and social problems! “This year we have an incredibly diverse group of startups that reflect the Biomimicry Institute’s new disruptive and global strategy. The impact that their nature-inspired technologies can have on Climate Change and Biodiversity loss across key industry sectors, is enormous,” said Amanda Sturgeon, FAIA, CEO at the Biomimicry Institute. ⚡AZUL Energy Inc., Japan: Creates clean catalysts for energy storage inspired by hemoglobin. ⛏ Brokkr Mineral Resources Corp., Canada: Harnesses electrogenic bacteria to source low-cost, high- quality nickel and cobalt. 📦 Cellulotech, Canada: Impartes a superhydrophobic lotus effect on cellulosic products like paper, via green chemistry. 🧵Fiberly, France/Argentina: Turns cellulosic textile waste into high-quality fibers featuring a molecular structure similar to cotton. 🐌 Gel Matter Co., USA: Develops novel hydrogels that mimic natural mucus, with functions like lubrication, adhesion and protection. 🪸ReefCycle, USA: Grows unique bio-cement from a biomineralizing plant enzyme. 🩹SanaHeal, Inc., USA: Creates wet binding bioadhesives inspired by barnacles and spider webs. 🪲Scentian Bio, New Zealand: Builds a disruptive sensor platform that emulates insects' olfactory sense. 🎨Soarce, USA: Transforms seaweed waste into high performing and low impact chemistries, via a novel refinery process. 🔋Tuebor Energy, USA: Develops next generation battery components inspired by cartilage nanostructure. Read the full press release here: https://lnkd.in/dt2pdAr5 Special thanks to the Ray C. Anderson Foundation for their continued support of the Ray of Hope Accelerator Program https://lnkd.in/dSGg3q-M #biomimicry #rayofhopeaccelerator #startups #natureinspired
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Meet Anodyne Chemistries, a stellar company developing cost competitive, sustainable chemicals that joined the Ray of Hope Accelerator (formerly Prize) in 2023. We're excited to closely follow Anodyne Chemistries’s journey, and we hope that you are too! Their specialty, bioelectric manufacturing is a blueprint for sustainable chemical production as it delivers cost competitive carbon negative chemicals. With grant funding from companies like Shell, Birchcliff Energy, and Tourmaline, Anodyne Chemistries is laying the groundwork for a more regenerative chemical production future. Eric Mielke Manou Davies and team! Animation: Jules Bartl @julesbartl Script and Narration: Charlotte Stoddart @charlotte_stoddart Sound Design: Nigel Manington Fact checker: Rachael Bale Special thanks to the Ray C. Anderson Foundation @rcafoundation Visit the Anodyne Chemistries' Biological Strategy page on AskNature.org: https://lnkd.in/g_8DThXc
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Scientist-innovator Dr. Diana Yousef-Martinek, CEO of Ray of Hope alumni change:WATER Labs, takes the stage! “As a scientist, how do I look to solve problems? Well, I look at what nature does, and nature, plants, have evolved into the masters of moving molecular water efficiently through a process called evapotranspiration. (…) So taking the inspiration from nature and space, my team has developed the iThrone, a low-cost, no-flush, portable toilet that evaporates waste”. Learn how her nature-inspired and mission-driven cleantech venture extends safe water and sanitation access to poor and vulnerable communities around the world. https://lnkd.in/diQWv96p #biomimicry #natureinspired #evapotranspiration #sanitation #wastemanagement
Solving Global Sanitation One Water Molecule at a Time | Diana Yousef | TEDxWinsor School Youth
https://www.youtube.com/
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Don’t miss out on #Bloom24 (Oct 24-25, Cali, Colombia) hosted by GreenBiz Group, to explore how companies can halt and reverse nature loss while you are at #COP16. Request your invitation today for the $100 Pass before prices increase August 16: https://buff.ly/45Ev0Mo
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How did a single cell guide top scientists to map the dark cosmos? It seems impossible, but it’s not: Slime mold is taking the world on a journey from the yellow splotch in the backyard to the neurons in our brain to galaxies light years away. When we think of mapping the dark cosmos, most would look to the pros: NASA, ESA, CNES, the Hubble Space Telescope. So why are they turning to slime mold for answers? And how on Earth is a single cell, without a brain, living in a Petri dish, tracing the universe? For any non-astrophysicists out there, a helpful background: At the time of writing, 4% of the universe can be seen (stars, planets, galaxies, gas, voids). What is called dark is the unknown–the stuff astronomers can’t see, grasp or at times even make sense of. The dark cosmos is a mixture of gas, dark matter, galaxies, and galaxy clusters, and these filamentary structures help form the backbone that holds the universe together. The connections are roughly 500 light-years long from Earth–very hard to see and even more difficult to trace and map out. In an attempt to see more of the unseen, post-doctoral researchers including Oskar Elek and Joe Burchett at UC Santa Cruz went through data across the positions of 37,000 (!) galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and created a model of the invisible parts of the sky (like the gasses and dark matter) modeled with an elegant computer algorithm. The algorithm’s source? Slime mold! Continue reading the full article by Katie Losey, and the entire 8-part slime mold blog series on the Biomimicry Blog. https://lnkd.in/gZgEvakx Image/Video Credit: Shahrzad Yazdi #biomimicry #asknature #slimemold #katieloseywashere
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Today, we are exploring big questions at the 2024 Launchpad Retreat, with the Biomimicry Institute's Dave Hutchins. Once again, we have completed a weeklong nature immersion as part of our Launchpad Program. We brought together 20 of the most curious and creative minds from around the world in May to share ideas in the wilds of Montana, and reconnect with nature and themselves. It was a rare opportunity to slow down, listen to nature’s wisdom, and cultivate a culture of mutual respect. https://lnkd.in/gnRkWBc3 Sarah McInerney | Dave Hutchins | Jared Yarnall-Schane | Daniel Panameño Corvera | Elena Stachew | Hannah Trimble | Pham Huy Nguyen | Jamil Quarless | Joe Cardiello | Juliette Zidek | Kira Hunt | Lucca Mancilio | Marco Leitão | Meiting Guo | Michelle Lowe-Holder | Paige Perillat-Piratoine | Pranav Khandelwal | Rae Lewark | Rakkiyappan Chandran, PhD | Tica Lubin, MASD, SEA | Yael L. #biomimicry #reflections #launchpadretreat #connections
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The Biomimexpo is in full swing today in Paris! We are thrilled to see so many amazing minds come together in support of biomimicry and a nature-inspired future--including our own Maëlys Renaud and Ray of Hope alumni Novobiom and CompPair Technologies Ltd.! Be sure to seek them out! #biomimexpo #biomimicry #natureinspired
Who else is going to be at Biomimexpo in Paris this week? I was there 7 years ago and I'm excited to return this year to meet nature-inspired startups (including our Ray of Hope alumni Novobiom and CompPair Technologies Ltd.) and investors and to see amazing speakers including: talented Maxime Blondeau, expert Charlène DESCOLLONGES and visionary Emmanuel Druon (CEO of POCHECO), and more! 🌱 The Biomim'Expo is the biggest trade show dedicated to biomimicry and bio-inspired innovations. This 2024 edition doubles in size with more than 100 exhibitors, 100 speakers, 60 startup pitches, 22 workshops, a design competition, and more. This is a unique opportunity to discover an incredible range of solutions and to meet a wide variety of nature-inspired stakeholders. See you there! https://biomimexpo.com/ by NewCorp Conseil, Alain Renaudin🦎 and team #biomimicry #natureinspired #conference #innovation #startups Biomimicry Institute
Biomim’expo … Bienvenue en SAISON 8 …
http://biomimexpo.com
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Corals Break Up to Build Back When pieces of coral are broken off of a reef (by a wave, or a parrotfish, or a rogue anchor), a natural healing process kicks in. Detecting the open space around the break, the individual coral polyps stop spending energy to produce gametes for sexual reproduction that will send baby corals far and wide. Instead, the polyps focus on getting bigger and reproducing by budding––growing a clone of themselves that will stay right where it is. As the broken fragments expand, they also can fuse with other pieces nearby, protecting themselves by becoming part of a larger, stronger, and safer colony once again. Researchers have even found that some of the slowest growing corals can be encouraged to expand this way, as a method for helping to rebuild damaged reefs around the world. Read all about this fascinating strategy on AskNature.org: https://lnkd.in/g7RyQpD6 #biomimicry #asknature #corals #inspiredbynature #worldoceansweek
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Conservation tech is a growing sector and at the Biomimicry Institute with the Ray of Hope Accelerator we’re thrilled to support innovative startups like Coral Vita pioneering the field and learning from nature to best support ecosystem restoration and resilience. Our planet has lost more than half of its living coral since 1950, a result of climate change, ocean acidification, overfishing, and pollution - and it takes thousands of years to grow thriving reefs. Coral farming is proven to help restore reefs, but standard ocean-based farms are limited in scale, species diversity, and geography, and they are not quite tailored to enhance corals’ resilience against climate change. Discover in this animation video how startup Coral Vita (cohort 2023) harnesses corals’ natural healing processes through micro fragmentation, associated with on land-based farms, to grow climate change-resilient corals up to 50 times faster than in nature! Using a restoration as a service (RaaS) commercial model to fund ecosystem-scale impact, they launched operations in multiple countries, and won Prince William’s inaugural Revive Our Oceans Earthshot Prize. Animator: Jules Bartl Script and Narration: Charlotte Stoddart Sound Design: Nigel Manington Fact checker: Rachael Bale Special thanks to the Ray C. Anderson Foundation https://lnkd.in/gXk5GKxe Ray of Hope Accelerator (formerly Prize): https://lnkd.in/dcFSnAt Sign Up for our Innovation Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gaByYps9 Visit the Biomimicry Institute: biomimicry.org/ Visit Coral Vita: www.coralvita.co/ Learn more on Coral Vita’s inspiration and innovation on AskNature.org: Strategy: https://lnkd.in/g7RyQpD6 Innovation: https://lnkd.in/geU5y2yQ #biomimicry #asknature #coralvita #innovation #rayofhopeaccelerator #inspiredbynature