April 12th, 2022 - Biomimcry

The living world holds answers for us to create a more resilient, regenerative, and beautiful world. It is time to quiet our cleverness, to observe and listen deeply, and reconnect to nature’s wisdom by asking, “How does nature solve this?” 

Have you asked this question recently?

This is the practice of Biomimicry. I never thought to split the word until I was writing this post when I saw this in a reference document at asknature.org.

Bio = The study of life | Mimic = Imitation

Biomimicry is a way to view and value nature. I have been introduced to this concept a few years ago via lectures and last year we rolled out a training program for our teams in Israel to build a toolbox based on biomimicry. There is no guarantee that we will develop new products based on this but just like green chemistry principles, design based on the circular economy if we started asking the question "how does nature solve this" we may come up with surprising solutions that could be both sustainable and differentiated.  We have one example where we try to develop a nature-inspired signaling molecule that prevents biofilm formation. 

Rathi shared this fascinating video that talks about how Leontino Balbo a Brazillian agri-business owner gained a large portion of the world's organic sugar market by listening to nature. The video takes us through his fascinating journey where he challenged well-entrenched practices to develop a nature-inspired regenerative practice that is both sustainable and profitable. He talks of how this can be sustainable by sharing profits across the value chain. 


We now call an innovation or practice inspired by nature disruptive innovation. It sounds hard and exotic. No wonder not many use or replicate this approach!

If you are curious about nature-inspired solutions for addressing climate change or the UN Sustainable development goals you can check the database compiled by the Biomimicry Institute. The solutions are fascinating and I am sure you will be inspired by them.  Similar to the discussion yesterday of how we can incorporate circular design in our daily lives, I am sure many of you examples you can share of you have used nature-based design or how you have seen them being used. I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas. 

For sure I am running thin on ideas to continue this Earth Month challenge of daily reflections. If you want to share your thoughts or have topics I would love to feature them here. 

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