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Photo by: Christina Sullivan

Biomimicry is not just for Biologists and Engineers:

Biomimicry is finding inspiration from nature for human innovation. To further explain, this means that one can use nature as a mentor by asking nature for solutions for human challenges. When you have a challenge like conserving water, One can ask, How does nature hold liquids? How does nature absorb liquids? By knowing what kind of function you want to solve, you can find solutions within natural models. Not only that, biomimicry follows the principles in which life follows. Practicing biomimicry by finding solutions in nature is changing the way we think about nature and our roles within it. Nature has been working out solutions for challenges for 3.8 billion years. Biomimicry taps into that knowledge to help solve the challenges we face today. Biomimicry is an interdisciplinary field in which, anyone can apply it to any background from architecture to business models. There is no limit to applying nature's genius to human innovation.

The core concepts of biomimicry are Ethos, (Re)Connect, and Emulate. These three concepts are interconnected with each other.

Ethos is the way we see nature and interact with it. What this means is we practice our respect, our intentions, our responsibility, and our gratitude for the natural world. With those beliefs in mind, we as humans can understand that we are a part of the natural world as all the other organisms on earth. 

(Re)Connecting means reestablishing a relationship with nature that was once lost due to the built environment that we as humans have created. This portion of biomimicry is the first step to finding inspiration. When we begin to explore what nature means to us, we can learn to appreciate it in all its wonder. 

Emulating is when we bring to the design table everything that we learned from nature. Such as strategies, functions, patterns, and principles. 

What Would Nature Do?

Asking nature for solutions is not a new concept. People have always looked at nature for inspiration for a lot of things. However, we don't do it as much as we should. Most fields don't take biology as a significant benefit to their inspiration. Imagine what kind of ideas would flourish when nature was a mentor. There is a wealth of knowledge that is untapped, within the natural world. Obviously, we can agree that organisms live on this planet sustainably getting the most out of the planet without wasting anything.