Biomimicry And Business

Biomimicry, the practice of observing then mimicking nature’s strategies to solve business challenges, offers a path to healthy profit while working in partnership, and even reciprocity, with the natural world. Other books have described biomimicry, its uses, and its benefits. This book is the first to show readers how they can successfully bring biomimicry and bioinspired design into their companies based on what other businesses have already achieved. Fashioned through storytelling, this book blends snapshots of five successful companies – Nike, Interface, Inc., PAX Scientific, Sharklet Technologies, and Encycle – which decided to partner with nature by deploying biomimicry. The book details how they discovered the practices, introduced them to staff, engaged in the process, and measured outcomes. The book concludes with challenges for readers to determine their own next steps in business and offers practical and useful resources to get there. By revealing the stories of each professional’s journey with lessons they learned, then providing resources and issuing a challenge and pathway to do business better, this book serves as a tool for entrepreneurs, seasoned professionals, and students to emulate nature’s brilliance, apply it at work, and contribute to a healthier, more prosperous world.

Repackaged with a new afterword, this "valuable and entertaining" (New York Times Book Review) book explores how scientists are adapting nature's best ideas to solve tough 21st century problems. Biomimicry is rapidly transforming life on earth. Biomimics study nature's most successful ideas over the past 3.5 million years, and adapt them for human use. The results are revolutionizing how materials are invented and how we compute, heal ourselves, repair the environment, and feed the world. Janine Benyus takes readers into the lab and in the field with maverick thinkers as they: discover miracle drugs by watching what chimps eat when they're sick; learn how to create by watching spiders weave fibers; harness energy by examining how a leaf converts sunlight into fuel in trillionths of a second; and many more examples. Composed of stories of vision and invention, personalities and pipe dreams, Biomimicry is must reading for anyone interested in the shape of our future.

Many organizations have found themselves well advanced in their sustainability strategies and reaching the limits of progress made through eco-efficiency measures and regulatory compliance. Looking for novel approaches and solutions, many managers are turning to bioinspiration and related fields such as biomimicry, nature-inspired innovation, circular economy, and cradle to cradle, as tools for sustainability-oriented innovation. This innovation paradigm has been gaining popularity across disciplines in recent decades as the world grapples with the challenge of sustainable development. This book offers a succinct guide for managers and sustainability professionals who are interested in exploring various aspects of business inspired by nature. With applicability ranging from technological, organizational, and system-building innovations, there is a broad realm of possibilities that suit a manager’s scope of influence regardless of their position within the organization. This book aims to exhibit the applications of business inspired by nature that extend beyond the boundaries of the organization and encourage open innovation with novel partners in unlikely scenarios, with all partners aligned by the principles of natural systems.

The Biomimicry Resource Handbook: A Seed Bank of Best Practices contains over 250 pages of our most current biomimicry thinking, methodology, and tools for naturalizing biomimicry into the culture. We believe there is no better design partner than nature. But biomimicry is more than just looking at the shape of a flower or dragonfly and becoming newly inspired; it's a methodology that's being used by some of the biggest companies and innovative universities in the world. While reading this text you'll be immersed into the world of Biomimicry the "verb", you'll gain a competitive edge, and a fresh perspective on how the world around us can, does, and should work. After reading the text, you'll be well on your way to thinking in systems, designing in context, identifying patterns, and most importantly seeing the millions of organisms around us....differently. The text is directly applicable to designers, biologists, engineers, entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, but has also proven valuable to students, educators, and a wide variety of other disciplines. Visit biomimicry.net to learn more. A digital version is available at shop.biomimicrygroup.com

What would you do if you had 4 billion years to either improve or die?Chances are, you'd create the most finely-tuned machine in the known universe.Nature is a breathtaking project in survival and competition. The results have been spectacular. Nature has found a home in every corner of the globe - from the frigid ice sheets of Antarctica to the scalding waters around volcanic vents.That's testament to Nature's ability to succeed even in the face of enormous stresses. To do this, Nature has to be: Efficient Flexible Collaborative Creative Diverse These and other competitive traits of Nature have allowed it to thrive for billions of years - against enormous odds.Now, in Biomimicry for Organizations, you can examine for yourself the very qualities that Nature uses to resist the stresses of the surrounding environment and proliferate. You'll have access to insights based on the most competitive organizational model on the planet.Start your journey towards greater organizations today: Discover the qualities that Nature uses to resist the stresses of the surrounding environments and proliferate Get access to insights based on the most competitive organizational models on the planet Discover how you can make these solutions work for you and your organization Make your business, your team, your processes more efficient Re-envision problems and opportunities, overcome roadblocks to success and optimal functioning Obtain radical improvements in the organization of your resources All of this shown - in a plain and simple English - with New edition, with enhanced emphasis on key concepts and simple workshop suggestions to put biomimicry at work for you now.

Naturally, nature has already shown us the way to solve many human problems, from deciphering simple engineering puzzles to unlocking the mysteries of flight. In The Nature of Business, author Giles Hutchins makes a compelling case for applying the same principles of biomimicry to the development of a new business paradigm. He demonstrates clearly how behaviors and organizations found in nature can be applied to help companies flourish in chaotic and uncertain times. Eclipsing current approaches to responsible and green business, Hutchins' focus is on the emergence of new ways of operating and creating value in an increasingly volatile and interconnected world. He presents the challenges to the prevailing "business as usual" model, explains the pressing need for transformational change, and reveals the concepts and mindsets necessary to inspire the businesses of tomorrow, including: Resilience Optimization and adaptation Systems integration Values-based navigation and life-building activities. Showcasing the pioneers of the new paradigm through a multitude of examples and case studies, The Nature of Business presents the tools and techniques required to effect the transformation to an organization fit for purpose, fit for the future, and inspired by nature.

Presenting a novel biomimetic design method for transferring design solutions from nature to technology, this book focuses on structure-function patterns in nature and advanced modeling tools derived from TRIZ, the theory of inventive problem-solving. The book includes an extensive literature review on biomimicry as an engine of both innovation and sustainability, and discusses in detail the biomimetic design process, current biomimetic design methods and tools. The structural biomimetic design method for innovation and sustainability put forward in this text encompasses (1) the research method and rationale used to develop and validate this new design method; (2) the suggested design algorithm and tools including the Find structure database, structure-function patterns and ideality patterns; and (3) analyses of four case studies describing how to use the proposed method. This book offers an essential resource for designers who wish to use nature as a source of inspiration and knowledge, innovators and sustainability experts, and scientists and researchers, amongst others.

When searching for genuinely sustainable building design and technology - designs that go beyond conventional sustainability to be truly restorative - we often find that nature got there first. Over 3.5 billion years of natural history have evolved innumerable examples of forms, systems, and processes that can be applied to modern green design. For architects, urban designers and product designers, this new edition of Biomimicry in Architecture looks to the natural world to achieve radical increases in resource efficiency. Packed with case studies predicting future trends, this edition also contains updated and expanded chapters on structures, materials, waste, water, thermal control and energy, as well as an all-new chapter on light. An amazing sourcebook of extraordinary design solutions, Biomimicry in Architecture is a must-read for anyone preparing for the challenges of building a sustainable and restorative future.