The Biomimicry Institute

TO NATURALIZE BIOMIMICRY IN THE CULTURE BY PROMOTING THE TRANSFER OF IDEAS, DESIGNS, AND STRATEGIES FROM BIOLOGY TO SUSTAINABLE HUMAN SYSTEMS DESIGN.

SYSTEMS CHANGE:-DESIGN FOR DECOMPOSITION (D4D)IN 2021 WE INITIATED A NEW SYSTEMS CHANGE PROGRAM TO CONTINUE BUILDING ON THE INTEREST GENERATED BY OUR THE NATURE OF FASHION REPORT (2020). THIS PROGRAM LOOKS AT SYSTEM LEVEL CHALLENGES, WITH AN INITIAL FOCUS ON TEXTILE DECOMPOSITION AND HOW WE CAN DESIGN SYSTEMS THAT ULTIMATELY SUPPORT THE SAFE BREAKDOWN AND BUILD UP OF MATERIALS. WE RELY ON A CONSORTIA OF INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS IN GERMANY, THE NETHERLANDS, GHANA, AND IN THE US. THE D4D INITIATIVE HAS FOUR PRIMARY ELEMENTS: A PHYSICAL PILOT IN WESTERN EUROPE, A PHYSICAL PILOT IN ACCRA, GHANA; GAINING A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF BIOLOGICAL AND ABIOTIC DEGRADATION AND HOW WE CAN BETTER TEST AND DESIGN FOR DEGRADATION; AND A NARRATIVE COMPONENT. AS PART OF BOTH PHYSICAL PILOTS, WE BEGAN IDENTIFYING DOZENS OF TECHNOLOGIES THAT COULD BREAK DOWN TEXTILES AND GENERATE BIOCOMPATIBLE PRODUCTS OF VALUE, SUCH AS GLUCOSE OR SOIL AMENDMENTS. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, WE BEGAN ECOLOGICAL MONITORING OF SEVERAL SITES IN ACCRA THAT ARE SUBJECT TO TEXTILE AND OTHER WASTE. WE ALSO CONDUCTED A BIOLOGICAL LITERATURE REVIEW TO DEEPLY UNDERSTAND NATURAL DECOMPOSITION, AND PARTNERED WITH THE YALE CENTER FOR GREEN CHEMISTRY TO CONDUCT ANOTHER LITERATURE REVIEW ON BIODEGRADATION SCIENCE AND TESTING.

DESIGN CHALLENGES AND OTHER EDUCATION

ASKNATURE:AS THE LARGEST OPEN-ACCESS DATABASE FOR INNOVATORS TO FIND BIOLOGICAL MODELS FOR DESIGN GUIDANCE, ASKNATURE IS MISSION-CRITICAL FOR OUR WORK. STUDENTS USE ASKNATURE WHEN THEY FIRST LEARN DESIGN AND ENGINEERING SKILLS IN OUR PROGRAMS AND CONTINUE TO USE IT AS THEY ADVANCE THROUGH UNIVERSITY AND BECOME INNOVATORS. OUR AIM IS TO HAVE NATURE-INSPIRED DESIGN BECOME STANDARD PRACTICE, WITH ASKNATURE AS A PRIMARY TOOL. WE CURRENTLY HAVE MORE THAN 1,750 ARTICLES DESCRIBING BIOLOGICAL STRATEGIES (A CHARACTERISTIC, MECHANISM, OR PROCESS THAT PERFORMS A FUNCTION FOR AN ORGANISM OR OTHER TYPE OF LIVING SYSTEM), 300 ABOUT INNOVATIONS (STORIES BEHIND REALIZED AND CONCEPTUAL PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND SYSTEM COMPONENTS THAT ARE INSPIRED BY BIOLOGY), 75 INDEXED RESOURCES SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR EDUCATORS, AND 35 FEATURE PAGES FEATURING CURATED SUBSETS OF OUR CONTENT AND CONTEXTUALIZING INTROS OR ESSAYS. ASKNATURE IS THE WORLD'S GO-TO AND LARGEST OPEN-ACCESS SOURCE OF BIOMIMICRY EDUCATION RESOURCES FOR PRIMARY, SECONDARY, POST-SECONDARY, AND PROFESSIONAL AUDIENCES. IN 2022 WE IMPROVED FUNCTIONALITY AND ADDED OR UPDATED HUNDREDS OF PAGES OF CONTENT TO THIS SERVICE.IN 2022, APPROXIMATELY 675,000 PEOPLE VISITED THE SITE FOR 945,000 SESSIONS AND ACCESSED FREE RESOURCES AND CONTENT (IN 2020 THERE WERE 638,000 VISITORS OVER 876,000 SESSIONS). THE US IS OUR LARGEST AUDIENCE, BUT 63% OF OUR TRAFFIC IS INTERNATIONAL, COMING FROM 233 COUNTRIES. OUR USERS ALSO COME FROM A WIDE VARIETY OF SECTORS INCLUDING EDUCATION, ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN, ENGINEERING, BIOTECHNOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, LAND USE, HEALTH, TRANSPORTATION, ENERGY, FASHION, GOVERNMENT, NON-PROFITS, AND MEDIA. THE YEAR SAW THE LAUNCH OF OUR FIRST MONTHLY NEWSLETTER, WHICH GAINED MORE THAN 5,000 SUBSCRIBERS AND CONSISTENTLY OUTPERFORMS INDUSTRY STANDARDS FOR HIGH OPEN RATES, HIGH ENGAGEMENT RATES, AND LOW UNSUBSCRIBES. TO MEET A LONG-STANDING REQUEST FROM EDUCATORS AND STUDENTS FOR MORE VISUALS, WE BROUGHT ON AN IN-HOUSE ILLUSTRATION AND VISUALS LEAD BOTH TO CREATE ORIGINAL MATERIALS AND MANAGE RELATIONSHIPS WITH EXTERNAL ART PROVIDERS. THIS PRODUCED AN OFFICIAL STYLE GUIDE FOR ILLUSTRATIONS ON ASKNATURE. WE ALSO PRODUCED A SUBSET OF PRINTABLE ASKNATURE PAGES TO SERVE AS AIDS IN CLASSROOM AND CONFERENCE WORK.WE ENTERED THE WORLD OF PODCASTING BY WRITING AND RECORDING 40 ROUGHLY 1-MINUTE AUDIO STORIES ABOUT BIOLOGICAL STRATEGIES IN NATURE FOR THE WONDERSPACE PODCAST OUT OF THE UK. PICKING UP AN ONGOING TOPIC OF INTEREST FOR ASKNATURE, WE BEGAN A NEW PROJECT INVESTIGATING THE POTENTIAL APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO AID IN THE CREATION OF NEW CONTENT FOR ASKNATURE. WE DEVELOPED PRESETS AND MODEL TRAINING THAT WILL ALLOW OUR EDITORS TO EMPLOY AI RELIABLY IN THEIR PROCESS AND SEE THIS AS A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF GREATLY EXPANDING THE VOLUME OF CONTENT ON OUR SITE.

INNOVATION:-BIOMIMICRY LAUNCHPADTHE BIOMIMICRY LAUNCHPAD SUPPORTS A COMMUNITY OF EARLY-STAGE SCIENTISTS AND ENTREPRENEURS WHO BENEFIT FROM EACH OTHER AS THEY DEEPEN THEIR BIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE AND DEVELOP THE SKILLS NEEDED TO TRANSFORM THEIR IDEAS FROM CONCEPT TO PROVEN PROTOTYPE AND BEYOND. THE PROGRAM FEATURES A VIRTUAL 10-WEEK CUSTOMER DISCOVERY AND TECHNOLOGY VALIDATION INCUBATOR. THE LAUNCHPAD EQUIPS NATURE-INSPIRED SCIENTISTS, DESIGNERS, AND RESEARCHERS WITH THE SKILLS AND TOOLS THEY NEED TO TURN THEIR WORK INTO SCALABLE STARTUPS.IN 2021, WE ENDED THE BIOMIMICRY GLOBAL DESIGN CHALLENGE IN ORDER TO REALIGN WITH OUR INNOVATION DEPARTMENT'S GOAL OF ACCELERATING THE RATE OF NATURE-INSPIRED SOLUTIONS TO EXTRACTIVE PROBLEMS. SINCE THIS PROGRAM WAS THE FEEDER FOR THE BIOMIMICRY LAUNCHPAD, WE DID NOT RUN A BIOMIMICRY LAUNCHPAD PROGRAM IN 2022. INSTEAD, WE SPENT THE YEAR COLLECTING DATA TO INFORM A NEW AND IMPROVED PROGRAM, WHICH LAUNCHED APPLICATIONS IN Q4 OF 2022. THIS PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT WAS SUPPORTED VIA AN SBIR GROWTH ACCELERATOR FUND COMPETITION AWARD, AND NEW TOPICS WERE CREATED SUCH AS INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SHARING, UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BEST PRACTICES, AND STORYTELLING. -RAY OF HOPE PRIZETHE RAY OF HOPE PRIZE PROGRAM IDENTIFIES STARTUPS WITH NATURE-INSPIRED SOLUTIONS, AMPLIFIES THEIR STORIES AND CONNECTS THEM TO MENTORS AND INVESTORS. THIS IS A HYBRID PROGRAM, WITH PARTICIPANTS ATTENDING A NATURE RETREAT DESIGNED TO CREATE A LIFE-LONG COMMUNITY OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURS, FOLLOWED BY A 10-WEEK VIRTUAL PROGRAM FOCUSED ON SCIENCE COMMUNICATION AND SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PRACTICES. THE PROGRAM CULMINATES WITH A $100,000 PRIZE THAT HELPS COMPANIES CROSS A CRITICAL THRESHOLD IN BECOMING VIABLE BUSINESSES. IN SUPPORTING THE NEXT GENERATION OF BUSINESSES TO SOLVE BIG CHALLENGES, THE INSTITUTE BRINGS ATTENTION TO THE INNOVATIVE, NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS NEEDED TO BUILD A SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT WORLD.THE 2022 AWARD RECIPIENT WAS GREENPOD LABS, FROM CHENNAI, INDIA. GREENPOD LABS HAVE CREATED BIO-INSPIRED PACKAGING SACHETS THAT RELEASE PLANT BASED VOLATILES TO ACTIVATE THE BUILT-IN DEFENSE MECHANISM WITHIN SPECIFIC FRUITS OR VEGETABLES, IN ORDER TO SLOW DOWN THE RIPENING RATE AND MINIMIZE MICROBIAL GROWTH. BY UNDERSTANDING CROP PHYSIOLOGY AND SPOILAGE TYPES, GREENPOD LABS IS ABLE TO CREATE THE RIGHT FORMULATION FOR PRODUCE TO FIGHT AGAINST BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC STRESSES AT AMBIENT TEMPERATURE, LESSENING THE NEED FOR COLD STORAGE AND COLD SUPPLY CHAINS. FUSION BIONIC, FROM DRESDEN, GERMANY, CREATES LASER-GENERATED SURFACE TEXTURES INSPIRED BY TEXTURES FOUND IN NATURE, TOOK HOME THE $25,000 RUNNER-UP PRIZE. IN TOTAL, TEN STARTUPS (SELECTED FROM 212 APPLICANTS) PARTICIPATED IN THIS YEAR'S RAY OF HOPE PRIZE PROGRAM, WHICH CONSISTED OF TRAINING ON SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PRACTICES AND SCIENCE COMMUNICATION SKILLS, IN ADDITION TO ACCESSING A CURATED COMMUNITY OF EXPERT MENTORS, ADVISORS, AND INVESTORS. ADDITIONALLY, THESE 10 STARTUP COMPANIES PARTICIPATED IN A WEEK-LONG NATURE IMMERSION IN THE COASTAL CALIFORNIA REDWOODS, IN WHICH THEY BUILT A LIFE-LONG COMMUNITY OF PEERS AND PARTICIPATED IN ACTIVITIES DESIGNED TO FOSTER A CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL MINDSET.