TheBiomimicryGroup

In order to meet the growing enthusiasm for biomimicry globally and to build the discipline, in 2010 The Biomimicry Guild and The Biomimicry Institute in the USA reorganised their company structure and operations into a new social enterprise that enables them to more effectively advance their interdependent commercial and non-profit biomimicry initiatives. At the centre of this social enterprise reorganization is a new for-profit “umbrella” company, tentatively called The Biomimicry Group, Inc. Staff from both the Guild and the Institute now work for the Group, and Janine Benyus and Dayna Baumeister continue to provide leadership for the operations. The new company recently secured an initial round of financing and has received B Corp. certification (for triple bottom line management practices). In March 2011, The Biomimicry Group launched a number of new initiatives designed to develop their capacity and to increase their “surface area”, including the regional alliance networks.

RegionalNetworks

The global biomimicry community is growing and self-organizing through a new regional alliance initiative designed to support local and regional network development. Led by local “network catalysts,” the purpose is to enable individuals and organizations greater access to regional biomimicry communities, resources, training, and education. South Africa is one of the three initial pilot regions of The Biomimicry Group’s Regional Alliance Network. The pilot regions provide a growing wealth of knowledge that supports peer-to-peer learning and exchange of best practices across regions. biomimicrySA was founded and is currently headed up by local network catalyst – Claire Janisch, Certified Biomimicry Professional and co-trainer for the Biomimicry Professional Certificate Program (BPCP).

biomimicrySA

biomimicrySA is a leading regional hub of international Biomimicry Group. We offer a combination of networking, education, research and  innovation opportunities in South Africa based on the many years of experience of the international Biomimicry Group, and attuned to local needs. Our mission is to nurture and grow a community of people who are learning from, emulating, and conserving life’s genius to create a healthier, more sustainable planet.

WhatIsBiomimicry?

What Is Biomimicry?

“Bios” means life, “Mimicry” means imitate. Biomimicry is the practice of learning from and then emulating life’s genius to solve human problems and create more sustainable designs. Biomimicry is a branch of science, a problem-solving method, a sustainability ethos, a movement, a stance toward nature, and a new way of viewing and valuing biodiversity.

Why Biomimicry? Why now?

Organisms and ecosystems face the same challenges that we humans do, but they meet those challenges sustainably. The premise of biomimicry is that Life has been performing design experiments in Earth’s R&D lab for 3.85 billion years and what is flourishing on the planet today are the best ideas – those that perform well in context, while economizing on energy and materials. Whatever the design challenge, the odds are high that one or more of the world’s 30 million creatures has not only faced the same challenge, but has evolved effective strategies to solve it. The selective pressure placed on all natural life forms minimizes and removes failures. Organisms are the consummate physicists, chemists, and engineers, and ecosystems are economies beyond compare. They can provide us with innovative and progressive solutions to the design, engineering and other challenges that we now face: energy, food production, climate control, benign chemistry, transportation, packaging, and more. The vision is to create products, processes, organizations, and policies—new ways of living—that are well-adapted to life on earth over the long haul. ”Doing it nature’s way” has the potential to change the way we grow food, make materials, harness energy, heal ourselves, store information, and conduct business.