John Todd

"Life creates conditions conducive to life"

(image above - John Todd's eco-machines used in the treatment of a polluted river in Fuzhou China)

 

 

We're excited to be hosting Dr John Todd who will be visiting South Africa from the USA later this month. He will be giving a number of public presentations that we will send out information about shortly. In addition to the Okavango Expedition Workshop (now fully booked), he will also be giving a 2-day workshop at Spier wine farm in Stellenbosch. This really is an extraordinary opportunity!

 

JOIN BIOMIMICRY SA & SPIER FOR A WORKSHOP WITH DR JOHN TODD ON THE PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF ECO MACHINES FOR WATER TREATMENT

• DATES: 5-6 OCTOBER 2013
• TIMES: 8.30am for 9am-5pm Saturday, 9am-3pm Sunday
• VENUE: THE MANOR HOUSE, SPIER, STELLENBOSCH
• COST: R3,000 pp including tuition, lunches and tea/coffee. Discounts available for NGOs/educators/students (application for discounts by email).

Spaces are limited. TO BOOK CONTACT Jane at bookings[a]biomimicrysa.co.za by 20 September 2013

 

 

What will the workshop include?

The workshop will include the theory and practice of restorer eco-machines in various settings, as well as design principles and concrete steps to design/engineering.Examples of Eco-Machines working to treat wastes and restore waters will be presented at the workshop. Their adoption and application potential in South Africa will be explored. A practical case study of application to a dam at Spier will be covered.

 

Day 1: the theory and practice of restorer eco-machines and discussion of their cost effectiveness and range of uses.

Day 2: the design process for Spier’s picnic dam restorer and other issues raised by the participants.

 

What are Eco-machines?

 

Purifying and protecting the waters is a critical challenge. Fortunately, new technologies are being developed that are effective and adapted to an era of material and energy scarcities.Through decoding the language of ecosystems, it is now possible to utilize nature’s operating instructions. From this knowledge living technologies, or Eco-Machines, can be designed and engineered to treat wastes, purify waters, generate fuels, produce foods and restore polluted habitats.Eco-machines are an ecologically engineered technology developed to restore, conserve, or remediate sewage or other polluted water, by replicating and accelerating the natural purification processes of streams, ponds & marshes. It does this by using diverse communities of bacteria and other microorganisms, algae, plants, trees,snails, fish and other living creatures.These technologies are biodiverse and utilize species from all of the kingdoms of life. Eco-Machines have the ability to self-organize and self-design, as well as self-repair and can operate for long periods of time. They function primarily on sunlight and can be carbon neutral.

 

Who should attend this workshop?

• Anyone interested in: restorative design, ecological engineering, biomimicry, water treatment, the genius of nature
• Engineers, water treatment specialists, ecologists, architects, urban planners, designers, wastewater specialists, businesses, government, students, general public, etc.

Who will be running the workshop?

The workshop will be run by Dr John Todd and facilitated by Claire Janisch. DrJohn Todd is a biologist and biomimicry expert working in the general field of ecological design.His principal professional interests have included solving problems of food production and waste-water processing.

JohnTodd co-founded the New Alchemy Institute to do both fundamental research into aspects of biology and disciplines as well as to apply biological science to technology. This work has resulted in innovative new approaches to processing sewage and industrial waste water. Dr Todd is currently writing a book entitled A Designer’s Guide to Thinking Ecologically. He is also very active in a number of projects, including the remediation of petroleum hydrocarbons from the Blackstone River Corridor in Grafton, MA, creating a dynamic model and analysis of the ecomachine at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, working with John Todd Ecological Design to develop an eco-machine for creating ultra clean sea water for the culture and the holding of marine organisms in Gloucester.

 

Videos re John Todd's work:

A number of videos found here:http://toddecological.com/news/youtube.php

Also:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jRekZJx_-Q

Also:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wojrOpH5O7M

 

John Todd Recognition

• In 2010, his Eco-Machine housed at the Center for Sustainable Living at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY was recognized as a significant design breakthrough by the Smithsonian Institution. The drawings and film of the project were displayed in the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design in NYC.
• In 2008 John Todd was the first winner of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge for the best idea to help save humanity. The entry was “Design for a Carbon Neutral World: The Challenge of Appalachia”.
• In 2006 he received the Global Visionary Award, the City of Chicago.
• In 2002 Dr. Todd was named one of the 20th Century’s top thirty-five inventors by the Lemelson-MIT Program for Invention and Innovation, in their book entitled “Inventing Modern America: from the Microwave to the Mouse”(MIT Press).
• In 1999 named “Hero of the Planet” by Time Magazine.
• In 1998 he was given, with his wife Nancy, a Bioneers Lifetime Achievement Award.
• In 1998 he, with his wife Nancy, received the Charles and Ann Morrow Award for technological innovation on behalf of the planet.

We hope you enjoy this wonderful opportunity as much as we do!

 

x the biomimicrysa team