Biomimicry, the principles of nature
Biomimicry is a term introduced by Janine M. Benyus in 1997. It joins the Greek words ‘bios’, meaning life, and ‘mimesis’, meaning imitation — learning from nature rather than about it.
Since the industrial revolution nature has faced changing conditions it had no influence over: humankind and its urge to expand and develop. It has held its ground all the same. With 3.8 billion years of experience behind it, nature can serve as a model, a measure or a mentor in building an innovative, resilient organisation.
Nature holds a number of basic principles, first written down in 1997 by Janine M. Benyus in her book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, in which she describes what nature can teach us about the problems and challenges we face today.
Organisations that take their inspiration from biomimicry look into multifunctional design, use recyclable materials and produce in ways that work with nature. Flexible, dynamic structures are indispensable to that, with intuition and organic change forming part of the company culture.
Would you like to know more? Do get in touch.
A few books on biomimicry
Want to read further? These titles are a good starting point. The first two are ours.
