Biomimicry Design Education Essentials

The emerging field of biomimicry and learning to design with and for nature has expanded in recent years through a diversity of educational programs. Inspiration following natural forms may give the appearance of being sustainable, but the question remains, how sustainable is it? Misunderstanding the function of these forms may leave designers with products not as sustainable as desired. Biomimicry education addresses these issues by integrating three essential elements into their design thinking phases and by using analogical transfer while doing so. This field learns from nature as model, nature as measure, and nature as mentor, throughout the design process. Through examination, analyses and verification of students designs and reflective processes at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, this research considers natures analogies in educational factors, determining which elements are influential when incorporating biomimicry into design education.

Sustainable Agriculture--Going to the Root of the Problem: A Conversation with Wes Jackson

IJPS Editor-in-Chief Riane Eisler interviews Wes Jackson, founder of the pioneering sustainable agriculture research and development organization, The Land Institute, with headquarters in Salina, Kansas. He is the author of New Roots for Agriculture, Altars of Unhewn Stone, Becoming Native to This Place, Consulting the Genius of the Place, and Nature as Measure. Jackson has received many honors for his groundbreaking work, including the Right Livelihood Award, election as a Pew Conservation Scholar and a MacArthur Fellow, and inclusion by Life magazine as one of the 100 important Americans of the 20th century and by the Smithsonian as one of “35 Who Made a Difference.”