Biomimicry Institute

The Biomimicry Institute is a non-profit organization that equips people with a process to create nature-inspired solutions for a healthy planet. We like to say that biomimicry brings a biologist to the design table. Our goal is for biomimicry to become a natural part of the design process. We accomplish this by tackling one global sustainability problem at a time with our Design Challenge platform, mobilizing thousands of practitioners through our Global Biomimicry Network, then providing them with AskNature as a tool to begin the solution process. -- HISTORY The Biomimicry Institute was founded in 2006 by Janine Benyus and Bryony Schwan to share nature’s design lessons with the people who design and make our world. We began by working directly with educators from K-12, university, and non-formal (museums, zoos, aquariums) environments to naturalize biomimicry in the educational system, and ensure the next generation of changemakers had the tools to integrate biomimicry in their careers. Education is at our roots, and you can find lesson plans, classroom exercises, and educator training courses on our Biomimicry Education Network. In 2008, we launched AskNature, a free, online catalog of nature’s solutions to design challenges. This award-winning website has helped students and practitioners around the globe look to nature for sustainable design inspiration and advice. As our programs evolved, we began working closely with our sister organization, the Biomimicry Guild, a for-profit consulting company also founded by Janine Benyus. In 2010 we embarked on an experiment and united with the Guild under a shared brand, Biomimicry 3.8, as a non-profit/for-profit hybrid organization. In 2014, the two entities decided to revert to the original model of a separate consultancy and institute in order to more effectively achieve our missions.