Biomimicry

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Biomimicry is learning from nature
Subtopic learning from relations and
interactions Club of Amsterdam 23 februari
2012 Bowine Wijffels
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Bowine Wijffels

• Consultant learning for sustainable development
  and environmental education.
• Trainer and former teacher biology/geography
• Specific interest patterns of interaction

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Real time business challenges

• The World is changing.
• Economic recession and loss of stability
• Rapid market changes and quick cycles
• Environmental and social instability
• Open source, new media, networks and cooperations
• Todays vocabulary (in respons)
• Adaptive Agility Resilience - Networking
• Learning organisation Interconnection
• Sustainable development.

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Biomimicry learning from nature

• an ecology of mind
• On a individual level (Biomimicry of behaviour,
  structure and form).
• On a level of groups and species (teams, family,
  colleagues).
• On ecosystem level (organisations, cities,
  communities).

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Ad 1 Fysical and individual (source
biomimicry.org)
cleaning a surface
housing
Using effective tools
get a grip
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Ad 2 Coorperation in groups
Ants teamwork in bridging the gap
Bees group communication about resources
Birds temporary and shared leadership
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Accepted leadership

• A leader is accepted by the group when the
  leader
• Is smart enough to lead the way.
• Is social enough to take care of the individuals
  in the group.
• Chimpansee politics - Frans de Waal
• De natuurlijk leider Mark van Vugt

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Sustainable principles of life

• Basic principles
• Life creates conditions for life
• Life develops and adapts.
• To understand these principles we need to
• Accept the idea of interdependancy and see the
  whole (system).

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System thinking?

• Observations
• Change one player and the achievements of the
  whole team change.
• The loss of one member of the family has an
  impact on all relationships.
• Add just a little more fish food and the pond
  turns green.
• One organ is not functioning and the whole is
  sick.
• We only know that we are part of a system when
  things are changing and moving

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Ad 3 learning from natural systems
A variety of simple and complex systems
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Characteristics of living (eco) systems

• Basic ingredients of systems are
• Elements (physical parts)
• Connections (the interactions)
• Function (purpose)
• A system is more than the sum of the parts
  interaction is vital
• The system purpose is usually to sustain or
  survive (and every function is focussed on that).
• If it dies, it loses its system-ness.

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Why are natural (eco)systems so different?

• De first time the word ecosystem was used by the
  
• English botanist A.C. Tansley, in 1935.

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Because this is how they operate

1. Optimal use of nearby resources (sun, minerals,
   water or lack of these resources).
2. External cycli are fully integrated (cycli like
   day and night, dry and wet, tide, seasons.).
3. It is stable and responds to external disturbance
   (stability through diversity and flexibility).
4. No central management but small teams and
   transparant communication (action and reaction
   based).

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Natural systems are stable because they are
resilient

• Engineering (operation) resilience
• The extent to which the system can respond to
  changes (back in balance).
• Ecological resilience
• The extent to which the system can change into
  another system (new balance).

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Living system thinking

• Characteristics
• When living systems want to get stronger, they
  connect to more living things (diversity).
• Living systems grow in chaos and are self
  organising.
• Nature makes its most important connection at
  root level (underground).
• You cant change a living system, all you can do
  is disturb it.
• The best disturbances challenge the equilibrium
  and assumed order of the system.
• If we can re-engineer it, its probably already
  dead!
• www.tipuake-org.nz

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Model for organic leadership and innovative
organisations
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7 lessons for leaders in system change

• To promote system change, foster community and
  cultivate networks.
• Work at multiple levels of scale (Oakland
  strategy)
• Make space for self organisation.
• Seize breakthrough opportunities when they arise.
• Facilitate change (but give up the idea that you
  can direct change).
• Assume that change is going to take time.
• Be prepared to be surprised.
• www.ecoliteracy.org

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Related initiatives

• Blue Economy Alliance
• The Natural Step
• Ellen MacArthur Foundation
• Biomimicry 3.8
• C2C
• Circle Economy
• Living system thinking
• Anecologymind (5th of March)