Learning from Ephemeral Flowers: Deep Roots Workshop Postponed until Spring!

Spring ephemeral flowers know the importance of timing. You see these flowers first thing in the spring - they are the first to push through the soil and snow, dot the landscape with greenery and flowers, set seed to reproduce, and then go dormant before the woodland trees can shade them.

For the spring ephemeral, timing is everything.

At Biomimicry Chicago, we are taking a lesson from the spring ephemeral to know when the time is right, and when it is not. We have received an amazing response to our Deep Roots idea: we are close to meeting our registration goals for the workshop, have secured three sponsors, and our event and name is being spread by organizations we are just now beginning to reach. We have been thrilled with the response so far!However, we have heard from many key allies that the timing of this workshop does not work for them. As we have begun reaching out to a larger audience, we would like to have more time for new people to be brought on board, and for exciting new projects in the works to progress further, so that the conversation we hold can be its most tangible and effective.

We have, therefore, decided to postpone our inaugural workshop to the Spring of 2017.

In the meantime, we want to meet YOU and know how YOU think we can “(Re)Create Chicago as an Ecosystem.” Starting this fall, we will be working with our allies to plan a series of smaller round table discussions, both private and open to our network. The goal for these gatherings is to provide an opportunity for local biomimics and interested individuals to learn more about biomimicry and ecosystem functions while giving us a better understanding for how this project can best serve their needs and those of our community. If you would like to be a part of these discussions, either as an organization or as an individual, pleasecontact us. 

Life adapts and changes through feedback loops, and the many conversations we have had in preparation for this workshop have told us that this is the best course of action. We see this endeavor as an unmitigated success so far and we look forward to working with each of you in the future!

Biomimicry Chicago Network Leaders

VIDEO: No Regrets

Watch this video on days where the mountain seems to high, and the challenge to fierce.
Watch this video and be inspired again to make a difference through this work we choose.
Watch this video and lend your talents by joining us.
We welcome you.

Biomimicry Chicago Network Leaders

Deep Roots: (Re)Creating Chicago as an Ecosystem

Discover a cutting-edge approach to redefining sustainability and resiliency in the built environment at Biomimicry Chicago’s Deep Roots workshop, which kicks off on Saturday, October 1, 2016.

During this daylong workshop at the Lurie Garden, Biomimicry Chicago’s experts will help participants learn how the ecological intelligence of our region’s native prairies, open woodlands and wetlands can inform the way we plan, design and engineer sustainable and resilient buildings, infrastructure and landscaping.  

The biomimicry approach builds upon and goes beyond existing green infrastructure and sustainable building design best practices to:

• Understand at a systems level what metrics need to be met to achieve long-term ecological stability and resiliency of our region, and
• Discover place-based innovative design patterns to solve the functional challenges of meeting those aspirational metrics at the project level.

We will focus on local water systems to illustrate how we can begin to compare the performance of our built systems to native ecosystems to find opportunities for significant improvement. The results will be a city that functions like native ecosystems - not “City in a Garden”, but “City as a [Native] Garden”!

Visit prairielab.com/biomimicry-registration to learn more - tickets purchased go to support this transformational initiative, so we thank you for your support!