Design Inspiration...

...can come from the most unique and lovely of places.

www.prairielab.com/immersion

Chicago Biomimicry Immersion - 2015!

Biomimicry Chicago has partnered with Prairie Lab, LLC, to offer our followers discounted registration for this year’s Biomimicry Immersion: Chicago-Style! Four experiences, each as unique as our region. Visit prairielab.com/immersion to learn more and register. Be sure to contact us at biomimicrychicago@gmail.com or on twitter @biomimicrychi to receive 10% off the cost of registration!

Permaculturists + Biomimics Team up!

We're kicking off the Global Biomimicry Design Challenge: Food Systems in the Chicago area with a potluck design charrette! Join our favorite permiculturists at The Resiliency Institute in Naperville as they explore how our urban streetscapes can work like food forests through biomimicry! Next Friday, Feb 20th, at 6:30pm. Learn more here!

challenge.biomimicry.org

Upcoming Event: AuthentiCity!

Amy will be speaking at the following event: please join us to learn more about how we can design more sustainable, resilient cities by looking to the Genius of our Place! RSVP here!

5th Annual Urban Innovation Symposium: AuthentiCity

YOU'RE INVITED Friday, January 30, 2015 PLEASE RSVP to participate in the exchange of innovative planning methods and ideas that create authentic city spaces and enliven urban life from the ground up! This two-part event will feature presentations and panel discussions with local strategists who foster places that maintain cities' and neighborhoods' cultural and environmental identities. During the daytime session, from 9:00 AM - 1:00PM at Gallery 400 in UIC's Art and Exhibition Hall,professionals from around the region provide insight into cutting-edge ideas in physical planning, design, housing, and economic development.  CUPPA Dean Michael Pagano will be headlining as our keynote speaker to talk about the Obama Library proposal on UIC's campus.  Rounding out the daytime section will be a panel of urban planners who take to blogging as a way to advocate their points of view, moderated by UIC professor Charles Hoch. At the evening event, from 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM at the Royal George Theatre's Black Box Theaterspace, urban professionals deliver presentations in the fast-moving, visually-oriented PechaKucha®  (PK) format in an informal atmosphere, encouraging attendees to get to know each other and enjoy complimentary appetizers and cash bar.   Open and free to the public. RSVP | DAYTIME SESSION RSVP | EVENING SESSION For more information, please visit www.UPPSA.org or e-mail us aturbaninnovatesym@gmail.com

Happy New Year, Biomimicry Chicago!

Global Biomimics Gather!

I just got back from the Biomimicry Network Leaders gathering in San Francisco - what an amazing experience! It felt like coming home to my extended family. A few quick highlights:

Photo by Alexandra Ramsden, Biomimicy Puget Sound

• Biomimicry.org will be THE place to go for global network information, so be sure to bookmark and follow the page! As a network, we will have great access to post our events to this global stage, so contact Rachel or Amy if you want your event to be recognized.
• We started the process of mapping our network and how ours relates to the global network, so be sure to contact us if you want to be included! 
• We're collaborating on a global stage to share best practices for everything from genius of place and education initiatives to how to set up a network! So if you have a question or initiative you'd like to pursue, contact us!
• We keep learning more about the global design challenge and will be planning some events around this in the coming year - visit the global design challenge site to learn more!  
• Biomimicry San Diego network leader Tamsin Woolley-Barker's kickstarter campaign to fund her book "SuperOrganizations: Nature's Game-Changing Guide To Faster, Smarter, More Valuable Companies" was fully funded! So keep contributing to get your copy!  

I'd love to tell you all about it, so contact me to learn more!

Amy 

How Does Nature...? A Lesson in Biomimicry

Find out how to use AskNature to guide sustainable solutions in this new webinar!

Wednesday, November 12
9 AM MST (11 AM EST/8 AM PST)

Do you have a tough design challenge that you want to look to nature to help solve? AskNature, the world's most comprehensive catalog of nature's solutions to design challenges, can help!

Join the Biomimicry Institute's Gretchen Hooker and Jen Schill on November 12 at 9 AM MST (11 AM EST/8 AM PST) to learn how to use AskNature to identify sustainable solutions. During this one-hour webinar, brought to you by the Disruptive Innovation Festival, you'll learn how to use AskNature to get inspired while exploring a design challenge and gaining a greater understanding of biomimicry.

Don't miss this opportunity for a step-by-step introduction to AskNature and how you can apply this tool to design a healthier planet.

Learn more and register here.