Learn from Nature: Activities for Exploring Nature's Genius

Everyone can connect with the genius of your place and learn from nature! Find out how in the second of a series of articles by BioChi co-founder @amycoffman. 

Photo by www.jennifermariephotography.net for @amycoffman

"After reading last week's entry, you may be thinking - I've found time to get outside, but what do I do now? Last week, we focused on the importance of getting outside and exploring nature as a part if your regular routine. This week, we will focus on what to do when you get there."

Read more at her blog >>>

(Re)Connecting with Nature: Exploring Biomimicry in Our Local Ecosystems

Biomimicry Chicago Co-Founder, Amy Coffman Phillips, is writing a series of articles on the power of reconnection in the practice of biomimicry:

"Whenever I talk about biomimicry, I am usually asked a question along the lines of “how do I get started?” And the answer is remarkably simple - you start by going outside. Going for a walk through your local ecosystem, setting aside all that you need to do, reawakening your natural curiosity, and experiencing nature’s genius is a powerful act that will change your perspective on nature, your place in it, and forever alter the path of your career and life."

Read more on her blog!

New to biomimicry?

Check out a new introductory seminar at the Chicago Center for Green Technology next Thursday, July 17th. 6pm. FREE as a service to our green community! Register here.

(Re)Connecting with Nature: Exploring Biomimicry in Your Own Backyard

Speakers: Amy Coffman Phillips & Rachel Haus, Biomimicry Chicago

Audience: General

Biomimicry, the practice of learning from nature to solve human problems, is emerging as a powerful tool for creating sustainable design and systemic transformation. Applied at a variety of scales, from individual products to buildings and organizations, biomimicry brings nature's 3.8 billion years of innovation experience to the table to redefine sustainable innovation. Weather permitting, course includes a guided tour of our local prairie ecosystem viewed through the biomimicry lens, an introduction to the biomimicry methodology, and facilitated experiences that help participants comprehend and begin to apply nature’s lessons to their lives and work.

Upcoming workshop on #NetZero energy featuring #Biomimicry - May 30th

Designers have many questions when seeking to truly emulate nature in the built environment, where our buildings generate energy, capture water, and recycle their waste while contributing to the communities they inhabit:

What role can innovation play in designing net zero buildings - from biomimicry’s Life’s Principles to tools for a new energy economy - and how can I evaluate the return on investment for my clients so that they greenlight the project?

At an upcoming 4-hour in-person workshop hosted by the professional development venture Prairie Lab, LLC, attendees participate in facilitated brainstorming and problem-solving exercises where they seek innovative solutions to the challenge of designing net-zero buildings. During the workshop, participants identify current constraints to designing net-zero buildings, spend time finding innovative solutions to challenges, and learn how to frame the discussion in economic terms.

Register today! 

Friday, May 30th. Program from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm.
Registration and Breakfast at 8:00 a.m.
Venue SIX10 - 610 S Michigan Avenue, Chicago4 CEUs. $250. Register by May 23rd to guarantee your spot!
www.prairielab.com 

Prairie Lab, LLCPrairie Lab is a new professional development venture founded by three former Chairs of USGBC-Illinois. We specialize in hands-on, university-style courses customized to a firm’s needs. Occasionally we host public workshops to offer a sample of the Prairie Lab experience. Our expertise is in sustainability, energy, biomimicry, health, business, and facility management.

Dormancy as an Energy Strategy: Learning from our Native Prairie

It’s been a long winter! Can you remember last summer’s lush green prairies when looking at them today, just emerging from their brown and dormant stage? As we drag ourselves out of our own winter dormancy and into the full light of spring, let’s take a moment to consider how our buildings and businesses can begin to emulate the biomimicry Life’s Principle to “Leverage Cyclic Processes” by embedding the ability to automatically respond to local conditions.

By understanding how ecosystems, like our native tallgrass prairie, are attuned to local conditions, we can begin to design buildings that optimize resource allocation while being more responsive to user needs. 

Read more at Prairie Lab, LLC's, Lab Rats Blog!

Strategies for staying warm - this bird does what?

Ever heard of the Australian Brush-turkey? Probably not. For a turkey it's pretty showy - bright red head, yellow (or purple) wattle, sideways fanned tail. But this bird has an even showier strategy it uses to incubate its eggs. While most birds sit for hours, sometimes taking turns, sometimes one bird stuck doing the whole thing, the Australian brush-turkey has managed to figure out how to incubate its eggs and be free to roam.

Australian Brushturkey - Source: Wikipedia

One of Life's Principles is that life uses readily available materials and energy. This concept is pretty easy to understand and it's pretty easy to find examples of this on your doorstep. The squirrel that lives in your tree isn't traveling to the next village, let alone Alabama, in search of materials to build its nest; it is finding materials in a relatively small radius around its home. Similarly, a plant isn't getting energy to grow from a coal-fired power plant, it's harnessing the sun's energy. Aside from energy from the sun, what other sources of energy can you think of that are readily available? I'm betting that this bird has you beat in terms of creativity in finding a readily available energy source.

Art of Science Learning Chicago Innovation Incubator

The memo on my desk seven years from now, I said in my Biomimicry Professional application, was from the mayor indicating I had been selected to solve the urban nutrition issue, using biomimicry of course, in the most forward thinking city in the universe. While I am very interested in urban nutrition issues, I know very little about them but have always wanted to know more. Today I joined 100 other people in the first day of the Art of Science Learning Chicago Innovation Incubator which, over the course of this year, will look to innovate viable solutions around the issue of urban nutrition. I am so excited!

While I don't think I'm on my way to becoming a true expert in urban nutrition or selected to lead any such effort in the near future, not only will I be learning a lot about the subject and meeting amazing people, but perhaps more importantly for the long term I'll also be learning about tools to inspire innovation through interaction with the arts. I am not sure that this could have come at a better time - getting a well-rounded education around inspiring innovation through Biomimicry Thinking AND the arts will allow me to figure out ways to combine the two and hopefully be even more effective in reaching/connecting more people to biomimicry.