The elephant in the room: biomimetics and sustainability?

Abstract

Biomimetics, with diverse origins, has generated a ‘biomimetic promise’ of sustainable design solutions. This promise posits that biological systems are inherently sustainable and emulating these time-tested patterns will result in optimal sustainability characteristics. However, this has rarely been empirically explored and there is little understanding of how biomimetic practitioners are assessing sustainability impacts. This paper examines connections between biomimetic innovation and sustainability theory and investigates how practitioners are approaching sustainability issues. It includes (a) a review of concepts connecting sustainability and biomimetic innovation, highlighting epistemological disparities among disciplines, and (b) an exploratory survey examining practitioners’ use and views of biomimetics for sustainability-oriented innovation. Four findings are that (a) practitioners use a variety of sustainability frameworks with no established system of accountability; (b) there is a disconnection between biomimetics and sustainability agendas at multiple levels; (c) biomimetics is creating new narratives of sustainability; and (d) epistemological variations in biomimetics research and practice contribute to the variety of conceptions of sustainability and need to be considered as an aspect of the biomimetic promise. In conclusion, biomimetics has an important role to play in the evolving conceptualisation of sustainability and measures of success needed to integrate science-based targets and the interests of diverse stakeholders.

Biomimetics: teaching the tools of the trade

“…As an inter-and transdisciplinary topic, several perspectives exist about what learning from nature actually is (see, e.g., [1]), how it should be performed, and how it may develop [3,7,12,13]. This paper represents one such view and intends to contribute to the field.…”

“…Example: Biological materials with special mechanical properties to inspire biomimetic devices [22]. 4 A means for sustainable solutions [1,12,[23][24][25] Teaching will refer to any curriculum, learning objective, and teaching environment based in academia. The audience for this will be referred to as students.…”

Design for Sustainability

“…BM design is defined as 'an intended emulation of nature life solutions for solving contemporary challenges' (Cohen & Reich, 2016, p. 3). It encourages the observation of the ways in which nature solves problems in order to create novel solutions (Mead & Jeanrenaud, 2016). The premise of BM design is to use nature as a model, measure and mentor (Benyus, 2002).…”

“…more opportunities (in relation to this, refer to the systemic design approach discussed in Chapter 10). In addition, there is not an established system of accountability for BM design in sustainability-oriented innovation, therefore it is unclear how BM design practice relates to sustainability agendas and how sustainability is addressed and assessed by practitioners (Mead & Jeanrenaud, 2016). Benyus (2002) indicated that the full potential of BM design cannot be realised unless it becomes integrated into an economic system that itself mimics living systems.…”

“…Therefore, one research direction is to investigate how the BM design process can be integrated with sustainability measurement tools. Mead and Jeanrenaud (2016) also emphasised the necessity for practitioners to be explicit about the impact of BM design outputs in relation to sciencebased targets. However, they also highlighted the importance of qualitative ways of assessing impacts, including the potential of BM design to inspire mindsets, values and alternative visions of development.…”