Biomimicry is a field of study with broad implications in ecological design and planning. The Biomimicry Intstitute defines biomimicry as “a new discipline that studies nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems.” Designers and planners evoking biomimicry look to examples in nature to solve problems and enhance our built environments.
Engineers studying a leaf to improve solar cells, and fan blade producers studying the geometry of seashells and kelp are example of biomimicry in action. On a landscape level, Wes Jackson at the Land Institute studies the ancient perennial tall-grass prairies of the Midwest to develop a model of prairie-like polycultures of edible perennials that not only sustain us, but regenerate and sustain the land by re-building soils. A thriving example within at the University of Vermont is the Eco-Machine™ designed by John Todd and housed in the Aiken Center, that looked to wetland ecosystems to design a natural wastewater treatment system for the Aiken Center.
We agree with the the Biomimicry Institute that “the conscious emulation of life’s genius is a survival strategy for the human race, a path to a sustainable future. The more our world functions like the natural world, the more likely we are to endure on this home that is ours, but not ours alone.”