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Designs from Nature
An Interactive Workshop on Biomimicry
Speakers
At the current time, humanity is grappling with problems of pollution, waste, endemic poverty, unemployment and an impending ecological disaster. It appears that these are unintended consequences and indicators that the human systems are far from perfect and misaligned to the ecological health of the planet. Evidence from living nature suggests that the designs and systems in nature are among the most time-tested solutions that we can learn from and have a lot to offer in terms of ideas that can change our world for the better.
If we look at nature’s designs and systems, for example an ancient forest, we find there is zero waste, zero pollution and nothing akin to a crisis of ‘unemployment’ in the billions of plant and animal species. But how do we translate the systems and processes that work so well in living nature into usable solutions for our problems? This is where biomimicry comes into the picture. Biomimicry is a boundary less, yet truly integrated and unifying approach transcending all silos, whether in academia or practice, rooted in Life (living systems).
In this session, we aim to introduce ‘Biomimicry’ including Biophilia and similar other disciplines/practices that help us look at nature as a source of design ideas and solutions.
This Biomimicry workshop will introduce participants to the amazing patterns, designs and solutions in nature and how to explore and learn from nature at various levels of product, process and systems. The participants will also get to play learning games and take quizzes as they learn about biomimicry.
Speakers
Prashant Dhawan
Prashant Dhawan is the co-founder of “Biomimicry India Network” and “Biomimicry India”, a company which designs and delivers learning experiences, undertakes consultancy and research in the field of biomimicry. He is the first person from India to obtain a MS in Biomimicry degree (2015) from the Arizona State University, and a Biomimicry Professional Certification (Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, USA). He also holds a degree in Architecture from SPA Delhi, and an MBA from ISB Hyderabad.
With over 27 years of work experience (including 8 years of designing and delivering learning experiences in Biomimicry), he has had the opportunity to also work with IDEO and also in the corporate sector. He is also TEDx speaker with 2 TEDx talks on Biomimicry.
Prashant prefers to call himself an amateur researcher of issues related to sustainable happiness and well-being.
Seema Anand
Seema Anand is the first person from Asia to obtain Biomimicry Specialist Certification (Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, USA, 2011). Seema is the co-founder of “Biomimicry India Network” and “Biomimicry India”, a company which designs and delivers learning experiences, undertakes consultancy and research in the field of biomimicry. She is also a practicing Architect and visiting faculty in RV College of Architecture, Bangalore, India. Seema has more than 25 years of design practice experience including 9 years of teaching experience. She started teaching biomimicry in 2012 and one of her first teaching assignments was a 3 week course taught at Tongji University (Shanghai), China.
She considers Biomimicry as a ‘lighthouse’ that can successfully guide our approach to sustainable designs.
