Janine Benyus — Biomimicry, an Operating Manual for Earthlings

<p>There is a quiet, redemptive story of our time in this conversation — a radical way of approaching the gravest of our problems by attending to how original vitality functions. Biomimicry takes the natural world as mentor and teacher — for, as Janine Benyus puts it, "we are surrounded by geniuses." Nature solves problems and performs what appear to us as miracles in every second, all around: running on sunlight, fitting form to function, recycling everything, relentlessly "creating conditions conducive to life.” Janine launched this way of seeing and imagining as a field with her 1997 book, <i>Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature</i>. Today she teaches and consults with all kinds of projects and organizations, including major corporations, as you'll hear. </p><p>Welcome to this unfolding parallel universe in our midst, which might just shift the way you see almost everything about our possible futures.</p><p><i>This conversation was part of </i><a href="https://thegreatnorthernfestival.com/"><i>The Great Northern Festival</i></a><i>, a celebration of Minnesota’s signature cold, creative winters.</i></p><p>Janine Benyus is the author of several books, including <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/10066/9780060533229"><i>Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature</i></a>. She is the co-founder of the non-profit <a href="https://biomimicry.org/">Biomimicry Institute</a> and <a href="https://biomimicry.net/">Biomimicry 3.8</a>, a consulting and training company.</p><p><a href="https://onbeing.org/programs/janine-benyus-biomimicry-an-operating-manual-for-earthlings/#transcript">Find the transcript</a> for this show at onbeing.org.</p><p> </p><p>___________</p><p>Please share <i>On Being</i> with friends, family, book clubs, neighbors, colleagues, and perfect strangers in the checkout line at the grocery store. And if you can take a minute to rate <i>On Being</i> in this podcast app, you'll be bending the arc of algorithms towards this community of conversation and living.</p><p>Also: sign up for our Saturday morning