Convincing people to care about nature is a cornerstone of the modern conservation movement. In theory, if enough people care about nature then businesses and governments will respond with products and policies that create a better world while bending our behavior towards greener options.
But caring isn’t enough. We cannot ‘care’ our way out of losing the spaces and species that sustain life. Nor can we expect policy alone to carry us to a better future. Policy is fickle and policy positions swing wildly with election cycles and the ebb and flow of public support. The public can rally at key moments to exert influence and tip the scales. But without steady pressure our world resets to the current and unsustainable state.
It’s time to think differently about how to live smarter on the planet. There is a better future that balances the needs of people and planet but we won’t get there with the same systems and thinking that created our current situation. What if we could make the planet better without people needing to care?
This is where biomimicry comes in. Biomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve our design challenges by drawing on nature’s 3.8BN years of research and development. Unfortunately the biomimicry mindset isn’t commonly understood. To close this gap, “The New Darwins” was conceived as a mini-series to raise awareness of biomimicry and how biomimcs are designing a more resilient world. This series elevates and celebrates stories of well-adapted species that have perfected strategies for life on earth and forward-thinking people translating nature’s genius into products, systems, and processes that solve real-world challenges and create a sustainable future now.
Biomimicry holds the answers to a future that balances the needs of people and planet. As more and more companies embrace this philosophy, climate and biodiversity issues resolve themselves through virtue of thriving economies and communities that are part of nature rather than apart from it.