Skills you will unlock through this course:
- Deep understanding of what biomimicry is and why it’s crucial to our future
- Observe and learn from nature, deciphering the functions behind the natural world
- Tools to apply biological strategies to human design challenges
- Frame design briefs in nature’s terms and seeking solutions within Earth’s myriad organisms
- Collaborate in interdisciplinary teams to brainstorm and develop nature-inspired solutions to real-world problems
For any questions, email us at biomimicrygranada@gmail.com
The biomimicry community is still small. By fostering professional and peer connections, the Biomimicry 101 course helps you create invaluable networks for future cooperation and idea sharing.
Why signing up
Investing in this biomimicry course will change the way you think and open up a world of inspiration. You’ll get the chance to network with upcoming creatives and have a very unique experience.
What is Biomimicry
The field of biomimicry advocates looking to the millions of organisms present on Earth as a library of innovations that have been proven to work.
Course structure
The course is broken down into five separate modules, with each module building upon the earlier contents. By the end of the workshop participants will have an good understanding of biomimicry and how to apply use it.
Instructors
Biomimicry 101 is taught in English and led by a global team of Biomimicry professionals and educators who have co-created this course for you. The organizing team has extensive experience applying, teaching and sharing biomimicry.
Register Now!
The workshop cost of Biomimicry 101 is 350€ with participation limited to 16 students.
Welcome to Granada & Travel Logistics
Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the south of Spain, Granada features ancient magic from the Albayzín, the Arabic quarter, to the Alhambra, an astonishing palace complex whose Islamic decor and landscaped gardens are without peer in Europe.
Who are Biomimicry Change Makers?
Biomimicry Change Makers encompass both our dedicated participants and valued partners, united in their commitment to making a positive impact through biomimicry. As active contributors to our events, they bring their passion, expertise, and collaborative spirit to explore nature-inspired solutions for a sustainable world.
What is Biomimicry?
Biomimicry is a cross-disciplinary methodology which is especially relevant to those looking for new ways to approach technical innovation and sustainability. We welcome designers, engineers, biologists, policy-makers, educators, architects, entrepreneurs, business-people… and learners of all backgrounds. Our participants will learn about sustainable innovation inspired by nature while interacting within an interdisciplinary cohort of individuals.
We will be apprentices of ecosystems, reconnecting with the principles of adaptation and resilience that make them function. Learn biomimicry and become part of a growing community of regeneration change agents.
Through evolutionary R&D, nature has been generating solutions to the never-ending slew of challenges faced on our little blue marble since life emerged billions of years ago.
The field of biomimicry advocates looking to the millions of organisms present on Earth as a library of innovations that have been proven to work.
You will develop skill sets for leveraging biological knowledge when redesigning our products, processes, systems and perspectives. Special focus will be given to applying biomimicry to design for a regenerative world.
Think like a biomimic!
What can a banana peel teach us about packaging?
Biomimicry helps us reframe our human design challenges to questions that we could ask nature. For example: ‘How would nature package?’
- Protect – Hard yet elastic waxy shell keeps fruit safe from the elements.
- Transform – Easy opening, but only when it’s ripe and ready.
- Communicate – Changes color from green to yellow as it becomes ready to eat.
- Regenerate – Quickly biodegrades after use.
Course Structure
The course is broken down into five separate modules, with each module building upon the earlier contents. By the end of the workshop participants will have an good understanding of biomimicry and how to apply use it.
1. Intro to biomimicry
Monday morning from 9.30 to 13.30
During the first module, a series of activities will help us warm up and meet the group. Our first day is designed to be inspired by the potential of biomimicry, learn of real-world case studies, discover beautiful biological models and take stock of the many lessons from Nature. By the end of the day, participants will understand what biomimicry is and why learning from nature is important.
2. Observation in nature
Monday afternoon from 14.30 to 18.30
Perhaps the most important tool in the biomimicry practitioner’s kit is the ability to see beyond the look-and-feel of the other organisms sharing Earth with us, and understand how and why these beings came about as they are. We will explore organisms up close and learn to associate function to the shapes, textures, smells, tastes, structures and behaviors of plant, animal and fungi life.
3. Biomimicry deep dive
Tuesday morning from 9.30 to 13.30
We get down into nitty, gritty, detailed descriptions of the natural world and how we can learn from this endless complexity and wealth to foster innovation and progress in human society. You will learn how to ask new kinds of questions, and search the world’s broad library of organisms for solutions to challenges. Further examples and case studies will inspire excitement for the possibilities and underline the biomimicry method.
4. Applying biomimicry
Tuesday afternoon from 14.30 to 18.30
One strength of the field of biomimicry is the straightforward application as an innovation methodology. Participants will team up to approach a problem using biomimicry design thinking. During this session you will discover organisms which face issues that the world is trying to resolve, and that have come up with efficient, innovative and often surprising solutions. It will then be up to you to extrapolate these lessons into a prototype design, displaying the skills and understanding gained over the last 2 days.
5. Learn from each other
Wednesday morning from 9.30 to 13.30
As the course concludes, reflect on your journey and share insights with fellow participants. Engage in brainstorming sessions for further improvements to your solutions. Seasoned professionals will also showcase inspiring nature-based projects, igniting your passion for future innovation.
What Will You Learn?
Explore your surroundings as you learn about the design strategies of nature and how to use them as an inspiration for your own innovations.
Upon completing this 2.5 day course, you will be primed to integrate biomimicry into your work. During the weekend you will:
- understand what biomimicry is and why biomimicry is important
- spend time learning from the local ecosystem
- learn to associate functional objectives to the shapes, textures, smells, tastes, structures and behaviors of plant, animal and fungi life
- translate biological strategies into relevant and applicable design principles
- learn how frame a design brief in natural terms and search the world’s broad library of organisms for solutions to your challenge
- work together in interdisciplinary teams to come up with nature-inspired solutions to the real-world problems
Get your feet on the ground with biomimicry thinking methods
Gain a systems-level understanding through immersions in nature.
Perfect your skills with mini-challenges in a cross-disciplinary cohort.
Course developers:
Biomimicry Changemakers is taught in English and led by a global team of Biomimicry professionals and educators who have co-created this course for you. The organizing team has extensive experience applying, teaching and sharing biomimicry
Theresa Millard
Certified Biomimicry Professional
UK born, trained as an artist, Theresa has +30 years of corporate experience working in Design, Product Development, Manufacturing, Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility.
In 2005, after exposure to Biomimicry – Design inspired by the natural world, Theresa realized that she could no longer design “things” without thought to the unintended environmental consequences that a global manufacturer can have on the world.
She is an experienced developer and facilitator in the field of Design for Sustainability and experiential learning. Co-founder of the Kohler WasteLAB, Theresa believes that taking a nature based abundant view rather than a “lean” approach to waste streams can change how everyone looks at resources as we begin our necessary journey to a circular economy.
Creative Director
TrueNorth Collective
Chris Gauthier
Certified Biomimicry Professional
Chris has followed a winding path throughout his life. He has done immunology research as a molecular biologist, served in the US Army as a helicopter pilot, worked in other US governmental roles, and provided strategy, business model, and AI & automation consulting services for Deloitte and KPMG. During this time he had gotten his MSc in biomimicry and is a certified biomimicry professional (2021). He now works as an environmental sustainability professional at KPMG. Throughout this journey Chris has always felt a call to stay connected to the wonder and insights of the natural world.
To understand this more, Chris recommends Henry Beston’s words: We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals.
Manager of Environmental Sustainability
KPMG
Luis Calle Sánchez
Always attentive to nature, most of Luis’s hobbies are developed in one way or another in the natural environment.
Luis has a Degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Alcalá de Henares and a Master of Advances in Agricultural Biology and Aquaculture at the University of Granada. In addition during the last years he has worked in the field of environmental education and providing agricultural advice in the south of Spain, integrating a circular vision in all his projects.
In 2017 he became a founding partner of Biomimicry Granada and acting as curriculum creator and training coordinator. Today, Luis combines his activities with the practice of biomimicry in various design schools nationwide, believing that sustainability and education are the natural path to social progress.
Técnico medioambiental
Cruz Roja Española
Matthew Neiman
Matthew’s fascination with the mathematical explanations of the physical world has driven his diverse journey.
Born in the USA and soon to be naturalized in Spain, he bridges the gap between science and sustainability. As a physicist, he’s explored topics ranging from machine learning to corporate sustainability and high-energy particle collisions.
Matthew serves as a technical content creator and advisor to Biomimicry Granada, connecting science and sustainability in a profound way.
Sustainability Analyst
TrueNorth Collective
Asha Singhal
Asha K. Singhal MS | B.Arch is a Biomimic, Architect, Researcher and Educator specializing in Biomimetic designs bridging the gap between the built and natural environments.
Her vision with her work is to create pragmatic narratives of hope inspired by nature empowering people with tangible actions towards creating a climate positive future. Asha’s core is in meaning making, conceptualizing and realizing speculative designs into inspiring and restorative living built environments.
She conducts research at the intersection of biology, architecture, art and emergent technologies, and applies that knowledge to the development of regenerative environments at all scales. She has international experience working on projects in Canada, Germany, US & India.
Lead designer and researcher
Hybrid Futures
Lorenzo Costanzo
Lorenzo, fueled by his early fascination with materials and their potential for innovation, embarked on a sustainability-driven journey through academia and industry, committed to creating positive impacts on the environment and society.
His love for nature pushed him to have collaborations in the outdoor industry to create eco-friendly products aligned with his values, but his compelling drive for impactful innovation led him to shift his focus towards biomimicry, regenerative systems, and de-growth for a sustainable future.
Currently, he is involved in projects related to technologies for water desalination for reforestation in collaboration with Planet, and circular/doughnut economy consulting with Aevolution.
He firmly believes in the power of networks that, mimicking Nature, foster fruitful collaborations.
Materials scientist
Planet & Aevolution
Pricing
The workshop cost of Biomimicry 101 is €350 with participation limited to 16 students. Reserve your spot today!
The price of the workshop includes:
- Biomimicry training, inclusive of facilities and teacher fees
- Educational materials
- Excursion
- Certificate upon completion
- Simple snacks, drinks and lunches on two days.
- Up to 2 ECTS credits certified by Escuela Superior de Arte y Diseño de Andalucía (subject to acceptance by sending institution)
- If you require assistance organizing your lodging, other meals and travel to and from Granada, don’t hesitate in contacting us.
Participants are responsible for the cost of lodging during the workshop, travel to and from the locations and transportation before and after the workshop.
Please be aware that the Biomimicry 101 workshop will officially run from 09:00 on Monday, 21st April to 14:30 on Thursday, 24th November.
Biomimicry 101
Admission fee- Admission for Biomimicry 101 course in 21-24.04.2025
- After payment, we will send you an email containing all the information regarding the event.
Welcome to Granada!
Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the south of Spain, Granada features ancient magic from the Albayzín, the Arabic quarter, to the Alhambra, an astonishing palace complex whose Islamic decor and landscaped gardens are without peer in Europe.
Changemakers classes will be held at esada design school, a well-equipped official higher education institution housed in a beautiful historic building. Situated on a busy pedestrian street in downtown Granada, from esada many of Granada’s places of interest are accessible by foot or a short bus ride away.
For those wanting to stay a little longer, from Granada you can be in the mountains, or at the beach in less than an hour.
Travel like a local!
Travel Logistics:
Where to stay?
We recommend finding a place near ESADA in downtown Granada (Calle Trinidad, 4, 18001 Granada).
Hostal recommendations
- Amaka House (+34 681 921 441) – map
- ECO Hostel Granada (+34 958 29 29 24) – map
• El Granado Hostel (+34 958 96 02 59) – map
Getting around Granada
Classroom sessions will be hosted at ESADA. The area around ESADA is easy to reach by walk. Finding parking within a 5-10 minute walk of ESADA could be difficult. We recommend walking or taking a taxi, Uber, or bus while commuting to and from ES
- Walk – Granada is well suited for walking and quite picturesque.
- Rental bicycle – bicicletas la estación and balakook
- Bus – Granada bus system. Google Maps will show the fastest public transport option. There are multiple ticket types. A “basic” ticket may be bought on board for about €1.40. You can also buy a “bonobus” (buss pass) at any “estanco” (tobacconist). This will cost €5 with an extra €2 deposit. Rides are around €0.8 with the pass, and it can be topped up on the bus. NOTE: the number 4 bus needs to be paid at the stop and not on board.
- Metro – There exists a single metro line running through the city. It is especially useful for some specific suburbs or outskirts. Metro tickets are different to bus tickets and can be bought and validated at metro stops. There exist different options (single, 5 trips, etc…). NOTE: some metro tickets may be used on buses, but bus tickets cannot be used on the metro.
- Taxi – Taxis may be found regularly around the city. Rides should cost between €5 and €10 depending on starting and ending points (not applicable for Alhambra or airport). You can also order a taxi by phone. Pide Taxi Granada (+34 958 28 00 00) or use the Pidetaxi app. Radio Taxi Genil (+34 958 132 323).
- Uber – Uber is available in Granada through the Uber app. Normally taxis will be cheaper.
- Rental cars & parking – There are rental cars available at all major airports and some locations in the city of Granada. It can be challenging to find parking, and we suggest only renting a car if you plan on using it outside of the city.
Travel within Spain?
• Train (map of connections between cities; station) – Renfe tickets
• Bus (station) – Alsa tickets (Tel: +34 902 42 22 42)
