The Biomimicry Group today announced the launch of the new eight-month intensive Biomimicry Specialty Program.

A highly integrated, cross-disciplinary approach that blends self-paced, incremental training in a dynamic, cross-cultural environment, the Biomimicry Specialty Program offers online and field sessions around the world for designers, engineers, educators, biologists, entrepreneurs, chemists, architects, and more. Every aspect of the program works to empower individuals and organizations through training, networks, tools, and vision, with the mission to transform the way participants view and operate in the world.

Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a design discipline that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature's time-tested patterns and strategies. The core idea is that nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved many of the problems society is facing like energy, food production, climate control, and transportation.

"The Biomimicry Group educational programs provide the most exciting and important opportunities for manifesting our vision of a world empowered by nature's genius. It helps build the world I want my, your, and all children to inherit," said Dr. Dayna Baumeister, Biomimicry Guild co-founder and Biomimicry Specialty Program instructor.

Biomimicry Specialty Program
The intensive program will run from March 2, 2011, to November 6, 2011, and will be delivered through a combination of in-person and distance online learning experiences. Participants will spend three, five-day in-person sessions together in three unique ecosystems within their region exploring biomimicry, learning about the local ecology, and developing a regional biomimicry network. Professionally trained and experienced biomimicry instructors will facilitate these in-person sessions and serve as a resource through the online coursework.

Additionally, students will participate remotely in a 30-week online biomimicry course divided into five-week units. Led by Dr. Baumeister, the online course includes lectures, reading assignments, case studies, guest lecturers, individual exercises and occasional group exercises.

The program is designed for working professionals and as such is not a full-time program. It is anticipated that the participants will need to commit three to six hours per week to the 30-week online program, plus the 15 days for the in-person sessions.

Participants graduate as "Regional Biomimicry Specialists" and are empowered to incorporate biomimicry into their current or planned professions, and serve as alliance members to their local biomimicry network.

Interested participants can download an application and submit it by December 17, 2010. Notification of acceptance into the program will be sent by January 12, 2011.

Biomimicry and Design Spring Workshops in Costa Rica
Also open for registration, the Biomimicry & Design Workshop held in the tropics of Costa Rica offers students and professionals from all disciplines and backgrounds a unique experiential learning opportunity to initiate their engagement in the biomimicry training. Due to increasing demand, this spring the group is offering two sessions: March 13 to March 20, 2011, and March 24 to March 31, 2011.

Added Baumeister, "Participants come to the workshops with a curiosity about biomimicry and walk away with an experience that combines their desire to innovate sustainably while demonstrating gratitude for the natural genius that surrounds us."

The deadline for registration is February 11, 2011. Interested can register online for the workshop.

History of Biomimicry Education
Beginning in 1998, Janine Benyus and Dayna Baumeister, the world's two most premiere thought leaders in biomimicry and leading educators, partnered to empower individuals to develop a practice of biomimicry beyond the research labs. Initially starting with half-day, full-day, and two-day workshops, the pair offered the first longer workshop in Montana in 2003. Since then, hundreds of designers, engineers, educators, biologists, entrepreneurs, chemists and architects from around the world have graduated from these weeklong workshops creating an incredible network of practitioners. Yet, Benyus notes, as they engage in biomimicry their curiosity and desire to learn more and go deeper has kept them asking for more.

In response, in 2008, The Biomimicry Institute, a sister organization to The Biomimicry Group, began a master's level, two-year non-residential program in biomimicry, graduating 15 students in April 2010. The next cohort of the Biomimicry Professional Certification Program will embark in January of 2011.

About The Biomimicry Group
The Biomimicry Group and its sister organizations The Biomimicry Institute and The Biomimicry Guild promote the study and imitation of nature's remarkably efficient designs, bringing together scientists, engineers, architects and innovators who can use those models to create sustainable technologies. Its mission is to nurture and grow a global community of people who are learning from, emulating, and conserving life's genius to create a healthier, more sustainable planet.

The Biomimicry Group

The Biomimicry Group

The Biomimicry Group and its sister organizations The Biomimicry Institute and The Biomimicry Guild promote the study and imitation of nature's remarkably efficient designs, bringing together scientists, engineers, architects and innovators who can use those models to create sustainable technologies. Its mission is to nurture and grow a global community of people who are learning from, emulating, and conserving life's genius to create a healthier, more sustainable planet.

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