Let's ask nature for Solutions
Invited Talk and Workshop: The Young South East Asia Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), Smart Cities Regional Workshop, Thailand
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By Lisa Teo. 19 September 2021
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How can Nature-based approaches help future cities achieve a Quality Environment for people, the economy, and the environment?
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This was the topic focus of September’s talk for future change-makers at the Smart Cites Regional Workshop hosted by The Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI).
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Our Biomimicry Singapore Network collaborator, Lisa Teo, blending her background as projects principal of a regional architectural practice and in sustainability, shared that as the region’s urbanization and climate challenges intensify, green technology and Nature-inspired innovation may reshape business models and consumption patterns.
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Her talk covered 3 concepts to accelerate change towards sustainable and liveable environments; namely :
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Nature-based approaches for Innovation (Biomimicry)
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Nature-based approaches for Well-being (Biophilia)
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Ecologically attuned frameworks (Life’s Principles) for sustainable and regenerative systems urban development.
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For instance, urban waste water infrastructure could be designed to adapt to cyclical seasons, while urban greenery could be planned within bird and butterfly ecological zones to optimize biodiversity pockets within cities. And as butterflies are also pollinators, the benefits of implementing sky gardens within their ecological zones may also help bolster food security and lower the carbon footprint of urban food sources.
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In closing, ASEAN sits within one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. And we would be remiss not to value, enjoy and learn from Nature to craft high quality and liveable environments, promote sustainable use of resources, and strengthen resilience against climate change.
Companies can only survive and thrive through Biomimicry
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5 March 2021
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Tune in on 5 March 2021 Friday 6:30 pm Singapore time to hear Munid Madni of Panarchy Partners speak about how companies need to build resilience - the nature's way through biomimicry.
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Hosted by NUS School of Design and Environment MEM program.
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About Panarchy Partners-
Panarchy Partners, established in 2018, is a fund management company headquartered in Singapore. It is the first fund management company to become a B Corp certified in Singapore.
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About Munib Madni-
Munib has been investing for 27 years. He started his career in Sydney, Australia with the likes of Equitilink Investment Management and Aberdeen Asset Management where he focused on Australian Equities. In 2005, he moved to Singapore with Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM), to broaden his equity focus. He was at MSIM for 14 years and had assignments such as PM Emerging Markets Team, Chief Investment Officer Asia and CO-PM Active International Allocation Strategy. After leaving MSIM in 2018, he founded Panarchy Partners with a strong belief in the philosophy of Panvesting.
SGSTEM# Biomimicry in Singapore
18 February 2021
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Learn with Dr. Anuj Jain on how nature and technology can be intertwined to solve local and global problems through the lens of Biomimicry
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Thrusday, 18 February 2021
Free online zoom event
Register: http://tinyurl.com/sgstem20210218
NUS Talk: Biomimicry - Insights from a Sustainable World
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10 November 2017
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In this seminar, we will explore nature's ingenious ways to solve global problems. We will introduce biomimicry -the practice of learning and emulating from Nature's genius and how can we look at Nature as a teacher and a model for design.
Plenary Talk & Panel Discussion at the International Green Building Conference
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13 September 2017​
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Singapore, often acclaimed as ‘City in the Garden’, is a hub of green urban design. In 2015, it was also named the UNESCO Creative City of Design. It would perhaps be suitable to call Singapore a brand ambassador of Green Cities.
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Dr. Anuj Jain gave a keynote address at the International Green Building Conference 2017 on 13 Sep 2017 on Biomimicry - designing with nature in Singapore. The session was aptly called “Beautiful ideas to change the world”.
Anuj shared how Singapore has come a long way from being a Garden City to City in a Garden. Our architects, landscape designers, and builders are now embracing nature and consciously bringing greenery in their designs (biophilia). Anuj shared how can we push our imagination using biomimicry and design a generous city – a city that is locally attuned and responsive and gives back to the environment. Anuj shared examples of how patterns in nature have been used in designs worldwide (including the EDEN project). After the talks, a panel discussion followed which featured Tierra Design and Biomimicry Singapore. An important point raised by the audience was about cost – are biomimicry designs cheaper or costlier and what is the return on investment for biomimic designs? Anuj explained that biomimicry designs are meant to be locally attuned and functionally efficient. ROI calculations for biomimicry designs would be an interesting research. But I bet, the results are going to be very variable.
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Hannah Koh from Eco Business did a coverage on Anuj’s talk on biomimicry and green building design in Singapore.
http://www.eco-business.com/news/for-more-liveable-cities-take-a-leaf-out-of-natures-book/
Invited Talk: Biomimicry in Architecture @ Ken Yeang’s Studio, Kuala Lumpur
28 August 2017
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The eco-architect Dato’ Ar. Dr. Ken Yeang has initiated a semester-long design studio themed ‘designing with nature’ for Masters in Architecture students at Taylor’s University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Dr. Anuj Jain was invited to lecture the students about biomimicry and how it could be applied in architectural design on 28 Aug 2017.
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Other speakers at the studio included Tony Liew (Head of School), Professor Robert Powell, Sarly Adre Sarkum, Lillian Tay, Shen Fei, and Dr. Ken Yeang. They touched upon topics such as the green building index, out-of-the-box design, and the use of local materials in design.
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Biomimicry Singapore is excited that the students will have a semester to practice biomimicry and at the end of the studio have a chance to display their nature-inspired designs at an exhibition. Stay tuned!
More about Ken Yeang design studio launch here: https://university.taylors.edu.my/news-events/ken-yeang-studio-commences-taylors-postgraduate-architecture-students
Talk: Biomimicry, Biotechnology and Biophilic design
5 July 2017
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dr. Carlos Alberto Montana-Hoyos is an industrial designer who is fluent in Spanish, English, Italian and Japanese. He has a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design from Javeriana University (PUJ), Columbia and an MAID and a PhD in Biomimicry and Design for Sustainability from Kobe Design University, Japan.
As a design practitioner, Carlos has worked on packages, electric appliances, furniture, lamps, ceramics and handcrafts. He has worked in Colombia, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Australia. His projects have also received multiple international design awards.
Carlos was a Fellow and Assistant Professor in the Industrial Design Program, National University of Singapore. from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives and works in Australia, where he is an Associate Professor in the Industrial Design Course at the University of Canberra. Carlos has taught Biomimicry in design at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and conducted numerous workshops and guest lectures on these topics. Carlos is also an advisor to the Biomimicry Singapore Network.
REGISTRATION
For registration, click here
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A confirmation email will be sent to successful
registrants, registration will be closed once full
capacity is reached.
For any enquiries, please email: Jason_lim@nparks.gov.sg
"Lunch & Learn" with nature’s time-tested strategies!
31 March 2017
Dr. Anuj Jain (our co-founder) gave a “lunch & learn” talk at the Interface Asia Pacific office in Singapore on 31 March 2017. Interface is the World’s largest manufacturer of commercial carpet tiles and an industry leader in biomimicry that has recently launched its "Factory as a Forest" initiative.
The interactive session explored how we could learn from organisms around us in Singapore to create sustainable designs. Anuj shared ideas on ‘How Biomimicry can potentially guide the path forward for Singapore?’. He envisions that via biomimicry, Singapore can build on its strengths in innovation, science and technology, and entrepreneurship while learning from and connecting Singaporeans with the city state's rich tropical biodiversity. But to do this, it is necessary to rethink “out of the box” and to connect problem-solving with nature. Can our designs ask - what can we learn from pangolins and butterflies in our forests and the coral reefs, seagrasses, and the starfish on our coasts? It is important to realize that a sustainable world already exists in and around Singapore. It is outdoors and all around us – in our jungles and around our coasts where life has experimented and evolved for 3.8 billion years.
The talk ended with specific biomimicry activities and experiments/innovations going in Singapore, and how kids are getting enthusiastic about biomimicry in Singapore. Stay tuned for updates and future collaborations.
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Interface carpets' new vision is to create a factory that functions and gives back like a forest. Read more here
Introductory talk: Launch of the Biomimicry Singapore Network
9 December 2016
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On 9 December 2016, a talk on Biomimicry was hosted by CUGE (Center for Urban Greenery and Ecology), National Parks Board, Singapore. Two founders of the newly launched Biomimicry Singapore Network spoke at the Botanic Gardens on the topic of biomimicry, which is the conscious learning and emulation of nature’s time-tested strategies (forms, processes, and ecosystems) to create sustainable designs.
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The event was kickstarted by Dr. Jain, who introduced the importance of nature in acting as the source of ideas for human advancement. Other species are much older than the human species in the history of Earth’s existence, which indicates that they have undergone through many rounds of natural selection and evolution to become a finely tuned species today that has adapted to function well.
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He brought in the idea of Life’s Principles - nature's recipes, which included the 6 following principles that could be applied to the creation of products, buildings, organizations, and systems:
- Adapt to Changing Conditions
- Be Resource (Material & Energy) Efficient
- Be Locally Attuned & Responsive
- Use Life Friendly Chemistry
- Integrate Development with Growth
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- Evolve to Survive
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These factors can act as the model for innovative strategies, measure for sustainable benchmarks and the mentor for aspiration goals of human advancements. The idea of biomimicry could be the new hope for business strategies in the current trend of times, where traditional business models are no longer viable.
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With the end of the talk, an informal discussion was held to further engage the participants and their questions regarding the ways to make businesses care about biomimicry and the ways to convince the masses that biomimicry could be the new solution to sustainable models. Many perspectives and ideas were contributed by the various individuals, which drove in the fact that biomimicry can be applicable to many disciplines and areas. Beyond the discussion, it was clear that many are hopeful that biomimicry could be the rising solution for conservation and the challenges faced by Singapore.
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