Download Social Biomimicry - Club of Amsterdam

Biomimicry …
is learning from nature
Subtopic: learning from relations and
interactions
Club of Amsterdam 23 februari 2012
Bowine Wijffels
Bowine Wijffels
• Consultant ‘learning for sustainable
development’ and ‘environmental education’.
• Trainer and former teacher biology/geography
• Specific interest: ‘patterns of interaction’
Real time business challenges
The World is changing….
• Economic recession and loss of stability
• Rapid market changes and quick cycles
• Environmental and social instability
• Open source, new media, networks and cooperations
Today’s vocabulary… (in respons)
Adaptive – Agility – Resilience - Networking
Learning organisation – Interconnection
Sustainable development.
Biomimicry = learning from nature
an ecology of mind
1. On a individual level (Biomimicry of behaviour,
structure and form).
2. On a level of groups and species (teams, family,
colleagues).
3. On ecosystem level (organisations, cities, communities).
Ad 1 Fysical and individual
(source: biomimicry.org)
…housing
…cleaning a surface
Using
effective
tools…
…get a grip
Ad 2 Coorperation in groups…
Ants: teamwork in
bridging the gap
Birds: temporary and
shared leadership
Bee’s: group
communication
about resources
Accepted leadership
A leader is accepted by the group when the leader;
•
•
Is smart enough to lead the way.
Is social enough to take care of the individuals in
the group.
Chimpansee politics - Frans de Waal
De natuurlijk leider – Mark van Vugt
Sustainable principles of life…
Basic principles
• Life creates conditions for life…
• Life develops and adapts.
To understand these principles we need to:
• Accept the idea of interdependancy and see the
whole (system).
System thinking?
Observations:
• Change one player …and the achievements of the
whole team change.
• The ‘loss’ of one member of the family … has an impact
on all relationships.
• Add just a little more fish food …and the pond turns
green.
• One organ is not functioning …and the whole is sick.
We only know that we are part of a system when things
are changing and moving…
Ad 3 learning from natural systems
A variety of simple and
complex systems
Characteristics of living (eco) systems
Basic ingredients of systems are;
• Elements (physical parts)
• Connections (the interactions)
• Function (purpose)
A system is more than the sum of the parts; interaction is vital
The system purpose is usually: to sustain or survive (and every
function is focussed on that).
If it dies, it loses its system-ness.
Why are natural (eco)systems so
different?
De first time the word ecosystem was used by the
English botanist A.C. Tansley, in 1935.
Because this is how they operate
1.
Optimal use of nearby resources (sun, minerals, water
or lack of these resources).
2.
External cycli are fully integrated (cycli like: day and
night, dry and wet, tide, seasons….).
3.
It is stable and responds to external disturbance
(stability through diversity and flexibility).
4.
No central management but small teams and
transparant communication (action and reaction
based).
Natural systems are stable because
they are resilient
•
Engineering (operation) resilience:
– The extent to which the system can
respond to changes (back in balance).
•
Ecological resilience:
– The extent to which the system can
change into another system (new
balance).
Living system thinking
Characteristics
•
When living systems want to get stronger, they connect to
more living things (diversity).
•
Living systems grow in chaos and are self organising.
•
Nature makes its most important connection at root level
(underground).
•
You can’t change a living system, all you can do is disturb it.
•
The ‘best’ disturbances challenge the equilibrium and
assumed order of the system.
•
If we can re-engineer it, it’s probably already dead!
www.tipuake-org.nz
Model for organic leadership and
innovative organisations
7 lessons for leaders in system change
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
To promote system change, foster community and cultivate
networks.
Work at multiple levels of scale (Oakland strategy)
Make space for self organisation.
Seize breakthrough opportunities when they arise.
Facilitate change (but give up the idea that you can direct
change).
Assume that change is going to take time.
Be prepared to be surprised.
www.ecoliteracy.org
Related initiatives
Blue Economy Alliance
The Natural Step
Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Biomimicry 3.8
C2C
Circle Economy
Living system thinking
Anecologymind (5th of March)