What we do
Biomimicry is an innovative educational approach and gives students of all ages the tools to tackle the sustainability problem head on. The great thing about biomimicry is that it approaches this problem in a positive and hopeful way, by showing that millions of sustainable solutions can already be found in nature. Moreover, biomimicry education encourages 21st-century skills such as inquiry-based learning, critical thinking, problem solving, creative thinking and collaboration.
What we offer
Primary Education
- BioLearn for the Future
Target group: group 5-8
BioLearn for the Future helps elementary school across Europe to do biomimicry. The teaching materials consist of short and practical activities to explore and observe nature, ask her questions and apply this knowledge to the human-built world. Experience shows that this method of inquiry-based learning stimulates curiosity and fuels students' enthusiasm, both important drivers of learning. Furthermore, students are encouraged to think about how they can make a positive contribution to their environment. Crucially, biomimicry offers a hopeful set of practices for a better and sustainable future; not the doom-and-gloom, gloom-and-limit vision of all things no longer allowed.
This European Erasmus+ project is still under development and the website on which the teaching materials will eventually be offered is not yet live. Eventually the website will offer all kinds of short biomimicry stories with assignments that teachers themselves can do with their class. We are still looking for pilot schools that want to test the teaching materials with their class. In return, teachers will receive (free) training from us to get started with biomimicry. Interested? Send an email to info@biomimicrynl.org. - Techniques from Nature - Awarded the IVN Van Dijk Nijkamp Innovation Prize in 2016
Target group: group 5-6
With Veldwerk Nederland (now IVN), municipality of The Hague and Techniekeducatie Delft, we have developed a teaching package that uses nature as a source of inspiration for technical inventions. Students design their own solutions to technical problems, drawing inspiration from nature in the schoolyard. They use the steps of inquiry and design learning (technique education).
The curriculum consists of a series of individual lessons for elementary school that are easy to implement in and around the school. All lesson modules, worksheets and teacher's guide are available for free download at this link.
Continuing Education
- Natural Entrepreneurs
Target group: from 14 years old and up (HAVO/VWO)
Natural Entrepreneurs is an Erasmus+-funded project that encourages high school students to tackle contemporary sustainability challenges, and find feasible, appropriate solutions using biomimicry. An example of such a challenge is "How do we sustainably keep buildings cool in a warming climate?". Students choose a challenge that suits their interests.
Natural Entrepreneurs offers a combination of classroom and online learning. The NatEnt platform offers a full online learning module with sufficient theory and assignments. Here, students go through the biomimicry design process step-by-step. In the final stage, students make a video pitch to step into the shoes of a true entrepreneur. By sharing progress and ideas on the platform, students across Europe are encouraged to learn from each other and work together towards a sustainable future. Also, the Natural Entrepreneurs teaching materials align with the Sustainable Development Goals and encourage the development of several 21st century goals: critical and analytical thinking, efficient collaboration, and creative and interdisciplinary (STEAM) working.
How long the program covers and to what extent you want to do each part depends on you as a teacher, and on the existing curriculum. We facilitate, you decide. The whole thing can be done in 1 day. It can also be done in about 10 50-minute lessons. Check out the teaching materials at this link, or take contact us at if you would like to discuss together which lesson format best suits your situation. - Biomimicry Challenge: Focus on Beta
Target group: undergrad (HAVO/VWO)
This Biomimicry Challenge was developed together with the Focus on Beta Drechtsteden working group. In this challenge, students work in groups to find answers from plants and animals to design a solution to a 'human' challenge. For a good design, it is important to know what biomimicry is and what you can do with it. In the first module of our material we go into great detail about what biomimicry is, and as you go along you will learn more and more by doing the various assignments and watching the videos! The teaching material also covers biomimicry's "Life's Principles," or in other words, the principles that can still be found in almost all organisms after all the years of evolution. So these principles are sustainable, and incorporating more of them into your design will also make it more sustainable. In the end, students present their findings in a short video. The video with the most likes wins!
Although this challenge was developed as part of an interscollegiate challenge, there are obviously several opportunities to implement this project within your own school. The challenge includes 12 block hours and is a completed unit. You can also do part of the challenge. Furthermore, the challenge is cross-curricular and fits best with science subjects (such as biology, chemistry and engineering).
The challenge, including student and teacher guides, is here (free) download. For more background information you can this item reading.
- Biomimicry Challenges: Masterclass I & II
Target group: undergrad (HAVO/VWO)
Developed together with Peelland College in Deurne, these challenges follow the same structure as the "Focus on STEM" challenge. However, instead of a video, students create a poster as the final product. In the final lesson, these posters are presented in class.
The entire series of modules forms the basis of the project in which inquiry-based and design-based learning is central. Masterclass I contains a bit more guidance and explanation - for example, students are already given research topics, and more examples of elaboration of research and design than in Masterclass II. Both parts consist of 6 modules, and each module consists of 2 lessons (or 2 block hours). You can, of course, use parts of the material as well.
The challenges, including student and teacher guides, are here (free) download. - BioLearn
Target group: 12-16 years old (VMBO/HAVO/VWO)
Train and support teachers with biomimicry education, in a way that fits well with the existing curriculum of schools. That is the ambitious goal of BioLearn. Teachers are given the tools to come up with a biomimicry solution to a challenge in a number of lessons around various themes. Themes include packaging, health, buildings and water management. Because of the different themes, BioLearn offers the opportunity to introduce biomimicry to multiple STEAM subjects: art, engineering, biology, math, physics, or chemistry. BioLearn thus provides a good opportunity for the desired subject integration. Furthermore, the teaching materials contribute to the development of research and collaboration skills.
This Erasmus+-funded curriculum consists of several modules, available in multiple languages. Each module in turn is made up of a number of lessons and has a different theme and duration.
The teaching modules for teachers are here (free) download. - The Wild City
Target group: upper secondary school
Mountain ranges of glass and concrete, industrial savannahs, miles of sewage pipes. The city is sometimes as fit to live in as a primeval forest or new wilderness. The commuter potato gull and the vinex fox are as wild and special as the seal and the panda. The city is a nature reserve, rich in food, housing and breeding opportunities. The city does not replace nature, the city is nature. And you can learn from nature, for example as a source of inspiration for sustainable solutions to contemporary problems. Whether it's housing, waste, energy, transportation, food or communication; nature provides surprising insights. That's what we want students to see!
Made curious by the new film "The Wild City," students go on their own adventure in their own city. Looking for solutions that are already there, but that they just need to find. Out and about, learning through research. They use the principles of biomimicry.
Download here the free teaching package and get to work with students on imaginative assignments such as "waste does not exist" and "sustainable living. The package includes a set of practical assignments and a teacher's guide.
Expertise in SDG
