The Best Biomimicry Podcasts of 2024
Podcasts - Isn’t it just a dream that we can walk in nature and learn from nature?
Podcasts make learning biomimicry accessible, engaging and convenient - and if this is how you learn, then the question is - what biomimicry podcasts should you listen to?
Today we’re listing our top podcasts on biomimicry for 2024, each podcast episode bringing a biomimicry thought leader and unique perspective to this interdisciplinary field.
We are a bit biased here, and in full transparency - we’re sponsoring the Learning From Nature Podcast. With that said, we do believe it to be the leading podcast on biomimicry and learning from nature… and the founder and presenter Lily Urmann has been a partner to Learn Biomimicry before it began, and previously has been adding value to our business.
The Best Biomimicry Podcasts, as of 2024
These are eight biomimicry podcasts that will inspire, educate, and connect you with the leaders in this movement.
Learning From Nature with Lily Urmann
This is the leading podcast on biomimicry - with leading biomimicry experts and thought leaders like Dr. Dayna Baumeister, Dr. Tamsin Woolley-Barker and Dr. John Warner.
The first season dives deep into Biomimicry 101, and highlights the fundamentals of how nature's designs can inspire sustainable innovations.
Season two was all about function in nature, and the third season was a collaborative series with The Native Seed Pod and Arizona State University titled: Knowledge Symbiosis: Can Biomimicry and Indigenous Science Harmonize?
The fourth season (currently in recording at the time of writing) is focusing on biomimicry businesses and real world applications.
🎙️ Podcast Name: Learning From Nature
🎯 Podcast Focus: Biomimicry, Indigenous Science
🤓 Presenter: Lily Urmann
⭐ Favourite Episode/s:
- Dr. John Warner on Green Chemistry: The Beauty of Nature’s Processes
- Dr. Clint Penick: How Does Nature Optimize Space and Manage Compression?
- Andrew Howley: All About AskNature
🎶 Listen to Learning from Nature on Spotify Podcasts or Apple Podcasts here. For everything else, you can visit the Learning From Nature website here.
About Lily: Lily is a graduate of the Biomimicry Master’s program at Arizona State University and was the Program Coordinator at the ASU Biomimicry Center. Here she helped design and launch one of the world's first undergraduate certificates in biomimicry with Dayna Baumeister. During her time in Arizona, she guest lectured across campus, and led community workshops at the Natural History Institute, the Desert Botanical Garden, and the Highland Center for Natural History. Today she is a Visiting Instructor at Pratt Institute teaching "Biology for Biomimicry' and the creator and host of Learning from Nature: The Biomimicry Podcast. Her ultimate passion lies at the intersection of biomimicry, place-based experiential education, and engaging change-agents in this exciting field.
Bioneers: Revolution from The Heart of Nature Podcast
The Bioneers is best known to be one of the leading biomimicry conferences and events each year. This podcast offers listeners the opportunity to experience the conference year-round with in-depth interviews with leading social and scientific innovators. It highlights diverse voices of grassroots leaders and voices that are often marginalized or excluded by corporate media.
From focuses on intelligence in nature, climate justice, food and farming, gender equity, Indigenous knowledge, reigning in corporate power, and youth activism… the Bioneers Podcast covers a lot of ground. It’s also won a number of awards too.
The Bioneers podcast brings together visionaries and innovators who are leveraging biomimicry to solve some of the world's most pressing environmental and social challenges. Each episode is a blend of inspiration and practical knowledge.
🎙️ Podcast Name: Bioneers: Revolution from The Heart of Nature podcast
🎯 Podcast Focus: Natural intelligence, climate justice, food and farming and so much more
🤓 Team: Various - you can learn more about the Bioneers Radio team here
⭐ Favourite Episode/s:
- The Charging Twenties: Now is the Time to Build a Solar-Powered Civilization
- Whale Whisperers: Making Deep Contact | James Nestor
🎶 Listen to Bioneers on Spotify Podcasts or Apple Podcasts
Flourish Systems Change with Sarah Ichioka & Michael Pawlyn
Two spirited thinkers, Sarah Ichioka and Michael Pawlyn, discuss a bold set of regenerative design principles, drawn from natural and cultural wisdom with change agents from around the world. The Flourish Systems Change podcast offers ideas and solutions for designers, clients and inhabitants alike to build a thriving future, together.
🎙️ Podcast Name: Flourish Systems Change
🎯 Podcast Focus: Regenerative design
🤓 Presenters: Sarah Ichioka & Michael Pawlyn
🎶 Listen to Flourish Systems Change on Spotify Podcasts or Apple Podcasts
About the presenters of the Flourish Systems Change podcast
Michael Pawlyn - a pioneer of biomimicry, nature-inspired design extraordinaire… and someone who was born to design to the music of nature, as he shares in his podcast on biomimicry and regenrative design. Perhaps best known for his book Biomimicry in Architecture - Michael is a curious individual with a keen passion for incorporating biomimicry in architecture.
Sarah Ichioka is an urbanist, curator and writer. She currently leads Desire Lines, a strategic consultancy for environmental, cultural, and social-impact organizations and initiatives. In previous roles, she has explored the intersections of cities, society and ecology within leading international institutions of culture, policy and research.
The Mother Earth Podcast with Amanda Sturgeon
“Biophilic means ‘love of life.’ Bringing that to design is really about reawakening the relationship that people and nature have in buildings, where we tend to be very cut off from the outside world and from nature. It’s a movement really to (re)engage people and nature in our built environment and in urban settings especially, and to do that literally in terms of opening up buildings to the outside but also bringing the outside into our buildings as well.” - Amanda Sturgeon
This podcast on biomimicry dives into biophilic design. Amanda Sturgeon is a renowned business-woman, architect and now the executive director of the Biomimicry Institute. She was previously the CEO of the International Living Future Institute in Seattle where she led a team that built a global biophilic design movement.
Within this episode, they discuss the integration of biophilic design into architecture and the built environment - making this podcast ideal for architects, engineers and designers looking to create nature-inspired innovations.
🎙️ Podcast Name: The Mother Earth Podcast
🎯 Podcast Focus: Conversations on the environment, the climate crisis, and solutions.
🤓 Presenter: Matt Pawa
⭐ Specific Episode: Season 2, Episode 5: Amanda Sturgeon
🎶 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or the Mother Earth Podcast website here
Nature-Inspired Engineering | Create the Future Podcast with Janine Benyus
Janine Benyus, the queen bee of biomimicry and author of the book: Biomimicry: Nature-Inspired Innovation shares her profound insights into how nature-inspired engineering can drive innovation and sustainability in her guest podcast on biomimicry.
Janine Benyus has a message for engineers: Look to nature for inspiration. In this episode of Create the Future Podcast, Janine explains how she has helped some of the most successful companies draw inspiration from 3.8 billion years of evolution (or “R&D”). She explores the unexpected and everyday applications of biomimicry, discusses the important role of biomimicry in slowing climate change, and Janine encourages engineers to discover how their design challenges may have already been solved by nature.
This episode is a must-listen for biomimics, engineers, designers and biologists looking to join the design table.
🎙️ Podcast Name: Create the Future Podcast
🎯 Podcast Focus: Engineering
🤓 Presenter: Science journalist Sue Nelson
⭐ Featured Episode/s: Biomimicry: Nature-Inspired Engineering with Janine Benyus
🎶 Listen to Learning from Nature on Spotify Podcasts, Apple Podcasts or Soundcloud
This is not Janines first podcast. If you’re interested in learning more - you can listen to her the On Being with Krista Tippett: Janine Benyus - Biomimicry, an Operating Manual for Earthlings too.
Wonderspace: Biomimicry Innovation Labs with Richard MacCowan - Founder of Biomimicry Innovation Lab
This is a podcast that orbits around wonder and stories of hopefulness - an audio space and place of refuge and the rocket fuel we need to keep moving forward.
Since September 2020, the Wonderspace have asked the same six questions to over 135 people as part of the Wonderspace podcast. The six questions orbit around wonders and stories of hopefulness (not their own). The six questions cover, Place, Life, Reset, Wonder, Hopefulness and Insight
Episode highlight: Richard MacCowan, the founder of Biomimicry Innovation Lab, explores how biomimicry can be leveraged to create sustainable solutions. This podcast delves into various case studies and practical applications of biomimicry in today's world.
🎙️ Podcast Name: Wonderspace
🎯 Podcast Focus: Wonder and stories of hopefulness
🤓 Presenter: Steve Cole
⭐ Featured Episode/s: Richard MacCowan - Founder of Biomimicry Innovation Lab
🎶 Listen on Spotify Podcasts or Apple Podcasts
ReGeneration Rising: Biomimicry with Janine Benyus & Dayna Baumeister
ReGeneration Rising is a specially-commissioned RSA podcast exploring how regenerative approaches can help us collectively re-design our communities, cities, and economies, and create a thriving home for all on our planet.
Across two series, RSA Bicentenary Medallist Dr Daniel Christian Wahl, and co-hosts Josie Warden (series one) and Philipa Duthie (series two), ask leading thinkers how we can heal our relationship with the rest of the living world, and be regenerators of the places, communities and ecosystems that we inhabit. Guests include: Satish Kumar, Jeremy Lent, Morag Gamble, Kate Raworth, Nora Bateson and Dr Lyla June Johnston.
The highlighted episode with biomimicry pioneers Janine Benyus and Dr Dayna Baumeister is about the practice of learning from life’s enduring patterns and wisdom.
🎙️ Podcast Name: ReGeneration Rising
🎯 Podcast Focus: Regenerative practices
🤓 Presenters: Daniel Christian Wahl, Josie Warden & Philipa Duthie
⭐ Featured Episode/s: Season 2 - E1: Biomimicry with Janine Benyus & Dayna Baumeister
🎶 Listen on Spotify Podcasts or Apple Podcasts
Biomimicry with Lex Amore - Wild For Change Podcast
The Wild for Change podcast episode with Lex is an absolute winner. Lex Amore, previously the Director at the Biomimicry Institute, is an incredible individual, and one of Learn Biomimicry’s favourite biomimics.
This episode features insightful discussions on how biomimicry is driving change and fostering sustainable innovation. Recorded in September 2021, it remains relevant with timeless lessons and inspiring stories.
🎙️ Podcast Name: Wild For Change Podcast
🎯 Podcast Focus: How humans and organisations are making a difference for animals and nature
🤓 Presenter: Nicole Rojas
🐟 Guest: Lex Amore
⭐ Favourite Episode/s: Biomimicry on Wild For Change Podcast – Episode 11
🎶 Listen to Learning from Nature on Apple Podcasts here
“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature, it will never fail you.” - Frank Lloyd Wright
In summary:
These podcasts on biomimicry provide a wealth of knowledge and inspiration for anyone interested in the subject. They highlight the innovative ways nature can guide us towards a sustainable future.
Whether you're an engineer, educator, designer, or simply a nature enthusiast, these biomimicry podcasts are a great resource to keep you informed and inspired.
If you're interested in learning more about the world of biomimicry, you can download our FREE eBook: A Field Guide to Biomimicry for an easy introduction.
Once you're ready, you can also explore our Biomimicry Short Courses. Through these courses, you'll get practical knowledge of how to apply Biomimicry to your own design, get a Learn Biomimicry certificate which is recognised globally (and endorsed by the Biomimicry Institute), and so much more.
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