BioInspired! So What? Now What!

"We are all becoming aware of the need to understand our world systemically: we should not separate out the parts and work with them in isolation. In the world of design, building and community planning, this insight translates into the awareness that we should try to understand and integrate all the living systems that make up a place – the resident community, the affected ecosystems, and other human stakeholder groups. They all need to be oriented towards the common purpose that human settlements and activities should contribute to the health of the living places of which they are a part.

This fundamental new practice can be seen as a way of embodying Gaia theory in a design context and is known in some parts of the world as regenerative design. It requires practitioners to combine theory and practice to ask: What is the unique potential in this living system or community and how can this be realised? This course will explore this question by introducing participants to a range of techniques such as pattern recognition and collaborative thinking. Guest lecturers will bring other design practices to the dialogue to offer counterpoint and contrast to this fascinating area of work.

The renowned scientist E.O. Wilson has pointed out that “If you save the living environment, it automatically will save the physical environment. If you just save the physical environment (as we’ve come to understand it), we’ll lose both”. Regenerative design draws on a host of other disciplines (such as permaculture and integrative design), and has been successfully used in communities such as Gaviotas and Curitiba. It is applicable to both urban and rural communities and can be a hugely motivating process, allowing collaboration across difference towards a unifying whole."

The course is offered as a one- or two-week course.   The first week taught by Ben Haggard and Bill Rees covers the "process of systemic thinking, engagement and design".  The second week taught by Bill Reed and Michael Pawlyn applies the concepts to a local design project.