BioInspired! So What? Now What!

The relatively small size of the BID Community membership makes it possible to 'just pick up the phone' and talk.  I have had the pleasure of chatting with ten members over the last three months to get their perspectives.  Although every member brings a unique background and set of interests, a few patterns have emerged in the following areas:

• Personal Value of the BID Community
• Community Contributions to BID
• BID Community Initiatives
• Growing Membership
• Engaging Members
• Website Initiatives

 

Personal Value of the BID Community

A number of members commented that the BID Community provides a safe place to discuss issues with people who are genuinely interested in the field and committed to supporting each other.  The Community can provide opportunities to work on projects and drive change.  The diversity of the community helps build bridges between disciplines, provides access to complementary skills and encourages members tap into novel ways of approaching problems.  The emphasis on practical aspects, evolutionary change and real-life design can balance our natural tendency to focus on the 'shiny new stuff' which is often too expensive at the product level and may require massive retooling of systems to be widely useful. 

Members researching the cognitive aspects of bio-inspired design can benefit from the real-life experiences of our members, especially if they can access the raw process rather than just the outcomes.   

 

Community Contributions to BID

A common thread was doing more bio-inspired design through meaningful projects and communicating the results in a clear and compelling manner.  What would a delivery system look that that would help make BID more efficient and effective?  How can designers benefit from our growing understanding of the cognitive aspects of BID?  We often need to work with people who have different perspectives on the practice of design.  How can we open up lines of communication and identify common ground so as to expand the conversation and options for collaboration?  How do we imbed biomimicry and bio-inspired design in the larger sustainability conversation that includes disciplines such as Lifecycle Assessment, Cradle-to-Cradle and user centric design?  Looking ahead, what kind of accreditation or certification would help increase consistency of delivery?

It is important to have access to contemporary material on BID that is organized by discipline.  A number of members have commented on being overloaded with information.  Critical filtering and summarizing information would benefit both members and the larger community.

Actions:

• Create a list of who is in the group, what areas of BID they are most interested in and who they are connected to.
• Enlist volunteers to keep tabs on current practical and theoretical developments in an area of BID.  This would help the individuals build connections and expertise while spreading the knowledge throughout the group. 

 

BID Community Initiatives

Almost everyone emphasized the value of doing more projects like the Algae Competition and ensuring that the results are publicized.  We need to bridge the principles of bio-inspired design with real-life applications that combine the 'cool factor', commercial value and large-scale interest.  A member suggested an annual award for the best bio-inspired design.  Since our funds are limited, one option is to develop and publicize stringent criteria (such as those for the Buckminster Fuller Challenge) so that winning becomes its own reward.  Developing evaluation criteria, analyzing existing case studies and organizing the information in a catalog would help member promote the value of BID. 

Ideas to build connections outside of the community included:

• create links with discipline-specific continuing education programs to act as pipelines for meaningful success stories
• create a comprehensive list of universities and individual departments interested in BID and provide a matching service to help build interdisciplinary teams
• get involved with student design challenges around different themes, working through the professors
• organize and support regional events that have an interest in BID

Information resources include maintaining a comprehensive calendar of events, particularly conferences.  Ensuring that there is adequate lead time to arrange schedules and funding is essential.

Education initiatives included developing and promoting a uniform education component for multiple disciplines similar to the Okala set of modules.
 
Actions:

• identify ways in which members can help CBID add content to GaTech's DANE system, a structure library of biological systems

 

Growing Membership

Ideas included:

• do market research on who would benefit from the BID Community
• actively reach out to graduates of biomimicry/BID education programs
• create a support structure for the cohorts of the Biomimicry Specialty Certificate and Biomimicry Professional Certification Programs
• provide services for professors of BID courses (project pages, support, recognition/publicity)
• work with professors to integrate BID Community initiatives into their credit courses
• periodically encourage members to invite new members
• set up a LinkedIn Group or work with existing LinkedIn groups
• develop a webinar for leading thinkers in the field
• actively look for website cross-linking opportunities

Actions:

• publish statistics on BID Community website traffic
• explore synergies between CBID and the BID Community

 

Engaging Members

Several members pointed out that the best way to engage members is to offer worthwhile projects, particularly activities that are less resource intensive than the Algae Competition.  It is important to communicate with members on a one-to-one basis, ideally face-to-face, by phone if necessary.  Only then are virtual channels likely to be successful.  Find out what interests members, such as funding opportunities for academics and jobs for practitioners.  Give them a chance to tell their unique BID story and how they make a difference.  Encourage members to communicate with those who are unaware of the BID Community or even skeptical of BID.  Develop specific initiatives with goals and targets, such as a member challenge to collect and organize information around specific themes.  Find ways to attract prominent people in the field to comment. 

Actions:

• explore online games involving design challenges or making biologically-inspired analogies

 

Website Initiatives 

The website needs a face-lift to make it appealing and easier to read (one member suggested a format similar to FastCompany).  Make it easier to access information by breaking up past newsletters into individual articles.  Make it easier to browse information on the website through consistent tagging and automatic linking of similar articles (possibly through a keyword analysis or semantic indexing).  Use social media such as Twitter to promote our work in an insightful and professional manner.  Create a YouTube channel for short video clips (new and existing material). 

 

Image Credits:

• Globe with hands: © Don Hammond/Design Pics/Corbis

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