Organisms as Teachers? The Promise of Biomimicry

Abstract

The learning-from-nature movement ‘biomimicry’ promises to guide us in living sustainably on and with planet Earth. Whereas traditional technological approaches tend to see nature as a ‘resource’ available for unrestricted use, the founders of biomimicry present organisms and natural systems as our ‘mentors’ or ‘teachers’. In this chapter, I will critically reflect on the promises hidden in this ‘tutorial narrative’. How did the biomimicry movement come into being and what inspired its founders to develop the tutorial narrative? What does this narrative exactly imply? Do the research activities of biomimicry practitioners match its rhetoric? To what extent do these activities reflect a new, more respectful relationship with nature in general, and animals in particular? I will conclude by arguing that the realization of a more humble relationship between humans and our fellow species entails more than the introduction of a new narrative; after all, not only the Earth’s resources, but also her ‘wisdom’ or ‘creativity’ can be used in an instrumental fashion.