Sustainability strategies in nature

Abstract

Nature is a source of knowledge and inspiration for sustainable innovative solutions. Through biomimetic design, nature solutions are studied, abstracted and transferred to technology and other domains of applications. Sustainability and ideality are basic notions in design. While ideal systems had always been aspired for, having sustainable systems is a relatively new demand. In this paper we explore the similarity and differences between these two basic notions and suggest that there is a strong relation between ideality and sustainability. Based on this relation we analysed biological systems by a particular ideality framework and identified repeated ideality strategies and design principles in nature. Selected examples of ideality analyses are presented as well as the list of ideality strategies that repeat in nature and represent nature sustainability strategies. These ideality strategies enrich current knowledge of sustainability strategies in nature (the life principles) by new operative and descriptive strategies. Ideality strategies are derived from a technical view that might be more inherent and applicable for engineers, observing biological systems as if they were technical systems. Using the ideality framework and strategies as a sustainability tool to address sustainable biomimetic design processes is further discussed.