Benyus is the biologist-cum-evangelist who first defined its contours in her 1997 book, Biomimcry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. In it, she detailed how companies could study nonpolluting, energy-efficient manufacturing technologies that have evolved in the natural world over billions of years, delivering in the process a lesson on the importance of living in harmony with nature.

In the ensuing decade, with concerns of sustainability coming to the fore for companies and consumers alike, Benyus has proved well placed to continue preaching her philosophy. Named by Time magazine as an environmental hero of 2007, she’s now preparing to take the wraps off the sequel book, Nature’s 100 Best Technologies, and an accompanying Web project that could, if successful, radically increase the reach of her thinking and consolidate biomimetic design as a go-to corporate sustainable strategy.

Read more about Janine Benyus at Business Weekly

Will this ‘biomimetic design‘ movement be the next trend in design? Or is it just a tool for developing solutions? Well, Nature has always been a source of inspiration for design, right? How about Leonardo da Vinci’s creations? Many of them are nature inspired. Did you know that Velcro was inspired by seed pods from a cocklebur (a tall weedy plant)?
Or how about these?