Highlights from Biomimicry Circle #1: Nature as a mentor for sustainable innovation

Nature as a Mentor

Key learnings from the first Biomimicry Circle at Visual Arena

How can we design technologies and systems that are not only efficient, but sustainable over time?
This question brought engineers, designers, researchers, students, and innovation leaders together at Visual Arena in Gothenburg for the first session in the Biomimicry Circle, an open event series exploring how nature-inspired thinking can support innovation.

The session gathered participants from industry, academia, and the biomimicry community. The goal was not to present finished answers, but to create a shared space for learning, dialogue, and new perspectives.

One message was clear:
Nature is not only something we need to protect. It is also something we need to learn from.

Translation – from biology to function

Biomimicry is not about copying shapes, but about understanding how nature works.

Fredrik Moberg from Nordic Biomimicry reminded the audience that form alone is not enough.

“If we just mimic the form, it is not automatically biomimicry. It might look cool, but it does not improve function.”

True biomimicry can happen on different levels — form, process, and ecosystems — and at its core it changes how we think about sustainability.

“If we want to build a society that creates more life than death, maybe we should learn more from life instead of working against it.”

His advice to participants was simple:

“Everybody should become part-time biologists — or have one in the team.”

Observation – learning to see before solving

Several speakers highlighted that innovation often starts too quickly with solutions.

Martin Högenberg connected this to the role of visualization in early innovation work.

“We cannot force ideas into existence without understanding the natural context first.”

Visualization helps make complex systems visible, which is essential when working with nature-inspired design.

Caisa Sixtensdotter described this as a bridge between biology and innovation.

“Out there in nature you can find these patterns and logics, but you cannot use them unless you actually see them and understand them.”

When structures and relationships become visible, they can also become usable.

Application – when biomimicry meets industry

Turning inspiration into real solutions requires new ways of working.

Matthieu Lambolez from Volvo Group described how industry is starting to approach biomimicry in a more systematic way.

“We are moving toward bio-engineering 2.0, where we decode the genius of nature into physics and mathematics that our machines can understand.”

Traditional engineering often forces compromises.
 Nature works differently.

“Nature does not make compromises. It optimizes the trade-offs until the paradox disappears.”

In biological systems, circularity is not an add-on.

“In the biological world, circularity is part of the DNA. The concept of waste does not exist.”

To apply this in practice, new roles are needed that connect biology, engineering, and design.

Working as an ecosystem

One of the strongest outcomes of the session was the interaction between participants.

The group included beginners, experts, engineers, designers, researchers, and students.
 That mix turned out to be a strength.

Biomimicry rarely happens inside one discipline.
 It happens when different perspectives meet around the same challenge.

Several participants said the conversations were as valuable as the presentations.

Continuing the circle

The Biomimicry Circle is an open initiative where actors from industry, academia, and the innovation community meet to explore how nature-inspired thinking can lead to more sustainable technologies, products, and systems.

The first session showed strong curiosity, but also a clear need for methods, tools, and collaboration.

There is no single discipline that owns biomimicry.
 Progress happens when we observe together, translate together, and test together.

The circle continues.