JFS Newsletter No.108 (August 2011)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/mailmagazine/newsletter/pages/031247.html

Life on Earth first emerged 3.8 billion years ago. Since then, living things have developed various "technologies" to survive even the harshest environment. Take the example of the abalone that can attach to and detach from rocks without using any glue. Or the sequoia tree that draws up several tons of water powered only by sunlight, needing no external machines such as pulleys, levers, or pumps.

Humans too have created various technologies, particularly since the Industrial Revolution, but they fall far short of those that have helped humanity survive sustainably for millennia. This is shown by the fact at many of our more recently developed technologies are causing many serious environmental problems, including global warming and the crisis of biodiversity loss.

Reflecting on this, an increasing number of people are now pursuing technologies that can be learned from nature and living things. Janine Benyus, an American natural sciences writer, innovation consultant, and author, calls this approach "biomimicry" and has been working as a pioneer in the field.

We at Japan for Sustainability received in fiscal 2004 an environmental non-profit organization (NPO) subsidy from the Hitachi Environment Foundation for our strategic eco-innovations based on biomimicry. With the subsidy, JFS carried out a roject to collect and organize information on biomimicry concepts and practical ideas not well known in Japan at that time, and to provide the information through our website and seminars.

The biomimicry section on the JFS website continues to be very popular, and we continue to receive inquiries from both home and abroad. Our biomimicry project was reported in the media, including national and English newspapers, magazines, and radio programs. Furthermore, in the United States, the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California created a 15-minute educational video for visitors, after reading a JFS article featuring the Shinkansen (bullet train) designed to use technologies inspired by nature and living things. This video shows the biomimicry technologies used in the Shinkansen, as well as other innovations inspired by marine life.

Even after this project, recognition of and interest in biomimicry have continued to grow. At the same time, against a backdrop of worsening environmental problems, studies and practices in this field have progressed significantly these past few years. Today, other than biomimicry, other approaches to learning from nature for developing sustainable technology have been expanding, such as "nature technology," named by Prof. Hideki Ishida at Tohoku University, and "biologically inspired design" by Prof. Jeannette Yen and Associate Prof. Marc Weissburg at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States.

With the expansion in this field, the number of websites and books that introduce technologies and examples of learning from nature is growing. Also, technologies inspired by nature are coming into practical use, and many ideas are being commercialized.

These "technologies that learn from nature" are expected to provide big clues to address serious problems such as global warming and the biodiversity crisis. Meanwhile, it is still too early to get an overview of all approaches by researchers and research institutes, and outreach activities for people who are interested in these technologies have only just begun.

JFS is an information portal site on sustainability, connecting Japan and the world, and it has again gained financial assistance this fiscal year from the Hitachi Environment Foundation to start a global portal website on technologies that learn from nature, called "Get Inspired by Nature." Making the most of our network with people in 191 countries, we would like to further promote such studies, and especially inspire children to develop an interest in science and learn from nature.

Specifically, we will launch the portal site in both Japanese and English. Through its operation, we plan to research websites and collect papers on technologies that learn from nature, report interviews with domestic and foreign technology pioneers, gather and introduce information about the books in and outside of Japan on these technologies, and gather and introduce practical examples.

At the same time, we will disseminate information about concepts and examples of technologies of learning from nature through our monthly newsletter, while we will work as a contact office for further collecting case studies and information about related websites from all over the world.

In addition, we asked some Japanese children to become "kid reporters" who visit researchers to learn about these technologies, and we will post reports about their visits and what they learn on our website. People in Japan are concerned about a reported trend that children are losing an interest in science, but we notice that children have stars in their eyes when they listen to stories about technologies developed by learning from nature. As part of their independent study during summer vacation this year, kid reporters learned about technologies inspired by nature that can be applied practically in our own lives -- learning, for example, that certain termites can maintain a constant, comfortable temperature and humidity level inside their nest. Through the kid reporters' page, we hope to provide children around the world with meaningful opportunities to become aware of how interesting and wonderful science and nature can be.

At present, project team members, mainly volunteers interested in technologies learned from nature, are gathering case examples and documents from Japan and abroad. In August, some kid reporters already visited researchers.

In September, we will launch the Get Inspired by Nature portal on our website. After that we will continue to collect, exchange, organize, and disseminate information.

It is not only technologies that we must learn from nature. We can learn a lot from the Earth's natural systems -- which have survived, evolved, and thrived for as long as 3.8 billion years -- to provide us with clues for changing our lifestyles, ways of thinking, and how to create a sustainable society and human civilization.

We hope to develop our project from not only the technological point of view, but also from the perspective of sociology and civilization. We also hope to encourage a broad exchange of ideas and information with people all over the world, and welcome any of your ideas and information.