Biomimicry for Sustainability: Learning from Nature to Innovate for Planetary Health
Every year ASI awards seed money to promising interdisciplinary projects. "Biomimicry for Sustainability: Learning from Nature to Innovate for Planetary Health" is one of four ASI Seed Money winners 2025.
"Biomimicry for Sustainability" aims to develop a co-created course where students draw inspiration from nature’s time-tested strategies to address real-world sustainability challenges. This course integrates principles of biomimicry and planetary health to emphasise the deep interconnections between ecological integrity and human well-being. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, students from diverse faculties such as natural sciences, medicine, and business will work together to design innovative, nature-inspired solutions to pressing environmental problems. Interactive workshops, field trips, and hands-on project development will form the core of the course, encouraging experiential learning and critical reflection. By fostering a sense of ownership and active engagement, the course seeks to empower students to think and act as agents of change for a sustainable future.
The course will be designed collaboratively with input from students, interdisciplinary experts from multiple VU faculties, and external partners such as BiomimicryNL and the Biomimicry Center. This participatory approach ensures that the course reflects both academic standards and real-world applications of biomimicry. Key components include observing ecosystems, co-creating project proposals, and evaluating outcomes through presentations, peer feedback, and reflective reports. The course’s pilot phase, scheduled for 2025/2026, will combine lectures, workshops, and fieldwork to test its framework. Insights gained from the pilot will inform further refinement and the development of a grant proposal to scale up the course. Ultimately, this initiative highlights the transformative potential of biomimicry in sustainability education, equipping students with the tools to innovate for planetary health.
Research team
- Marjolein Hoogstraaten, Assistant Professor, Breakthrough Technology Innovation, SFW (VU)
- Inge van Wijk, Lecturer/Programmacoordinator Planetary Health in Geneeskunde Onderwijs (VUmc)
- Hans Ossebaard, Lecturer, Sustainable Healthcare, Athena Institute (VU)
- Anne van der Geest, Assistant Professor, Athena Institute (VU)