Biomimicry Institute

We have the knowledge that we need to change our worldview, and yet we don't change. How do we change?

“It may seem simplistic to say, ‘Well, what we need is a different story.’ But what is it that has changed and guided us through history? It's stories. I can say, ‘I am going to live as if the world is a gift for which I need to be grateful, for which I need to reciprocate, for whom I am accountable.’

And if I change my mind, I can align my behaviors with that story.” – Robin Wall Kimmerer

As we AskNature for guidance through today's climate uncertainty Robin Wall Kimmerer joins us to explore cultural biomimicry and the beautiful braiding of western science with traditional ecological knowledge.

Tune in to Episode 2 of the AskNature Podcast to discover how shifting our narrative from exploitation to reciprocity can lead us toward true collective healing

Listen on all major streaming platforms: https://tr.ee/8g5oicJVkV

If we asked nature what to do, what would it tell us?

"I think nature would say, 'come home.'" – Janine Benyus

Episode 1 of the AskNature Podcast is live today. Janine Benyus and Christiana Figueres explore what it looks like to truly listen to the natural world, and why that act of listening might be the most transformative thing we can do right now.

🎧 Stream now on all major streaming platforms.
🔗 https://tr.ee/8g5oicJVkV

When did you last feel like you belonged to a place?

Not lived in it. Belonged to it. Knew the names of the trees, the patterns of the weather, the stories the land has been telling long before any of us arrived.

For most of human history, that kind of knowing was ordinary. Now it’s something we
have to find our way back to.

The AskNature Podcast, from the Biomimicry Institute, is a season of conversations
about that finding. About reconnection with nature as a practice, a posture, and maybe the most important work of our time.

Trailer out now. Episode 1 premiers May 27.

Listen across all the major podcast platforms: https://tr.ee/8g5oicJVkV

Today, we paused to say thank you. To the pollinators, the old-growth forests, the tidal zones, the mycelium networks quietly holding it all together. We hope you had a beautiful Earth Day filled with wonder and time outdoors. After all, nature knows the way—will you follow? 🐝

Some textiles are so mixed, stained and chemically treated that the system gives up on them. The Berlin-Brandenburg pilot refuses that ending.

​In the first pathway, polyester‑rich textiles from medical workwear, industrial cleaning cloths and fast fashion are shredded and depolymerised using matterr’s technology. What initially looked like waste becomes monoethylene glycol (MEG) and terephthalic acid- clean building blocks. Fraunhofer IAP then uses bacteria to convert MEG into PHB, a fully biodegradable polymer. Lab trials showed all 18 selected waste samples could be transformed, and PHB can be processed through techniques like injection moulding and 3D printing.

Building on these results, the team is exploring processes that can handle more mixed waste streams and produce a range of biopolymers, each with properties suited to different markets. This flexibility increases both efficiency and commercial viability.

​In the second pathway, Fraunhofer IGB cultivates microalgae from CO₂ from syngas from textile gasification, using data from the Dutch partner TNO. The algae bind carbon and produce biomass containing beta‑glucan, pigments and other compounds with potential in agriculture and as dyes.

​Together, these innovations turn the “stubborn 10%” into inputs for medicine, soil health and flood protection – not just more clothing. The story shifts from “How do we recycle this?” to “What new, biocompatible roles can this material play in a living system?”. Fashion’s leftovers become material for regeneration, rather than harm.

Regeneration is never the work of a single entity. In nature, transformation happens through relationships, shared labor, and many kinds of intelligence working together. The same is true for the Nature of Fashion: Design for Transformation pilot in Berlin–Brandenburg.
At the center of the German pilot is the Beneficial Design Institute (BD-I). The BD-I team brings together design research, systems thinking, and material innovation to rethink what textile waste can become.

Beneficial Design Institute, led by Friederike von Wedel‑Parlow, works at the intersection of eco‑design, biomimicry and circular bioeconomy. The team does not only ask “Can we do this?” but also “Should we?” and “Who benefits?” Their role is to hold the vision of positive fashion – fashion that actively regenerates within planetary boundaries. Core contributors include Isabella Rhein, Julie Stamm, Esther Werring, Iris Dean Blackwood, Leonie Otto, Luise Arends and Noemi Kelleova, who translate complex science and policy into actionable pathways.

Around them, a regional network has formed. This work is made possible through close collaboration with innovation partners, each contributing a critical capability – from depolymerising polyester, to fermenting new polymers, to cultivating algae that turn waste‑derived CO₂ into living biomass. matterr GmbH applies its revolPET technology to depolymerise polyester‑rich textiles. Fraunhofer IAP develops the fermentation route from monoethylene glycol to PHB. Fraunhofer IGB leads the microalgae cultivation pathway using syngas. Regenerate Fashion and Leuphana/Prof. Michael Braungart provide strategic and ecological assessment. Textile partners MEWA, Sitex, SOEX, IZ Circular Textiles and Textilhafen supply real waste streams and on‑the‑ground expertise.

Together, these organisations behave less like isolated projects and more like a living ecosystem – one capable of turning the region’s “stubborn 10%” into the foundation for a regenerative bioeconomy.

​When people align around a shared vision, the system itself begins to change.

Often, when we think of decomposition, we think of waste. But it’s more than just its disposal. It's something that happens in compost bins, and beneath our feet – and it also opens up possibilities for how we are shifting systems to never produce ‘waste’ in the first place.

Get inspired: Tap into the wisdom of how fungi, insects, microbes and more break down the old to create the new, offering opportunities for us to rethink our approach to waste – in the fashion industry, and beyond.

Explore our newest collection today: https://asknature.org/collection/how-nature-breaks-down-the-old-and-builds-up-the-new/

As the Netherlands pilot reaches a milestone, Circle Economy and partners are showing how mixed textile waste can become regenerative materials—when systems are designed the way nature works. 🌱

This is industrial symbiosis in action: modular, adaptive, and deeply interconnected.
Key insights:
• Even low-value, complex textiles can become biocompatible materials
• Integrated pathways offer real alternatives to incineration and downcycling
• Regional ecosystems like Rotterdam accelerate change when tech, policy, and collaboration align

This work marks a powerful first step toward circular textile systems that don’t just recycle—but regenerate.

Like roots finding new paths through soil, this collaboration is opening channels for textile waste to safely reenter the cycles that sustain life.

Grateful for the work of Circle Economy, Erdotex, BioFashionTech, EV Biotech, and TNO—showing what’s possible when innovation follows nature’s lead.

Restore your ecological awareness. Reclaim your role in the living world.

AskNature Learning: Restoring Your Ecological Awareness offers a practical pathway from disconnection to belonging, helping you learn directly from nature to guide meaningful, nature-based solutions.

Through deep reconnection practices, you’ll strengthen your sensory awareness, ecological literacy, and capacity to design in alignment with living systems.

✨Facilitated by Dr. Deborah Benham
🗓Thursdays, March 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th | 11-12:30pm PT
🔎No prior biomimicry experience required, just curiosity.
🍂Learn more + register today: https://biomimicry.org/asknature-learning/