Biomimicry: an innovative approach for resilient territories
For several years, drawing on its experience with pioneering local authorities, Cerema has been helping to develop and evolve, in partnership, methods to assist in the emergence and design of projects. In 2019, with the help of the Dreal Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes innovation laboratory, it has formalised a "Different projects" approach, which proposes 5 principles to mobilise the resources of collective intelligence and resilience for the benefit of the project.
In this spirit, it has initiated and is engaged in collaborative research-action dedicated to territorial biomimicry. The ambition is to make this trend, which is inspired by life, a new art of designing projects for resilient territories.
This action research is part of a historical moment when the issues related to climate change and the collapse of biodiversity are making us aware that we are reaching our physical, natural and biological limits, with the irreversible degradation of resources.
Focusing on trees and the forestto find in businessnew and impactful solutions.
In the heart of a thousand-year-old forest in Auvergne at its climax, populated by pectinated firs and beeches, managers, executives and their teams come to find new paths of action and organisation thanks to the biomimicry experienced in the forest. For them, it may be a question of building their roadmap, of collectively relaunching, innovating, choosing, moving forward together, surviving, transforming, working on their raison d'être (of beech) or giving meaning.
For them, it is a question of decentring and centring on the forest, of being surprised and learning together, to unblock frozen situations, to find a space and time for renewal and serenity, to find balanced, new and original solutions.
4 axes guide the approach:
connecting to the livingIt's about energy, about knowing how to be,
exploreTo work on its length, its raison d'être, to bring out the new,
operateCreate a product, enhance it and recycle it,
and cooperateThe aim is to work as a "system echo".
Sylvomimicry was born out of cooperation between experts
Charles-Etienne Dupont in forest management and continuous cover silviculture,
Pierre Gérard in creativity, hybridization, biomimicry, and the exploration of desirable futures,
and Catherine Redelsperger, in leadership, cooperation, systemics and collective intelligence.
... self-portrait
Pierre Gérard's speech at the Biomim'expo digital week 2020
Professor at the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN)AgroParisTech and ENS. Team "Genetic systems, adaptation & domestication "Laboratory: " Institute of Systematics, Evolution and Biodiversity MNHN-CNRS, UMR 7205, Department of "The Environment". Systematics & Evolution "
Pierre-Henri Gouyon is a geneticist and evolution specialist, born on 25 December 1953. He was admitted to Agro (Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon, now AgroParisTech) in 1972, became an agricultural engineer in 1975, obtained a post-graduate doctorate in ecology at the University of Montpellier in 1976, then obtained a doctorate in genetics from Agro in 1978, a doctorate in science from the University of Montpellier in 1982 and a DEA in Philosophy at the University of Letters of Montpellier in 1984.
Recruited as a teacher at Agro in 1976, he was a professor at the University of Paris-Sud (Orsay) from 1988 to 2005 and theÉcole Polytechnique from 1994 to 2008 (vice-chair of the Biology Department 2001-2006).
He has held various responsibilities on the Life Sciences Departmental Council of the CNRS (Deputy Scientific Director in 2000-2001). He has been a member of the CNRS operational committee for ethics in the life sciences, the National Council of Universities, the National Committee for Scientific Research, the ANR "Ecosystems and Sustainable Development" committee, the Scientific Council of the CNRS Jacques Monod Lectures and the INSERM ethics committee.
He lectures extensively on issues related to evolution, genetics, ecology, biodiversity and bioethics. He is widely involved in debates concerning science-society relations in general. More particularly, he is concerned on the one hand with the social consequences of the neo-Darwinian theory of evolution on our perception of living beings and on the other hand with the cultivation of transgenic plants (Grenelle in 2007, Citizens' Conference in 1998, Economic and Social Council in 2002, debates with members of parliament -French and European- and experts, the General Planning Commission, the Economic Analysis Council, conferences in various places in France and elsewhere -Italy, Ukraine, Romania, Tunisia, Denmark, Canada, USA, Japan, Ecuador, Bolivia...-interviews...). He belongs or has belonged to various national committees related to Science in Society issues (CNL, Biovigilance, Biomolecular Engineering Commission, Sustainable Development, Grenelle de l'Environnement, High Authority on GMOs, Scientific Council of CRIIGENVice President of Vivagora...) and was the rapporteur for Group 1 (Research & Society) to national research conferences from 2004. He chairs the Scientific Council of the Think-Tank of the Nicolas Hulot Foundation
He is a Knight of the Legion of Honour and of the Palmes Académiques.
He was awarded the American Society of Ecology's 2013 " William Skinner Cooper Award"He was awarded the "Grand Prix" by the French Society of Ecology in 2016 for the whole of his research work and for his involvement in questions of the relationship between science and society. He received the Radio France "Lire dans le noir" prize for his CD on evolution.
The Polynesian Institute of Biomimicry is an association (law 1901) recognised as a training organisation. It is also an international network of more than 150 active members, with complementary and varied professional expertise, based on the different professions involved in the biomimetic approach: researchers, biologists, designers, engineers, architects....
It also benefits from the support of numerous partners, laboratories, research centres, universities and service providers, thus ensuring continuity in the implementation of the various projects and missions for the development of biomimicry in the Polynesian context.
The Institute focuses on 4 areas of activity:
Expedition, Ecotourism and Participatory Sciences. In partnership with Nani-travels, the Polynesian Institute of Biomimicry proposes a 5-day immersion in Polynesian nature and culture. It proposes to explore the Polynesian land and sea nature while discovering the inspiring and innovative power of Biomimicry. Training in the methods and tools of biomimicry is offered for the regeneration of coral ecosystems.
Project management and assistance: The institute is committed to supporting companies that call on them to co-construct a Biomimetic project.
The In-depth Training is a 1 to 3 day course that introduces participants to the concepts of bioinspired design. Throughout the course, fun workshops, explorations of Polynesian ecosystems and practical design exercises are offered to participants.
Biomimicry Initiations: The proposed experiments are there to create wonder and allow participants to better understand the intelligence of nature of which each one is a part. It is not enough to dive into the ocean to discover postcard-perfect landscapes, we must also be inspired by nature, live with it and take it into account in all our projects.
This is how the Polynesian Institute of Biomimicry fights, mainly, against the pollution of the oceans, because the cleaning of waste is not enough. Companies must innovate and create differently. Everyone can contribute to building a new economy based on Nature, innovative and regenerative of our beautiful planet...
François Briant's speech at the Biomim'expo digital week 2020
Focus on a project presented during the Biomim'week 2020 on Friday 11 December morning:
Thierry Dutoit is a research director at the CNRS within the Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et Ecologie (IMBE), of which he is deputy director. His research focuses on coexistence processes and assembly rules in Mediterranean herbaceous plant communities.
Thierry Dutoit is particularly interested in the impacts of anthropogenic disturbances over the very long term via approaches that combine paleoecology and historical ecology. The results of his work are applied to ecological restoration or ecosystem rehabilitation, particularly via bio-inspiration, which involves the management of certain key species known as "ecosystem engineers", from bacteria to large herbivores.
In August 2009, a ruptured oil pipeline in the Crau plain in the Bouches-du-Rhône department caused hydrocarbon pollution in the heart of a national nature reserve. There, for the first time in the world, we experimented with the transplantation of harvester ant founding queens to accelerate the restoration of the soil and vegetation on the land that had been rehabilitated. Eight years later, our results show that this operation has really made it possible to increase soil fertility and accelerate the return of the steppe-like vegetation, unique in the world, which pre-existed where ant nests are present, thus making it possible to validate this bio-inspired process on an operational ecological engineering scale.
Useful resources and links :
Videos :
Report in the series Nature=Future / "Agronomic ants" / December 2019 /
M2i Life Sciences is an industrial player in the chemical industry, active in the animal and plant bio-control sector as well as in the field of human health. Biocontrol is the set of biological protection methods that replicate intra-species behaviours and natural mechanisms of regulation of bio-aggressors.
M2i Life Sciences is a world leader in pheromones for crop protection and animal health.
We master :
The synthesis of pheromonal molecules
The production of these pheromones from gram to ton
The formulation of these pheromones and the delivery systems
Design and production of finished products
We combine R&D know-how, a production plant and a manufacturing centre for finished products, which allows us to control the entire product development cycle and to integrate innovation at every stage of its design.
The intervention of Johann Fournil at Biomim'expo 2019 :
MYCOPHYTO was co-founded in 2017 by Justine LIPUMA, a doctor in microbiology, and Christine PONCET, an agricultural engineer. Spin off INRAE (INRA) and UCA (Université Côte d'Azur), it has received more than 12 awards since its creation.
MYCOPHYTO is to develop, produce and propose to agricultural professionals effective biological solutions by adapting scientific knowledge concerning mycorrhizal symbiosis.
MYCOPHYTO, an INRAE and UCA spin-off, integrates the latest knowledge from life sciences and technological innovations. The start-up has patented solutions for the implementation of native arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMFs) in crops to recreate sustainable natural synergies with plant roots.
MYCOPHYTO is based on a dynamic of key players including: world-renowned scientists, joint research structures, technical and training institutes and farmer ambassadors.
Biomim'expo is a NewCorp Conseil initiative, brand and event.
NewCorp Conseil, a strategy and communication, CSR and Biomimicry consultancy, took the initiative of creating Biomim'expo to promote biomimicry, to reveal the players and the sector of excellence, and to promote research and innovation.
A HYBRID agency At the crossroads of different paths and expertise, we are both a monitoring and forecasting firm to keep an eye on trends, ideas and innovative approaches; a strategy and communication consultancy to enhance and amplify your commitments, actions and projects; and a societal forecasting agency to analyse opinion, identify weak signals, measure expectations and perceptions, anticipate, understand and respond.
A BIO-INSPIREE agencyThis is a new approach based on the lessons learned from the observation of living organisms and their tremendous capacity for resilience. Drawing inspiration from the living world thus becomes an asset and a lever for innovation and paradigm change, a tool for transition accelerator.
NewCorp Conseil has taken the initiative to create Biomim'expo; it identifies news and market opportunities, helps to identify opportunities, accompanies innovative projects, and puts biomimicry at the service of your innovation and development strategies, as well as internal mobilisation and attractiveness. The agency works in symbiosis with the core expertise of biomimicry, sets up multidisciplinary and creative teams adapted to the projects, and positions and proposes itself as a "particle shaker" to generate new ideas.
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