An Invitation to Recognise the Learning and Celebrate What was Right in 2022

Appreciative Inquiry encourages a bottom-up, rather than top-down approach. It mirrors our experience living in a body: whenever we breathe, feel our feet on the earth, listen to our gut sensations and heartfelt emotions; the mind naturally settles to reveal a clearer perspective. African philosopher, poet and psychologist, Bayo Akomolafe says: “Urgency is an ontological invitation to slow down and listen more.” When a head “spins out”, putting top-down pressure on a living system (be it a body, organisation or community), this may signal we have momentarily lost our footing and connection to the natural principles of life. After all, human beings are not separate from nature – we are part of and belong to it.

Nature thrives where there’s diversity, interdependence and the recognition of finite resources. The 9 principles of bio-mimicry* expand on these:

1 – Nature runs on sunlight

2 – Nature uses only the energy it needs

3 – Nature fits form to function

4 – Nature recycles everything

5 – Nature rewards cooperation

6 – Nature banks on diversity

7 – Nature demands local expertise

8 – Nature seeks balance

9 – Nature taps the power of limits

At the end of 2022, we invite you to take a moment to reflect on what your highlights were:

• personally,
• professionally, and
• within community?

 Considering the 9 principles above, which resonate most?

• Recall specific moments they came alive in 2022
• What made these moments significant?
• What promise does it hold for the future?

Which of these principles do you wish to embrace more?

• How will you do that?
• What may bloom from your seed actions?

 *The key idea of biomimicry is to learn from nature to solve human problems and how to live sustainably. By observing nature carefully, we can discover its principles: how everything is carefully self-regulated, and how different species and ecosystems provide solutions to the challenges faced by humans. The principles of nature that are important in biomimicry were gathered first by Janine Benyus (1997) in her book “Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature”.

This information is sourced from: https://biolearn.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/P0-Intro-to-Biomimicry-9-prinples-of-biomimicry.pdf

Photo by Jonatan Pie on Unsplash