Biomimetics—A Chance for Sustainable Developments 2.0

Dear Colleagues,

Although the understanding of sustainability has changed repeatedly over the past 300 years, sustainable development is now an agreed-upon global challenge. We live in a human-dominated epoch, also known as the Anthropocene, which is characterized by significant human impacts on the entire Earth system. Interestingly, the proclamation of the Anthropocene occurred simultaneously with considerations that biomimetic design could contribute to a more sustainable future.

In recent years, comparative sustainability studies have clearly shown how biomimetic products can differ from conventional solutions in terms of their contribution to meeting the three pillars of sustainable development—the ecological, economic, and social—when a particular ethos and respect for nature accompany the biomimetic development. Broader sustainability issues are addressed in the 2030 Agenda by the member states of the United Nations, resulting in an internationally agreed set of 17 Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs).

This Special Issue focuses on multidisciplinary contributions that present the state of the art in biomimetics and sustainable development, including the movement towards a post-industrial economy. We invite researchers from fields such as biology, biomimetics, biomimicry, engineering, design, philosophy, and sustainability research to submit original research articles and reviews that may include (but are not limited to) the following topics:

• Biological concepts as a source of inspiration for sustainable development;
• Biological systems as models for efficiency, consistency, or sufficiency;
• Biomimetic approaches for sustainable architecture and infrastructure;
• Biomimetic concepts for damage control, waste management, and the circular economy;
• Biomimetic methods to address sustainability in general or the SDGs in particular;
• Biomimetic sustainability assessment;
• Biomimetics and sustainability in training, education, and knowledge transfer;
• Comparative studies of biomimetic and conventional developments;
• Philosophy of biomimetics.

Dr. Olga Speck
Dr. Richard Bonser
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomimetics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• biomimetic concepts
• biomimetic methods
• biomimetic sustainability assessment