5.4.2 Design as nature

Many of the crises that are merging now have their roots in the false duality that exists between nature and culture. Using ecoliteracy’s lessons and being inspired by nature to innovate and create (biomimicry) greatly enhances our ability to address human needs while redesigning human presence on Earth. Degraded grasslands and prairies can be restored using tried-and-true approaches such as holistic land management and holistic scheduled grazing. These methods are available in regenerative organic agriculture’s toolkit. This method of producing food and essential resources for local bio-economies also offers a potent strategy to halt climate crisis and eventually bring atmospheric carbon dioxide levels back to pre-industrial levels. By storing carbon underground as organic matter and root mass, the same approaches help renew soil fertility and aquifers.

We are capable of creating like nature, which means preserving the integrity of ecosystems, promoting systemic health, and enhancing the planetary life support system upon which we depend. Already, we are designing like nature. Green chemistry, product development, sustainable buildings, community design, ecological sustainability, and urban and regional planning are just a few intriguing examples that span a variety of scales.