Innovation Lab for Schools with NatuR&D
Innovation Lab with NatuR&D brings Nature-inspired design thinking (biomimicry) to support school communities in developing curriculum and culture. Biomimicry is the practice of learning from Nature’s 3.8+ billion years of design experience to focus human ingenuity to create ideas, materials, forms, processes and systems that work on this planet.
Reconnecting to Nature as a Mentor, model and measure of proven ideas provides an important touchstone in supporting resilience in all of us and, particularly, for youth. Students can rely on a trusted and tangible source of ideas and materials to apply to challenges that matter to them through project- based and STEAM learning.
A series of learning experiences both online and in-person, that can be adapted to engage the whole school community, our approach is to integrate tools and sessions nested within the natural rhythm of the school calendar. From class field trips to professional development days, both virtual and in-person.
Approaches and learning outcomes:
Teachers
Coaching & pro-d modules
Activities for all abilities
Placed-based topics & trips
Biomimicry design tools, resources, activities and networks
Project-based guidance
Connections to STEAM goals
Confidence & mindfulness methods
Learners
Time in Nature and feeling healthy
Exploration & enquiry
Human-Nature connection
Interpreting Nature’s strategies
Solving the challenges that matter
Being curious and researching
Feeling comfort and belonging
What You’ll Be Equipped To Do After Taking Innovation Lab
Leaders who take Innovation Lab by NatuR&D know how to look to Nature for strategies and solutions that meet the challenge they are working on. By asking, How does Nature…? Where does Nature…? Learners are able to match human problems to natural strategies reminding us that we are part of the life supporting system on this planet.
Leaders & learners who use the tools have a deeper—and different—understanding of why we’re here and the community we belong to. They become more grounded and rooted in the place they live and have access to a solution space they can use in multiple ways across disciplines from leadership to research and development, to art and science.
