The making of San Francisco history –- and future -- continues this Earth Day weekend with the Digital Be-In 15: Biomimicry, "a launching pad for new initiatives in the sustainability movement -- and an Activation Celebration of the Green Revolution!"
The physical Digital Be-In will be Saturday, April 21, 2007, from 7pm to 3 am at the Mezzanine, 444 Jessie Street, San Francisco (a block south of Powell St. BART/MUNI station). The "Virtual Be-In" will be held simultaneously inside Second Life.
As described by Sarah Rich on Worldchanging global:
The Digital Be-In is a bit of a longstanding Bay Area tradition, at the central junction of cyberculture and progressive environmental thinking. This year's virtual (and on-the-ground) gathering centers on the theme of biomimicry, bringing such groundbreaking leaders as Janine Benyus and Paul Hawken together for a conversation about the possibilities for interweaving biological systems thinking with technological tools.
For eight hours, the Be-In will be packed with entertainment and thought leadership. There will be presentations and demos, mixed media displays, ideas, dreams, questions, and human beings.
A major highlight of the event will be the Biomimicry Symposium, "a two-hour, multidisciplinary exploration of Biomimicry as it relates to green tech, urban development and land management, economics, social systems, and the worldwide sustainability movement."
Speakers at the Symposium include:
Kevin Bayuk – Urban Alliance for Sustainability
Janine Benyus – founder, Biomimicry Institute
Jay Harman – founder and CEO, Pax Scientific
Paul Hawken – founder WISER Earth/WISER Business; author, Blessed Unrest
Ervin Laszlo – founder, Club of Budapest, author, Chaos Point: The World at the Crossroads
Gifford Pinchot - Bainbridge Graduate Institute
Greg Steltenpohl – founder, Interra Project
Oz Basarir - Wiser Earth
Jon Ramer – Interra Project
Peter Berg – Planet Drum Foundation
Andrew Lawton – Autodesk
Scott Fossel – Green Century Institute
There will also be a Green Techne' Exhibition, a Take Action Zone and an Activation Celebration providing an atmosphere of entertainment, art, and music by "conscious artists" Aphrodesia, Alex Theory, Rara Avis, Mystical Sun, Goddess Alchemy Project, and Mystic Family Circus dance troupe.
Two amazing projects merging sustainability and digital networking will also officially launch during Be-In and Earth Day: WISER Earth, a revolutionary networking forum and tool designed to unite the world’s nonprofits serving social justice, poverty and the environment, and the environmentally conscious social network Urth.TV, forged from Bay Area innovation and passion for a sustainable planet. Urth.TV will also be producing a live netcast of the Symposium and event entertainment, accessible from the Urth.TV website.
Featured on the Digital Be-In website is a description of "biomimicry" from the Biomimicry Institute:
Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature by Janine Benyus (1997, William Morrow)Janine Benyus’ nine basic principles of biomimicry:
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 curbs excesses from within.
9. Nature taps the power of limits.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bionics (also known as biomimetics, biognosis, biomimicry, or bionical creativity engineering) is the application of methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology.
For more information see www.be-in.com. Doors open at 6:30 pm, with the Biomimicry Symposium from 7 pm until 9, and the show and activities 9 pm to 3 am. Tickets (21 and over) are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, available at various Bay Area outlets and online at www.be-in.com or www.inticketing.com.
