Robert Suarez originates, develops and grows sustainable impact ventures and initiatives in the areas of regenerative ecosystems, circularity and humane tech.
After spending two decades working in design and innovation for large corporations, startups and impact partners, Robert knows what truly drives innovative ideas into market - understanding the needs and behaviors of people, systems and planet, leveraging emerging technologies and applying the right business models to scale new solutions.
Robert has led award-winning design and innovation teams as an executive and director at Planet Home, Singularity University, IDEO and as a founding member of technology startups in FinTech, Digital Learning and Action Sports. Robert holds a BFA in Industrial Design from Carnegie Mellon University and an MS in Biomimicry from Arizona State University. He holds multiple design awards and drives for solutions that integrate social, environmental, and educational considerations while proving that purpose and profit can combine for the greatest impact.
The purpose of this session is to demonstrate how the application of nature’s deepest patterns, principles and strategies can be applied to innovation.
By learning from the planet’s oldest innovation tools we might successfully borrow those best practices to radically transform innovation in our organizations and society today. This process of learning from nature’s wisdom is called Biomimicry, and its application ranges widely from product design to the design of whole cities.
We will review the key principles of Biomimicry, share real-world examples of how the practice has been applied, and conduct an exercise to apply the process together.