, , , , , , , ,

Biophilic Eudaimonia

, , , , , , , ,
Biophilic Eudaimonia

The concept of eudaimonia, rooted in Aristotelian philosophy, is more than just happiness. Eudaimonia represents a state of good spirit and the realisation of one's full potential. It's about creating environments that support individuals in becoming their best selves across different life stages and circumstances. I sat down with Jenna Mikus to explore the concept and find out how we can weave this into Biophilic Design.

Jenna is founder of the Eudae Group and an Honorary Fellow at the University of Melbourne, and focuses on this concept, bridging engineering, philosophy, and design to create spaces that truly support human flourishing.

Eudaimonia manifests itself in Jenna's recent projects across healthcare and educational settings. In hospitals, she challenges traditional design creating spaces that support all users of the space, staff, patients and families. Imagine healing environments with dedicated family zones, access to natural views, and carefully curated sensory experiences that help process difficult emotions. All of this will resonate with Biophilic Designers.

Jenna’s own professional journey is anything but conventional. With a background in mechanical engineering, art history, and business, she represents the antithesis of traditional siloed thinking. Her career trajectory—from government consulting to architectural design—reflects a deep commitment to understanding how environments can profoundly impact human experience.

In educational spaces, Jenna advocates for neuro-inclusive design. We need classrooms with varied lighting zones, comfortable materials, and flexible spaces that accommodate different learning styles. The goal is to create environments that inspire learning by understanding how space can activate creativity and engagement. All these things are also woven into Biophilic Design.

In our conversation she shares that we can all bring these large-scale learnings into small-scale real-world situations. When her father… CONTINUE READING and WATCH the PODCAST

, , , , , ,

The School of Biophilia

, , , , , ,
The School of Biophilia

The School of Biophilia seeks to foster a deeper connection between people and the natural environment through a comprehensive and innovative educational approach. By creating accessible, curriculum-aligned teaching resources that seamlessly integrate biophilic principles across different subjects, they aim to make nature education engaging and meaningful for children of all backgrounds. The founders of The School of Biophilia, Ann Vanner and Amelia Chasey, envision a future where biophilic principles are fundamental to education, design, and personal lifestyle choices.

 

Their approach goes beyond traditional nature activities by developing interactive experiences that encourage children to explore and interact with their environment, even in urban settings. Through methods like nature scavenger hunts, storytelling, and carefully designed workshops, they help children understand not just the what, but the why of their connection to nature.

 

A key aspect of their mission is making biophilic education inclusive and available to all children, regardless of their school's resources. By providing digital downloads, lesson plans, and workshops that can be easily implemented, they ensure that every child has the opportunity to learn about and appreciate the natural world.


They want to make biophilic principles accessible to all children, not just those in privileged schools. They highlighted a shocking statistic that current UK children spend less time outdoors than prisoners, which they see as a critical issue to address. Teaching children that humans are part of nature, not separate from it is a vital key to encouraging awareness and respect of our natural world (and each other). By breaking down educational silos and encouraging collective, community-based learning, The School of Biophilia aims to help children understand our interconnectedness with natural systems. READ ON AND WATCH THE INTERVIEW….

, , , , , , , , ,

Learn how to Lead Change - Essential Tools for Biophilic Designers

, , , , , , , , ,
Learn how to Lead Change - Essential Tools for Biophilic Designers

Change is about people and when it comes to people, there is no formula and there is no one way, this is challenging and hard. For designers, architects, planners who are trying to convince people to do something different, to do something maybe that business has never done before, what tools do we need to help take our clients on that “change” journey with us?

I was lucky to catch up with the Change Master, Jennifer Bryan, who will also be speaking at Workplace Trends in London on 18th October 2023. Jennifer shares with us some tips to help you lead that change, for her there is “no change without learning and no learning without change,” and it has to come from a “people centric perspective.”

Jennifer, gives us some sound advice. She describes what she calls the “end person in mind approach.” If you think about the person who is the furthest away from the decision making room, when they first hear about the change (whether that the watercooler gossip or a town hall) if you can make that initial moment for that positive then you will have a positive initial moment for everyone else in between.

There are 8 different reasons why people resist change. Jennifer outlines some with us here. Sometimes it’s because they don’t understand the change, or it could be how they perceive it, it could be fear or emotional, or historical. If you want to fine tune your potential to lead change, get your hands on her book: “Leading People in Change”. Understand where that “resistance” might be coming from. Ask the questions so you might understand why they might be resisting. Take them on a bit of a journey. Help people understand the “so what”.

We forget that other people aren’t in that same space, and we need to be able to articulate that “so what” but it has to be that “so what” for them.

Think of this podcast as the essential spanners in your “Toolbox of Persuasion.” There’s a lot of good advice in this podcast for those involved in bringing Biophilic Design into the mainstream. We can help leaders and managers understand that Biophilia is not just fluff, help them to visualise a positive outcome and from a different angle.  

, , , , , , , , , ,

The River of Life – Orientate Earth, Built Environment and Sustainable Workplace

, , , , , , , , , ,
The River of Life – Orientate Earth, Built Environment and Sustainable Workplace

Harvesting the energy of our people, is a key message in this great podcast with Jaime Blakeley-Glover, founder of Orientate.earth and a collaborator with other businesses all working towards the same goal, to make our world and our environment a better place to live and thrive.

 We talk about his the “Social benefit of buildings”. For Jaime, we have a huge responsibility in relation to how we create our built environment, the decisions we take will have an effect for years after we’ve gone. We leave a legacy, and a choice. Do we create amazing awe-inspiring connected places or create dull and lifeless ones?

It is only by understanding and engaging with all the stakeholders, from the building owners to the people who work, visit, use and supply the buildings that will allow us to think about the place our buildings and places have in responding to the needs of people now and in the future. We need to broaden out how we think of things.

Buildings are more than just Units and assets, these are places where people live, how we build and design affects their lives and wellbeing. Let’s look at the Social-economic indicators as well as the “warm” data, this collective imagination to assess this broad set of information, and then respond to it.

Biophilic design and nature-inspired design does support a more sustainable way of living. It is proven, that if we care about something we do more to protect it, if we bring nature more into our sense of view, we will do more to protect it. We can also be inspired by nature and look at how buildings and cities are living systems.

We are part of the living system, in terms of cities, and nature.

, , , , ,

Feeling Alive

, , , , ,
Feeling Alive

As many of our listeners know, the concept of Biophilic Design brings our contact with nature closer into our lives in the built environment, whether that’s at home, work, hospitals, schools or our cities. In our podcasts we speak to people whose life’s work has been to design and work with nature and also to understand more deeply how and why our connection with nature is so profound and why it has a positive impact it has on us. The underlying factor is our inheritance from our ancestors, how for hundreds of thousands of years we lived outside, close to nature. We are still dependent on nature for our food, air, water, life.

In this podcast, we speak with Mary Reynolds Thompson, founder of Live Your Wild Soul Story, and who is an award-winning author, internationally recognized speaker, and a pioneer in the spiritual ecology movement, her focus is on the transformative power of landscape archetypes and nature metaphors to reveal our true purpose and right relationship with the planet. We discuss how the way we are living now alienates us from real life, from the living planet, from each other, and from our own authenticity. It’s not just a philosophy, it's proven that time in nature really heals you emotionally, psychologically, and physically, the effects are lasting – it has an accumulative benefit, extending into the stresses of the week. Therefore, simply put, the more connected we are to nature the happier we are.

“It’s an unfolding comfort, we feel the warmth or cold of the earth, almost like the heartbeat of the mother, security and happiness. For all of human history we lived outside, it’s part of our lineage, and we don’t just cut it off. We don’t lose that desire.” Mary goes on to describe a concept, Shadow wild – this disconnection which leaves such a gaping chasm that we tend to want to fill it with whatever is at hand because we want to feel alive (Joseph Campbell, the mythologist said – more than anything humans want to feel alive, and most of us feel alive when we are outside in the natural world.

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Sustainable Habitats for Sustainable Habits?

, , , , , , , , , , ,
Sustainable Habitats for Sustainable Habits?

When you climb up a tree, don’t we see life from a different perspective? We realise we part of something bigger than ourselves, we see an overview of everything and it helps us understand our place in the world more. It is also true, that generally many people and businesses seem to have a distorted relationship with nature, but as Environmental Psychologist and Design professional Anicee Bauer of “Humans in Trees” puts it: “we are nature”. Can Biophilic Design really encourage a more sustainable lifestyle, and why should the Workplace include Biophilic Design in order to help reach that NetZero target?

In this podcast, she shares with us the three fascinating levels in her consultancy process. We touch on Wabi-Sabi design strategies, Aristotelian intellectual moral virtues, spirituality, reconnecting with the fun we feel in nature and Einstein… come join us…

, , , , , , ,

Botanic Shed - School of Nature

, , , , , , ,
Botanic Shed - School of Nature

When was the last time you felt stressed? Sometimes things in life can be a wee bit too much, or there's just one too many things to do, or just too much on your plate for whatever reason. We speak with Lara Cowan, founder of the Botanic Shed - School of Nature….

, , ,

The Conscious Nature Connector

, , ,
The Conscious Nature Connector

If you are feeling overwhelmed at the thought of going back to work, or which way to turn now, you could well benefit from taking a leaf (excuse the pun) from nature’s book. Deborah Mendes, helps overwhelmed CEOs and business owners del with change and reconnect to their true and powerful selves through connecting with nature. The term biophilia highlights our connection with nature, so I was intrigued to learn more about how Deborah works. From the study of an intricate pine cone to just standing still and feeling strong within ourselves, grounding ourselves, rooting ourselves and expanding outwards, and growing can enable us to adapt, slow down, make atomic changes to help ourselves and those around us have better more productive, peaceful and happy lives.

, , , , , ,

Changing your environment and mindset with actor and leadership coach, Paul Ryan

, , , , , ,
Changing your environment and mindset with actor and leadership coach, Paul Ryan

Theatre, TV and film create simulations of environments to transport the audience somewhere else. Similarly here at Argenta Wellness and those who work using biophilic design, we create harmony by mimicking nature to bring about a simulated environment of an outside space to bring peace and calm to workplaces, healthcare and so on. In this podcast we speak with actor Paul Ryan (Brexit: The Uncivil War and Christine Keeler) who enjoyed a 3-year run in London’s theatre-land in Mamma Mia. Paul describes how with backdrops and actors’ states of mind, they create ..

Cart (0)