The Biomimicry Institute is developing a contest for innovators who want to try out a new way of solving problems—by asking “How Would Nature Solve This?” Innovators will be asked to choose any one of 10 Grand Sustainability Challenges in the fields of energy, agriculture, chemistry, building, and manufacturing and then show how their biomimetic invention works better than the existing technology.

Like the X-Prize we’d eventually like to raise $10 million dollars, $1 million for each of the 10 Sustainability Challenges. We will then offer a $1 million dollar prize for the first individual or team to solve any one of the ten grand challenges chosen by an expert board. By encouraging bio-inspired innovation, we hope to challenge people to experience learning from a biological mentor. Once they’ve tried it, we’re hoping the practice of biomimicry—asking nature for advice at every step in the design process—will become second nature.