Nature's Architect: The role of biomimicry in urban design - with Amanda Sturgeon

The Future of Cities 3-Part Webinar Series - Session Two

Nature's Architect: The role of Biomimicry in urban design

Conversations at the intersection of regeneration, adaptation and the built environment

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With Special Guests:

Amanda Sturgeon, Biomimicry Institute

Paul Hameister, Nature Based Cities, Hamton Property Group

This session explores how biomimicry, the practice of drawing inspiration from nature's time-tested patterns and strategies - can inform the design of urban environments that are efficient, resilient, and harmonious with the natural world.

Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of The Biomimicry Institute, is a Regenerative and Biophilic Design strategist and award winning Architect with global experience as a thought leader in bringing Regenerative, Zero Carbon and Biophilic buildings, infrastructure and cities to life. 

Paul Hameister is founder of Nature Based Cities and Executive Chairman of Hamton Property Group. A seasoned property developer and outdoor adventurer, Paul is a leading advocate for integrating living landscapes into urban development. Through Nature Based Cities, he champions the inclusion of green spaces in urban design to create cities we love to live in.  

Moderated by Danny Almagor, co-founder of Small Giants Academy, this discussion explores the transformative potential of biomimicry in reimagining our cities - not merely as human habitats, but as integrated ecosystems that reflect the wisdom of nature.

Meet Amanda Sturgeon :

‍Amanda Sturgen is an architect, author, speaker and consultant, passionately paving the way for our reconnection to nature using regenerative principles and frameworks. As CEO of the Biomimicry Institute, a global non-profit dedicated to promoting nature-inspired innovation, Amanda is leading a team of change-makers to bring about a world that works in harmony with nature and natural systems. Moving beyond the sustainability approach, at the core of her work is the belief that our built environment should foster our relationship with the natural world and that addressing climate change and biodiversity loss requires whole-systems thinking and biophilic (or ‘love of life’) design.
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Amanda has previously worked as the CEO of Built by Nature, as the Regenerative Design lead at global consultancy Mott MacDonald, and as CEO of the International Living Future Insititute. In 2015 Amanda was named one of the top 10 women in sustainability with the Women in Sustainability Leadership Award.  

You can listen to her Ted Talk here. If you’d like to learn more of Amanda’s regenerative approach, you can read about biophilic design here.  

Meet Paul Hameister:

Paul is a former lawyer and investment banker who has been actively involved in property development since 1997.

His professional passion is finding and delivering solutions to complex and challenging development opportunities.

His development business, Hamton has current and completed residential projects of over $4.5bn in the last 19 years.

Paul is the first Australian to have climbed the Seven Summits (the highest peak on every continent on Earth, including Everest in 2011) and complete the Polar Hat-Trick (skiing to the North Pole, the 550km Greenland Crossing and South Pole) all unsupported and unassisted, including being a member of the first all-Australian team to establish a new route from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole (with his daughter).

He has been a member of four expeditions sponsored by the Australian Geographic Society, including a circa 1,000km expedition through unexplored Amazon jungle in the mountainous Sierra del Divisor region. In Peru with Matses tribe support (with his son).

In Nov 22, Paul and his two children completed a 400km crossing of the Sinai on food with Bedouin tribe support. Some of these expeditions have been captured in TV documentaries aired on Discovery and National Geographic Channels globally. He is involved with a number of not-for-profits, including as Founder of Nature Based Cities.

Paul received an Order of Australia Medal in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours to service to exploration and to business.

Meet Danny Almagor:

Danny is co-founder (with his wife Berry) and the Executive Chair of Small Giants. Danny was the inaugural Social Entrepreneur in Residence at RMIT, the founder and former CEO of Engineers Without Borders Australia and is the co-founder and Chair of the Impact Investment Group, and more recently created Sentient Impact Group.
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He has founded over a dozen for profit and non profit organisations including The Sociable Weaver, The Impact Club, Beyond Family Office and Beyond Creative. He has served on numerous boards, including many of the Small Giants family of businesses such as Tom Organic, The School of Life, The Cape ecovillage and Pacific Biotechnologies, as well as non-profit boards and advisories boards including the Jewish Museum of Australia, Stand Up, Smiling Mind, The Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan. Danny has been recognised through many awards including a Churchill Fellowship, RMIT Alumnus of the Year, EY Social Entrepreneur of the Year, UN PRI Social Investment Pioneer and the Medal of the Order of Australia.  


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