TOOLKIT

A Resource to Shifting Your Mindset & Designing with Biodiversity in Mind

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Navigate the Biodiversity+ Design Toolkit

Explore resources, case studies, and tools designed to integrate biodiversity into every stage of design. Use the links below to jump straight to the sections you need.

Purpose

Biodiversity+ Design reimagines the role of designers, focusing on working with nature rather than controlling it. Instead of delivering quick "solutions," it promotes sustainable ways of thinking and acting, building deeper connections between people, ecosystems, and the planet.

Biodiversity+ Design invites designers to engage deeply with socio-environmental complexities, offering principles, guidance, and open questions to inspire thoughtful practices and future explorations.

Three women standing outdoors in front of Mt. Manaslu in the Himalayas, holding Himalayan Gob-chi Berries.

Principles of Biodiversity+ Design

These principles are informed by close collaboration with a trusted community of design and environmental thought-leaders, social justice advocates, and business and economic advisers. Offering tools to review current issues, identify problems, and generate resilient pathways towards solutions that benefit people and the planet.

Beyond-Self Principle icon

Beyond-Self

Design is about weaving together ideas, stories, and communities, not about individual heroism.

  • Beyond-Self reshapes the designer's role from individual creator to community facilitator. It dissolves the boundaries between self and others, fostering a collective identity where design emerges from shared experiences and diverse perspectives.

    This principle reframes design as an act of care, grounded in the recognition that our work must serve and sustain the interconnected whole.

Beyond-Human Principle icon

Beyond-Human

Design thrives in connection with all living and non-living systems.

  • Beyond-Human rejects human-centered supremacy, calling for a deeper awareness of how we coexist with the world around us. It urges designers to consider their impact on the intricate web of life, fostering relationships rooted in humility and symbiosis.

    By collaborating with ecosystems and nurturing their resilience, this principle seeks to realign design with the broader, interdependent whole to which we all belong.

Beyond-Time Principle icon

Beyond-Time

Design is never finished; it evolves across generations.

  • Beyond-Time embraces an expanded view of temporality in design, urging designers to align with the rhythms of deep-time and the evolving pathways of ecosystems. It shifts focus from fixed solutions to evolving pathways, recognizing that true sustainability unfolds across generations.

    This principle asks designers to remain open, accountable, and attuned to the ripple effects of their work, fostering empathy and care for futures that extend far beyond the present moment.

How To Use Biodiversity+ Design?

Biodiversity+ Design transforms theory into praxis by equipping individuals, organizations, and institutions with tools to rethink and reimagine their design processes.

Rooted in the principles of Beyond-Self, Beyond-Time, and Beyond-Human, the toolkit offers dynamic pathways for applying these ideas through case studies, worksheets, and workshops.

Case Studies

Principles in Praxis

Case studies showcase the principles in action, offering real-world examples of how Biodiversity+ Design has inspired impactful and innovative design.

Logos of Tergar Charity Nepal and TEE Leaf with an 'X' between them.
Group of women and girls holding the TEALEAVES Wild Himalayan Mountain Tea box on the left. On the right, a woman in a pink jacket holding a branch with Himalayan Gob-chi Berries outdoors with mountains and snow in the background.

  • Uplifting Himalayan communities through biodiversity-centered design: empowering women, restoring ecosystems, and designing for resilience uplifting Himalayan communities through biodiversity-centered design: empowering women, restoring ecosystems, and designing for resilience.

    Download this case study (PDF)

Logo of Solar Cookers International and Biodiversity Design partnership.
People lining up outside a building with wooden solar cookers in front. Inside the solar cookers are various pots with food and liquids, including soup, vegetables, and rice.

  • Cooking with the power of the sun: how Solar Cookers International (SCI) and the propagation of sustainable designs transform lives, conserve forests, and build an accessible, carbon-free future for remote communities.

    Download this case study (PDF)

Logo displaying 'OCEAN WISE' with a subtitle 'Biodiversity Design' between two logos and a cross symbol in the middle.
Underwater view of a kelp forest with brown seaweed on the left and purple sea urchins on the right on a rocky seabed.

  • The essential role of kelp forests in climate action: restoring kelp forests for climate, community, and conservation.

    Download this case study (PDF)

Worksheets

Templates for Thought and Action

Worksheets are practical resources created by organizations and institutions that have embraced Biodiversity+ Design, offering to guide others in embedding the principles into their own praxis.

    • Applied Theory: Each worksheet illustrates how the principles translate into actionable methodologies.

    • Adaptable Tools: Worksheets can be used directly or modified to suit different scales and contexts.

    • Inspiration for Praxis: They provide tangible starting points for designers to think critically and act intentionally.

A woman presenting to a group of five people in a meeting room with sticky notes on the wall.

Biodiversity Resilient Action Test Canvas

Developed with Shuya Gong (Harvard SEAS), this test assesses whether an organization goes beyond sustainability, actively safeguarding against biodiversity loss.

Download Biodiversity Resilient Action Test Canvas (PDF)

Three women harvesting and sorting red berries by a river on a sunny day.

Uplifting Himalayan Communities Through Biodiversity-Centered Design: A Biodiversity-Driven Approach

Accompanying the Tergar Charity Nepal case study, this worksheet—developed with Margot Clavier—prompts reflection on a product, service, or organization, its purpose, the people and natural systems behind it, and its impact now and in the future.

Download Uplifting Himalayan Communities Through Biodiversity-Centered Design: A Biodiversity-Driven Approach (PDF)

Underwater view of brown and green seaweed swirling in the ocean with water surface seen above.

Designing for Kelp: A Biodiversity-Driven Approach

Accompanying the Ocean Wise case study, this worksheet explores the value of kelp forests, the impact of their loss, and how stewardship challenges can inspire biodiversity-positive solutions.

Download Designing for Kelp: A Biodiversity-Driven Approach (PDF)

A desk with color swatches, design sketches, a computer, and a tablet with a stylus, indicating a graphic design workspace.

Unpacking Your Solutions

Developed with Karl Vredenberg (IBM) and Kathy Moscou (OCADU), this worksheet guides you through questions that push solutions beyond surface issues, helping shape more effective, biodiversity-positive pathways.

Download Unpacking Your Solutions (PDF)

Two hands reaching towards each other against a plain white background, reminiscent of Michelangelo's 'The Creation of Adam'.

Unpacking Your Solutions with the Responsibility Framework

Developed with Rachel Taylor (Deloitte), this worksheet helps you rethink challenges and solutions, expanding focus beyond your organization to society, ecosystems, and the planet, ensuring social sustainability through a responsibility framework.

Download Unpacking Your Solutions with the Responsibility Framework (PDF)

Illustration of animals flying and perched among clouds and kelp in a night sky, including a whale with wings, a polar bear with penguins, and fish.

Biodiversity+ Design Principles Postcard

This postcard is a pocket-sized reminder of the Biodiversity+ Design principles — easy to keep, share, and reference anywhere.

Download Biodiversity+ Design Principles Postcard (PDF)

A person planning a mobile app interface with sketches and wireframes on paper, surrounded by colorful sticky notes, pens, and scattered sketches on a cluttered table.

Guiding Questions Printout

A quick-reference tool for workshops or projects, ensuring your ideas and decisions are guided by biodiversity-positive thinking.

Download Guiding Questions Printout (PDF)

Our Collaborators & Supporters

  • Portrait of Cornelia Krug.

    Cornelia Krug

    Co-Founder of World Biodiversity Forum

  • Portrait of Albert Shum

    Albert Shum

    Former CVP of Design at Microsoft

  • Portrait of Shuya Gong

    Shuya Gong

    Creative Director at IDEO CoLab Ventures / Lecturer at Harvard Engineering

  • Portrait of Nathalie Attallah

    Nathalie Attallah

    Partnership Lead, MIT Worldmaking Institute

  • Portrait of Max Stearns

    Max Stearns

    Lecturer at Parsons School of Design / Lead Designer at DemSoc

  • Portrait of Jennifer Bove

    Jennifer Bove

    Executive Design Leader at Salesforce

  • Portrait of Margaret Price

    Margaret Price

    Sr. Principal Strategist at Microsoft

  • Portrait of Karel Vredenburg

    Karel Vredenburg

    IBM Global Vice President

  • Portrait of Emily Ma

    Emily Ma

    Head, Food for Good at Google

  • Portrait of Michiel Bakker

    Michiel Bakker

    Vice President, Global Workplace Programs at Google

  • Portrait of Laurie Pressman

    Laurie Pressman

    VP of Pantone Color Institute

  • Portrait of Margot Clavier

    Margot Clavier

    Program Coordinator, Tergar Charity Nepal

  • Portrait of John S. Couch

    John S. Couch

    Former Head of Design for Hulu and author of “The Art of Creative Rebellion”

Students sitting attentively in a classroom or lecture hall during a presentation or lecture.

Workshops

Introducing the concept to teams / to ask better questions / better process

Workshops serve as immersive experiences to bring the Biodiversity+ Design principles into action, fostering collaborative and reflective praxis.

    • Interactive Exploration: Engage deeply with the principles in real-time through guided exercises, group activities, and open dialogue.

    • Tailored to Context: Workshops are adapted to address specific challenges in areas like urban planning, ecological restoration, or community design.

    • Praxis in Action: Participants leave with a toolkit of ideas and strategies that align with the principles, ready to be integrated into their practice.

    • Commerce & Engineering Environmental Conference at Queen's University

    • Rotman School of Commerce at University of Toronto

    • Ivey Business School at Western University

    • Harvard SEAS ES139

    • World Biodiversity Forum 2024

    • SF Climate Week

    • DesignTO Festival