7 pm – 9 pm
The Digital Be-In begins with a two-hour, multidisciplinary exploration of Biomimicry as it relates to information and social networks, economics, education, green tech, urban development, bioregionalism, and the worldwide “movement without a name” combining social justice and sustainability at this critical juncture in human evolution. The Biomimicry Symposium was developed by Michael Gosney of Green Century Institute and Kevin Bayuk of the Urban Alliance for Sustainability, who will be moderating the presentations. This information intense session will be netcast live on Urth.TV, streamed into the Second Life Virtual Be-In, and recorded for distribution in various media formats.

Schedule
7:00 Kevin Bayuk – Urban Alliance for Sustainability
Michael Gosney – Digital Be-In/Green Century Institute
7:10 Janine Benyus – Biomimicry Institute (live from Costa Rica)
7:25 Paul Hawken – Natural Capital Institute (live from Hawaii)
7:35 Oz Basarir – WISER Earth launch presentation
7:45 Greg Steltenpohl, Jon Ramer – Interra
8:00 Gifford Pinchot – Bainbridge Graduate Institute
8:10 Jay Harmon – Pax Scientific
8:20 Andrew Lawton – Autodesk
8:25 Scott Fossel – Green Century Institute
8:30 Peter Berg – Planet Drum Foundation
8:45 Ervin Laszlo – Club of Budapest, author Chaos Point

Kevin Bayuk – Urban Alliance for Sustainability
Kevin started as an artist and filmmaker, explored an eight year meander as a technology entrepreneur (in an attempt to fund films) and has now graduated into a life as an activated advocate for ecotopian living. Currently he leverages his skills and relationships to develop organizations and projects that regenerate healthy ecosystems and socially just environments. In addition to Bay Localize, he serves on the Board of Directors for the Urban Alliance for Sustainability and Daily Acts. Kevin also facilitates permaculture trainings and shares his skills in organic gardening and composting in playshops and community workshops.

Janine Benyus <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janine_Benyus> – founder, Biomimicry Institute
Janine Benyus is a natural sciences writer, innovation consultant, speaker and author of six books, including her latest - “Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.” In Biomimicry, she names an emerging discipline that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature's designs and processes (e.g., solar cells that mimic leaves, agriculture that models a prairie, businesses that run like redwood forests). n 1998, Janine co-founded an education and innovation practice called Biomimicry Guild. Through workshops, research reports, biological consulting, and field excursions, the Guild helps innovators learn from and emulate natural models. The goal is to create products, processes, and policies that create conditions conducive to life. Clients have included Arup Engineers, Carollo Engineers, Consorta, General Electric, General Mills, Gensler Architects, Herman Miller, Hewlett Packard, HOK Architects, IDEO, Interface, Kohler, Levi’s, NASA, Nike, Norm Thompson, Novell, Patagonia, Seventh Generation, S.C. Johnson, and Shore Bank Pacific Bank. As a result of working with the Biomimicry Guild, the world’s largest commercial carpet manufacturer (Interface, Inc.) introduced Entropy?, a carpet inspired by random pattern formation in nature. In record time, Entropy? rose to become Interface’s top-selling line of carpet and 40% of their carpet tile sales.

Paul Hawken <http://www.paulhawken.com/paulhawken_frameset.html> – founder WISER Earth; author, “Blessed Unrest”
Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, and author. Starting at age 20, he dedicated his life to sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. His practice has included starting and running ecological businesses, writing and teaching about the impact of commerce on living systems, and consulting with governments and corporations on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy. He is the founder of the Natural Capital Institute which has fostered the development WISER EARTH, a global community directory and networking forum for organizations addressing climate change, poverty, the environment, peace, water, hunger, social justice, conservation, human rights, and more, being introduced to the public for the first time at Digital Be-In 15. His new book, "Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement In the World Came Into Being and Why No One Saw it Coming,” is being published in May, 2007.

Oz Basarir – technical director WISER Earth
Oz Basarir is an independent web consultant. He is currently leading the WiserEarth technology. Over the last 14 years of his IT career, he has been in a number of development, architecture, and coaching roles. His passion is to apply his knowledge and experience in software for positive social change. He lives with his wife and daughter in San Francisco Bay Area.

Greg Steltenpohl – founder, Interra Project
Greg Steltenpohl is currently the CEO of Adina World Beat Beverages, a start-up focused on promoting equitable global trade principles and natural beverage products. Greg was formerly founder and former CEO of Odwalla, Inc, the leading U.S. supplier of fresh juice and nourishing beverages. Since his departure from Odwalla, Greg has been active as co-founder and Chairman of the Interra Project. Interra supports emerging markets of sustainable products and technology by aggregating the buying power of like-minded consumers through payment card networks. Together with founder and former Visa International Chairman, Dee Hock, Greg was a founding Trustee of the Chaordic Commons. The commons is dedicated to developing new forms of purposeful organizations based upon the self-organizing principles of natural systems. Greg has also served on the boards of Frontier Natural Products Cooperative, Social Venture Network, and Santa Cruz Community Credit Union.

Jon Ramer – Interra Project
Jon Ramer is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Interra Project along with Greg Steltenpohl (Founder of Odwalla Juices) and Dee Hock (Chairman Emeritus VISA International). The mission of the Interra Project is to empower citizen consumers by aligning our deepest human values with our daily economic activities. Jon and Greg have co-authored “Weaving Our Strategies Together – Turning What We Have into What We Need” and “Member-Centric Networks of Community Alliances”. The Natural Capital Institutue (NCI) is the fiscal sponsor of the Interra Project. Jon is co-directing the WISER Commons project with Betsy Power and Paul Hawken. John is also a singer-songwriter with a penchant for guitar grooves.

Gifford Pinchot III <Bio> - Bainbridge Graduate Institute
Gifford Pinchot is President and co-founder of the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, which offers an MBA that integrates sustainability and social responsibility with innovation and profit. BGI is one of the first graduate schools to weave sustainability throughout its entire curriculum, so that standard business subjects include ethics, cutting edge sustainability practices, and students’ spiritual perspectives. Mr. Pinchot is a well-known author, speaker, and consultant on launching businesses and innovation management.

Jay Harman <http://www.jayharman.com> – founder and CEO, Pax Scientific
Jay Harman is a naturalist, entrepreneur, and inventor. Harman is CEO of PAX Scientific, a Marin County engineering R&D firm that uses natural geometries to design energy efficient, quiet, ecologically friendly technology. The company has commercialized air-handling and mixer designs and is developing other biomimetic applications for industry.

Andrew Lawton – Autodesk Sustainable Design Technical Consultant
Andrew Lawton leads Autodesk Consulting’s Sustainable Design Practice, which assists Autodesk clients in optimizing their use of technology to achieve their Sustainable Design goals. Prior to joining Autodesk Consulting he served as an Information Architect on the AutoCAD Product Design team. From 2002-2005 he served as the Chair of the Commonwealth Club of California’s Environment and Natural Resources Forum where he regularly hosted national and internationally renowned speakers. He has provided information technology consulting services to Washington Mutual, Visa International, Sun Microsystems’s Java Software Division, the Rocky Mountain Institute, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Organization of American States, and he has consulted on public environmental policy analysis projects for the World Resources Institute and the World Bank.

Scott Fossel – Green Century Institute
Scott Fossel is Executive Director of the Green Century Institute, the leading ecocity development think tank in North America. He is also the Founder and CEO of LifeSpace Networks, a highly innovative green redevelopment company. Mr. Fossel holds a Masters in Integral Philosophy from the Calfornia Institute of Integral Studies.

Peter Berg – Planet Drum Foundation
Peter Berrg co-founded the Planet Drum was founded in 1973 to provide an effective grassroots approach to ecology emphasizing sustainability, community self-determination and regional self-reliance. In association with community activists and ecologists, Planet Drum developed the concept of a bioregion: a distinct area with coherent and interconnected plant and animal communities, and natural systems, often defined by a watershed. A bioregion is a whole "life-place" with unique requirements for human inhabitation so that it will not be disrupted and injured. Through its projects, publications, speakers, and workshops, Planet Drum helps start new bioregional groups and encourages local organizations and individuals to find ways to live within the natural confines of bioregions.

Ervin Laszlo – founder, Club of Budapest, author, Chaos Point: The World at the Crossroads
Ervin Laszlo is the author or co-author of forty-seven books translated into as many as twenty languages, and the editor of another thirty volumes including a four-volume encyclopedia. He is Founder and President of The Club of Budapest, Founder and Director of the General Evolution Research Group, President of the Private University for Economics and Ethics, Fellow of the World Academy of Arts and Sciences, Member of the International Academy of Philosophy of Science, Senator of the International Medici Academy, and Editor of the international periodical World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution. Laszlo has a PhD from the Sorbonne and is the recipient of four honorary PhD’s, from the United States, Canada, Finland, and Hungary. He was awarded the Peace Prize of Japan, the Goi Award in Tokyo, 2002, and the International Mandir of Peace Prize in Assisi, 2005. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 and was re-nominated in 2005.