People have goals. Nature has paths.
The 2026 Biomimicry Youth Design Challenge is now accepting new teams who want to take the challenge:
Register for the 2026 BYDC here.
Teams work through the NGSS-aligned curriculum introducing biomimicry concepts and methods. Each team submits a biomimicry project presenting their own creative design solutions. An international jury of biomimicry practitioners, engineers, educators, and scientists evaluates each proposal, offering feedback and selecting special commendations for exceptional work in age and thematic categories.
You can find out more about past winners of the Biomimicry Youth Design Challenge in our online exhibition.
Welcome to the Biomimicry Youth Design Challenge
About the Challenge
The Biomimicry Youth Design Challenge (BYDC) is a project-based learning experience that asks middle and high school teams to design bio-inspired ideas that can provide solutions to critical real-world problems. It provides a framework for formal and informal educators to introduce biomimicry as an engineering design strategy, to integrate relevant purposeful STEM experiences, and to provide engaging instruction aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The project and curriculum were developed by The Biomimicry Institute. Beginning with the 2025 BYDC, the program is part of the POCACITO Network.
Inspired by nature, developed by The Biomimicry Institute, and now hosted by POCACITO Network.