There is more to be learned from nature as a whole. In practice ‘nature’ is often used in teaching, training, consultancy and organisational development as a metaphor, as a source of inspiration or as an example for all kinds of processes, including leadership, cooperation, relationships and the development of organisations and society. Mainly ecological, and much less frequently biological, processes are generally involved here. The question has gradually arisen whether we can learn more from nature in the social environment than what we ‘see’ on the surface - which is often translated in metaphors. Seen more holistically, this is about the systemic side, the complexity, the context and the coherence. For example, can we demonstrate that applying fundamental ecological principles, such as cycles (learning, self-organising, selfregulating and self-sufficient capacity), succession, diversity and resilience, social and cooperative behaviour, interconnectedness and interdependency within an organisation leads to a sustainable organisation? Mauro Gallo is conducting research into the significance of technical innovation in and for the agricultural and food sector, and into the question whether biomimicry can in fact be backed up in such a way that it contributes to the social sciences domain. At the same time there is a clear teaching issue: Is it logical from the perspective of our green DNA to include biomimicry thinking in our teaching? Is it possible to learn to apply biomimicry, and can biomimicry be applied in teaching/learning? (How) can we apply biomimicry in green VMBO and MBO, pass it on to the teachers of the future in teacher training courses and include it in making current lecturers more professional? Is it conceivable that it could become an integral component of the curricula in green HBO?