Gunter Pauli (1956) graduated as an economist with an MBA ant then established ten companies of which two failed. He has never had a job and has always worked independently. Inspired by Aurelio Peccei, the founder of the Club of Rome, he set out to pioneer and be the change he wanted to see in the world. His endeavors cover business, culture, science and education. He co-authored a book with Fritjof Capra that was the first book ever presented on the Internet in broadband videocasting on April 6, 1995. He organized the first ever global broadband internet conference on Decemer 5, 1995. In this conference he linked: Nelson Mandela from his home in Pretoria, Shimon Peres from his office in Jerusalem, Jimmy Carter from a hotel in Atlanta to a gathering of Nobel Laureates chaired by Elie Wiesel and Ted Koppel in Hiroshima.

He travels extensively navigating with great ease between cultures and continents. Fluent in seven languages, he has resided in Sweden, France, Japan, Colombia, the USA and Belgium. He is a global citizen, or perhaps better a modern day nomad. After retiring from business in 1994 he has dedicated all his energy to the design and the implementation of pilot projects, which demonstrate that a new economic model is not only feasible but it is a normal way of progression in society to permit innovation and creativity to identify possible paths towards a better future.

He has spent ten years in the design of innovative learning methods, which have been tested, used and improved with over 300,000 children and 8,000 teachers, in Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Japan, Germany and South Africa. His first fable "The Giving Tree" has been translated into over 100 languages. He has written dozens of books, including a series of children stories, which bring science and emotional intelligence to the young at early age. He is a visiting professor at the Politecnico di Torino and dreams about the creation of a new schooling system. He is married to Katherina Bach, and has two sons Carl-Olaf and Laurenz-Frederik.

Janine Benyus is a biologist, innovation consultant, 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). Since the book's 1997 release, Janine has evolved the practice of biomimicry, consulting with sustainable businesses and conducting seminars about what we can learn from the genius that surrounds us. Her favorite role is biologist-at-the-design-table, introducing innovators to organisms whose well-adapted designs have been tested over 3.8 billion years.

In 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, Boeing, Carollo Engineers, Cook + Fox Architects, General Electric, Gensler Architects, General Mills, Hewlett-Packard, HOK Architects, IDEO, Kohler, Kraft, Levi's, NASA, Nike, Norm Thompson, Novell, Patagonia, Procter and Gamble, S.C. Johnson, Seventh Generation, and Herman-Miller. As a result of working with the Biomimicry Guild, the world's largest commercial carpet manufacturer (Interface, Inc.) introduced Entropy™/I2, a carpet inspired by random pattern formation in nature. In record time, Entropy™/I2 rose to become Interface's top-selling line of carpet, representing 40% of their carpet tile sales.

Janine has introduced tens of thousands of people to biomimicry through international keynotes including Amana-Key Executive Leadership Training in Brazil, American Institute of Architects, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Aspen Ideas Festival, Cambridge University's Centre of International Studies and the Environment, Canadian National Roundtable for the Economy and the Environment, Design Futures Council, FORTUNE Brainstorm, Global Business Network, GreenBuild, Health Care Without Harm, International Interior Design Association, Industrial Designers Society of America, Investors' Circle, the Prince of Wales' Business & the Environment Programme, National Textile Center, PopTech!, President's Council on Sustainable Development, Schumacher College, Stanford Graduate School of Business, TED, Wharton School of Business, and ZERI World Congress in Japan. She also hosted and co-wrote a two-hour public television special based on her book, which aired on "The Nature of Things with David Suzuki" in 71 countries.

In addition to co-authoring Nature's 100 Best, Janine is creating a Google of Nature's Solutions—a public database of biological literature organized by design and engineering function. She is also developing a "biology-taught-functionally" course for engineers and designers, the only biology most will encounter in their university education. To help naturalize Biomimicry in the culture, she recently founded the non-profit Biomimicry Institute. Programs include Biologist-at-the-Design-Table Training, a children's CD featuring Amy Martin, Annie DeFranco, and Bruce Cockburn, and an Innovation for Conservation program that uses proceeds from bio-inspired products to conserve the habitat of the mentor organisms.

Janine's is a member of the Club of Rome, and her awards include TIME International 2007 Hero of the Environment, ASID Educator of Distinction, the Lud Browman Science Writing Award, and the Rachel Carson Environmental Ethics award. Janine has received several awards including Rachel Carson Environmental Ethics Award, the Lud Browman Award for Science Writing in Society, and the Barrows and Heinz Distinguished Lectureships.

An educator at heart, Janine believes that the more people learn from nature's mentors, the more they'll want to protect them. This is why she writes, speaks, and revels in describing the wild teachers in our midst.