Introduction

The Design and Nature conference is to be reconvened in 2014 following the success of previous meetings, the first of which was held in Udine, in 2002; followed by Rhodes, (2004); the New Forest, home of the Wessex Institute of Technology (2006); the Algarve (2008); Pisa (2010) and La Coruna (2012).

Scientists and engineers now have at their disposal a vast array of relationships for materials, mechanisms and control. The resulting laws have been painstakingly assembled by observation and analysis and span the cosmic scale of space down to the molecular level of genetics. In particular, they have made us aware of the rich diversity of the natural world around us.

These developments have prompted the reconvening of the Design and Nature Conference which attracts researchers from around the world working on a variety of studies involving nature and their significance for modern scientific thought and design. The success of the series is in great part due to the interdisciplinary character of the conference, which brings together a wide variety of specialists such as physical scientists, engineers, biologists, medical experts as well as those involved in humanities and arts.