The Biomimicry Youth Design Challenge is an educator-led design competition developed by The Biomimicry Institute and now hosted by POCACITO Network. Students explore nature-inspired solutions to environmental or social problems connected to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Historical 2026 cycle: the organizer described a free program open to all nations, with two to eight students and an adult coach. The challenge details identify middle school grades 6–8 and high school grades 9–12. Older detailed rules also allow a coached individual, while the 2026 organizer announcement specifies teams of two to eight; solo eligibility should not be assumed for a future cycle.
The explicitly labeled 2026 table lists registration by January 31, project work and coaching in February–March, peer review from February 28 to March 15, final submissions April 1, and awards in May. It lists coach registration opening on December 18 without an explicit year; no complete opening date is inferred. The Institute separately confirms that the 2026 virtual award ceremonies were May 27–28. The page's lower sections retain a 2025 schedule and June 1, 2025 deadline; those are historical 2025 instructions, not a competing 2026 deadline.
Coaches register and submit on behalf of students. Teams work through biomimicry learning resources and develop a project portfolio for exhibition and recognition. The 2026 dates and zero fee above are historical and do not establish the next cycle's dates, eligibility, fees, or awards.
Sources checked November 4, 2026: 2026 key dates and challenge details, the official Squarespace fallback, POCACITO's January 16, 2026 announcement, and the Institute's May 2026 award ceremonies. The old homepage returned an error, so the canonical link now points to the working official challenge details. No next-cycle announcement was found in these sources.