The ADDA

What if we could not just appreciate nature, but be nature? Things would get a lot better, fast.In this episode, Deepa speaks to Melina Angel about Biomimicry, from its practical application in design to its many values as a practice and a relationship with becoming nature, not just emulating it.As a practitioner, academic and systems poet, Melina uses biomimicry to understand, work with and shift societal challenges. She lives in Bogóta, Colombia and teaches in Costa Rica, Colombia & the USA.The conversation is fluid and weaves through the challenges of systems, explores the opportunity in seeing private sector businesses as living organisms and gets into what it takes to confront our own vulnerabilities. We flirt between the concrete and the visceral trying to see a way forward for much more intentional living, designing and creation new structures for society as a whole.It gets animated and into the messiness of what’s really needed to transform the social sector - and where that often starts with ourselves and holding up the mirror to challenge the role that we think we’re playing and the one that we really are.We hope you enjoy the conversation.The ADDA is brought to you by The Deep & Meaningful Consultancy.Host: Deepa MirchandaniMusic: Unreasonable World by Bernard Schimpelsberger (⁠http://www.bernhard.co.at/⁠)To find out more about the Deep & Meaningful Consultancy, to sign up for our monthly newsletter and also check out our Group ADDA sessions, please take a look at⁠ https://www.deepandmeaningful.co⁠. 

What if trauma carries a hidden gift; biological adaptability for future generations?Join host Deepa Mirchandani and guest Dr. Rana Dajani as they unpack a ground‑breaking epigenetic study on three generations of Syrian women and discuss why decolonising science starts with decolonising our own minds.This conversation is from one of our Group ADDA sessions and in it we share Deepa’s conversation with Dr. Rana and also snapshots of the rich group discussion that followed. We had participants from India, Kenya, the USA, Spain and the UK and what ensued was lively and heartfelt.We hope you enjoy the conversation and keep it going.For more information about Dr. Dajani’s research: Epigenetic signatures of intergenerational exposure to violence in three generations of Syrian refugees: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-89818-z