This article describes methods and concepts for emulating and including nature's role in engineering activities, with the expectation that they will contribute to sustainable engineering. Existing nature-inspired methods function at different levels ranging from individual products to large integrated networks. These include methods such as biomimicry and industrial symbiosis that mimic some characteristic property of a natural system but depend on technological improvements for sustainability; ecological engineering and green infrastructure that depend on nature-based solutions as means for sustainability and techno-ecological synergy that integrates technological and ecological systems by adopting a holistic perspective of design. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.