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In February 2021, the Royal Society launched a new research initiative to foster interdisciplinary research on “animate materials,” i.e., a new class of human-made materials mimicking biology or living systems. Whilst biologically-inspired materials have long been on the rise, this emerging notion aims to combine multiple concepts in materials science (smart, self-healing, self-reporting, etc.), to identify new ways of making materials that are, at the same time, active, adaptive, and autonomous. Able to sense the environment and autonomously adapt to it to maintain their functions, these materials have the potential not only to make manufacturing and engineering more sustainable, but also to transform the concept of engineering. In the spirit of the Royal Society’s call to action, this Collection aims to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration and gather original research focused on the development of materials with lifelike properties. Submissions that demonstrate examples of sustainable applications in the field of engineering and manufacturing are particularly welcome.