Every year on the Baltic island of Bornholm, a democratic festival takes place. Locally known as Folkemodet, the event host 3500 talks, debates, workshops and workshops where all aspects of life, business and politics are on the table.
TETTRIs partners at the Natural History Museum of Denmark (NHMD) were at the festival to talk #taxonomy.
Panel discussion
Leader of the section for Science and Society, Anders Tøttrup was part of a talk on Citizen Science. The help of the public is important to gather biodiversity data and monitor hotspots.
Survey blooms
As the festival is a gathering of policy makers, a novel methods was invented to measure the general understanding of taxonomy, and its importance in our society. Questions came as standard, but participants answered by placing a seed into a numbered box. The numbers were linked to multiple-choice answers. The answers have began to grow into flowers.
Preliminary results indicate that, although there was some ambiguity, participants knew the definition of taxonomy. And generally saw the importance of taxonomy in nature conservation, supply chain and education. Once grown, a more thorough analyses of the survey will be published.
TETTRIs testing novel ways of engagement
How do we inspire interest of nature in young people? One model to test, is the use of art as a gateway into species recognition. NHMD teamed up with Roskilde Festival Highschool -art academy to make nature-inspired art. Roskilde technical school built a frame reminiscent of a bee keepers hive. The students then had frame to create something at the highschool. Great ideas came about, including a painting by a snail dipped in non-toxic ink. A lemon in varying degrees of decomposition, and a ceramic flower.
At the actual festivals, guest could participate in a workshop. They gathered plants from the area, identified the species using the recognition app, Arter, then wove the plants into a piece of art for exhibition.
All in all, these novel techniques were a great way to engage with new target audiences at the festival.
