Connecting visitors with real nature
Museums and science centers often put on exhibitions about nature or environmental topics, aiming to equip visitors with a deeper understanding for the importance of conservation and the need for sustainability. Attracting visitors in man-made buildings in order to investigate, learn and care more about nature seems a rather contradictory idea: wildlife should be investigated in the wild, shouldn’t it?
Since most people on Earth live in cities, and most European have lost regular contact with nature, reconnecting them to nature – whether by bringing them to nature or nature to them - has become more urgent and is a priority in promoting and understanding nature. How we can create indoor exhibitions or experiences to inspire visitors to care about "real nature"? What kind of products or projects will give our visitors this heartfelt relationship with nature we would like them to have?
This pre-conference focuses on the indoor-outdoor paradox in different ways. A selection of speakers will kick-start the workshop by sharing their point of view on this paradox. In the afternoon, we will have an interactive workshop session, investigating our paradox through four topics: exhibition, education, citizen science and communication.
The natural history exhibitions located a few feet away at the Universalmuseum Joanneum will serve as a playground for testing ideas.
This workshop is organised by the Ecsite thematic group bringing together professionals and institutions who engage audiences with nature, the Nature Group. A detailed programme is available here.
Session speakers
Professor, Biology Education
Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms-Universität
Emotional aspects of learning in museums with a special focus on natural history dioramas. Dioramas present ecological information in an appealing way - they can offer surprising moments, novel and unexpected “nature experiences”. By making the visit feel like an exploration and creating a sense of wonder, dioramas can help to connect visitors to nature. Research found that such kind of affective connection is a significant predictor of pro-environmental behaviour.
Bristol Zoological Society
Helping citizens to understand and care for nature is one of the major roles of aquariums, wildlife parks and zoological gardens in the 21st century. In Europe, to do so is a requirement of the EU Zoos Directive and this is particularly important now, over halfway through the Decade of Biodiversity. This presentation is about how zoos engage their guests with wildlife conservation, from their motivation to visit to the take-home messages we want to the carry away. Among these are the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ campaigns. This year’s campaign, ‘Let it Grow’, concerns local biodiversity and is organised together with Ecsite and BGCI to increase its reach and effectiveness. The presentation also covers the Bristol Natural History Consortium, a local partnership that brings together Bristol’s major stakeholders in caring for and promoting the natural world, and discusses their key activities.
Director of research at CNRS
Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle
How will specific opportunities be in contact with nature in the urban context (e.g. zoo visit) can contribute to combat the extinction of experience and help biodiversity conservation
