ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************
Hello David,
You have an excellent point. Here's an interesting quote that might relate:
"We bring children into communities by allowing them to play the game.
Often, too much time is spent learning to play the game, and not actually
playing." (highly paraphrased)
By "game", I take it to mean those things in life that truly make a
difference. ...and often, those things which are hard to find, and hard
to gain access to. It seems essential for an environment exhibit to link
up individuals to the community, and I'd love to hear suggestions for going
about this.I would love to hear more about your exhibit.
---------
For our environment exhibit, the ultimate goal is to have an impact on
visitors' actions.
Behavioral change is a difficult task, and it's likely to occur long after
a museum visit. I am just beginning to think about this, but so far, I see
three important steps in becoming an "environmental steward":
1. Motivation/Empathy
-How do we get visitors to recognize and care about their local
environment?
*A great example I heard about is Greenmaps (www.greenmap.org), where
citizens come together to map out local environmental resources, from
organic farms to bike shops.
2. Confidence/Skills/Insights
-How do we empower visitors to make a difference?
-How do we give visitors the skills to monitor their local environment?
-What insights help visitors better understand their environment's needs,
such as "sustainable design"?
*Perhaps, if visitors take part in environmental investigation (both in the
museum on a role-playing level, and in their local commmunities in a more
authentic way), they will feel empowered to make a difference, to take
charge.
3. Opportunites for Action
-How do we help visitors network with others in their community?
-How can we provide opportunities for them to take part in environmental
policy-making?
*I saw an online petition for the Environmental Stewardship Act that I
thought was interesting (www.undoit.org).
*When I think of how a museum has changed my personal actions, the Monterey
Bay Aquarium's seafood watch comes to mind. A great site, bookmark it!
(www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp)
Individual actions are important, but I also think there needs to be ties
into community actions, and legislative actions. Personally, I feel lost
when it comes to things outside my personal choices (what car I drive, what
food I buy, whether I compost, etc...).
--------------
Let me know if you have heard of any great environmental programs. Or if
you have thoughts on what it takes to invoke "environmental stewardship."
Thank you!
Eric
***************************
Eric Yuan
Exhibit Developer
The Tech Museum of Innovation
201 South Market St
San Jose, CA 95113
(408) 795-6190
Fax (408) 279-7197
www.thetech.org
***************************
On Mon, 19 Jul 2004 14:15:15 -0700, David Taylor <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
>Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
>***************************************************************************
**
>
>Eric,
> I did an exhibit a number of years ago called
>the Environmental Monitoring Center where we did
>exhibits on water, air, land use issues, weather, and
>humans as part of the environment...we had lots of
>real time data and exhibits about major environmental
>issues... I felt mixed success in how effective it was
>with the public...
> It's hard to do real-time-hands-on exhibit stations
>about the environment... so much of what you are
>trying to approach is larger scale, longer term trends
>that don't happen in the scale and time a visitor can
>see... this means that visitors have to make a level
>of abstraction from the real world and concrete experience
>(which are always the best exhibits in my view.) It is
>really important to answer the visitor's question, "Why
>should I pay attention to this exhibit... what does it mean
>in my life?" CO2 and the ozone, along with acid rain and
>other environmental factors are obviously important, but
>how does it relate to my life and my life decisions? Am I
>willing to give up my SUV in order to reduce the emissions?
>Am I willing to fix the oil leak from my car, so it won't get
>into the streams and waterways?
> So, be careful not to do a 'heady' exhibit telling people
>'about the environment'... figure out how to make it relevant
>to them and their lives.
>
>David
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>David Taylor
>AHHA Museum Services
> "Now I Understand"
> (206) 363-8126
>1560 NW Woodbine Way
> Seattle, WA 98177
> e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>http://www.AHHA-MuseumServices.com
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
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