Programme

How to bridge the gap between science and the community – the case of the climate crisis
led by prof. dr. Alja Lipavic Oštir and prof. dr. Jana Ambrožič Dolinšek
from the University of Maribor, ZELEN.COM project:
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Guided tour of the main exhibition Eyes in the Stone ath the Triennial of the Art and Environment EKO 9
led by Brigita Strnad, Museum Counselor

The gap between science and society on the climate crisis is characterised by two main components: science wants to communicate the facts about the climate crisis, and at the same time (also in cooperation with decision-makers in society) it wants to tell us how we should behave to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis. In the ears of the average John and Jane, this sounds like: Blah, ????, blah, blah, blah and therefore you must not do this and you must not do that and that would not be good… It sounds like the worst educational measure that John and Jane have been subjected to at home or at school. An educational measure that results in ignoring, rebellion or silently following the measure, which in turn engenders rejection, insincerity and other negative feelings in the one who follows it. This is not what we want, because the climate crisis is an alarmingly serious environmental issue in which we cannot afford not to engage with all the target groups in society. So we are faced with the question of how to communicate the climate crisis. How to communicate scientifically coded data, how to explain complex processes, how to get people to look for solutions in a climate-changed world? How can we act in a way that will eliminate or at least mitigate the effects of the climate crisis and, of course, adapt to them? Education based on the results of the work of the ZELEN.KOM project (Faculty of Arts of the University of Maribor) brings examples from our surroundings that will help us to answer the questions.

After the lecture, the participants, guided by Museum Conselor Brigita Strnad, will visit the main exhibition Eyes in The Stone of the Triennial EKO 9. The exhibition will look at the environmental crisis through the prism of the horror genre and will provide an opportunity for catharsis, which can be triggered by a well-directed primary emotion of fear. Atmosphere will appear in the Villa of Fear with a double meaning, as climate, atmosphere, and as atmosphere, shtimung. Visiting the exhibition will be an opportunity to try out how to communicate the climate crisis alongside artworks.

Lecturers:
Alja Lipavic Oštir is Professor of German Language at the University of Maribor and at the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Slovakia. Her research interests include: language strategies of migrants, multilingualism development, cross-curricular integration and language contact. Apart from short Erasmus exchanges in different European countries, she has been a visiting professor at the University of Bern, Switzerland, and Vilnius University, Lithuania. She is currently involved in two international projects on environmental sensitisation in the classroom and literacy in the Anthropocene. At the University of Maribor, together with prof. dr. Danijel Ivajnšič, she is the content leader of the pilot project ZELEN.KOM on communicating the climate crisis. She is also active in language policy and believes that it is always necessary to look at phenomena in the world in an interdisciplinary way. Her motto is: The world is one!

Jana Ambrožič-Dolinšek is a professor of botany at the University of Maribor. Her lectures are related to topics in biology, plant physiology and biotechnology. She lectures to future educators, classroom teachers and future biologists and ecologists. Her research interests include: in vitro processes for the propagation, protection and conservation of horticulturally important, rare, protected or endangered species, the phytoremediation potential of plants in tissue culture, and the socio-scientific aspects of modern biotechnology. She is involved in the international project CulturalNatural Literacy and the pilot project ZELEN.KOM both on communicating the climate crisis. She has borrowed her motto from the Mini University of the Faculty of Arts (MUF): Curiosity is the highway to knowledge.

Applications will be accepted until 20 May 2024 at Brigita Strnad, brigita.strnad@ugm.si, 02 22 94697

22 Maj 2024, 15:30–17:30
Old sanatorium, Tyrševa 19
Triennial of
Art and
Environment
EKO 9 Eyes in the Stone is part of project EMPACT | Empathy & Sustainability, co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.