The App Naturblick shows the nature in our everyday life and reveals the richness of species in the city now also throughout Germany. After the app was initially designed as a pilot project for Berlin, it will be extended to the whole of Germany after successful use and over 130,000 downloads.
Naturblick was conceived and developed as part of the "Discovering Urban Nature" project. Financed by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), new technologies are being used to raise awareness of urban nature and to communicate environmental education digitally. Initially designed as a pilot project for Berlin, the project was extended until August 2020 and the Naturblick app is now available throughout Germany. "Nowhere do we encounter nature more frequently than in our own neighborhood. We encounter mighty street trees, species-rich backyards, community gardens and the sound of bird voices almost every day. But we rarely look and listen. In the last three years we have been able to inspire people for urban nature and species identification by looking at nature. We are happy about the extension of the project for all German cities", says project manager Ulrike Sturm.
All interested ones have now Germany far the possibility with the App nature view free of charge and at any time more over nature and the variety of species in their direct environment to experience. Simple identification keys help to identify species. With the app bird calls and photos of trees, herbs and wild flowers can be determined automatically. The app also provides information about the species, possible mix-ups and other interesting facts. Observations can also be saved and shared, for example, with the citizen research project "Research Case Nightingale".
Within the framework of the research project, Naturblick will be continuously developed in terms of content and technology in a user-centred manner. Digital technologies are not only used for this purpose, but are also developed and, for example, the use of pattern recognition in species identification is demonstrated.
The Naturblick app is available free of charge in the Playstore and Appstore. More information about the project "Discover urban nature" can be found at: