Climate change, species extinction or biodiversity loss: It has become obvious that the challenges of the present cannot be overcome alone. A comprehensive picture unquestionably requires a multitude of perspectives. The Museum für Naturkunde with its "Netzwerk Naturwissen" (Network of Nature Knowledge) is the venue for a collaboration with partners from Berlin and Brandenburg.
Ecological, political and social changes can be told in relation to nature and today, more than ever, require us to rethink cooperation. If we want to change the world, we need trusting alliances that are aligned with our relationship to nature. The embers of creative and innovative change lie in the friction that arises when different ideas, perspectives and experiences wrestle with each other. This is why the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin is developing the Netzwerk Naturwissen (Network of Natural Knowledge), whose work and discussions can be found in the Atlas of Natural Knowledge. The joint work in the network results in content and maps that combine abstract considerations with shared practice at a specific time and place. They serve to make knowledge visible and shareable and aim to structure and record collaboration and to think it further in terms of content and methodology.
The Netzwerk Naturwissen
The Netzwerk Naturwissen forms a lively, surprising and collaborative contact zone for different partners from the Berlin and Brandenburg area. It is an umbrella for venturing new ways of thinking and testing new ways of acting. The aim of the Netzwerk Naturwissen is to gain and reflect on contemporary natural knowledge in order to find democratic answers to the pressing questions of our time. This takes place against the background that not only one perspective can adequately describe and shape the interactions between nature, societies, technologies and the environment. Global agreements (such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or the Montreal Agreement (2022)) suggest a normative consensus on necessary changes. However, corresponding efforts leave open how shared intentions can be implemented in practice. In other words: declarations of intent and reality are not yet congruent. This is another reason why we need places where people can meet, where they can think and exchange ideas together and where they can find solutions. Ultimately, what is needed is not a waiting room for radical transformations, but a mobilizing programme of action.
The working methods, content and process of the Netzwerk Naturwissen are documented, visualized and made accessible on the project's own website in the Atlas Naturwissen. This serves on the one hand as a tool for reflection, and on the other to share experiences and benefit from them. The knowledge that is discovered in this way is not the only way to look at nature issues. It is an offer to read the world. You are welcome to take a look at: https://atlasnaturwissen.de
Who is the Network?
Since the fall of 2022, over 30 partners from the Berlin/Brandenburg region with different experiences, insights and expertise in relation to human-environment relationships have come together in the Naturwissen network. The network that is being created here combines exciting perspectives for a knowledge of nature. Biology, the life sciences and political theory are just a few examples of the wide range of topics covered here. This starting point is a first step towards bringing together and disseminating the perspectives from politics, art, culture and civil society that are necessary for the negotiation of complex bodies of knowledge. After all, all networkers have access to their respective communities. As such, the network's goal is not to create a purely academic context. Instead, the network thrives on its partners from NGOs, activists and cultural institutions. Those involved are united by their interest in shedding light on an aspect of this knowledge of nature through their project. This thematic reference can be the starting point for potentially unexpected collaborations.
Activities of the Network
As part of this cooperation within the network, various activities and formats are created both for the networkers and for all interested parties. These are largely created in the joint network meetings, in which the networkers identify specific topics and problems that give rise to new working relationships and their own projects that spark innovative forces. The resulting formats are not aimed purely at conveying information, but rather at confronting findings and experiences with one another. Various events are created as part of the work in project groups.
In the first phase of the Nature Knowledge Network, six different project groups have been formed that deal with the topic of biodiversity loss/extinction in different ways:
- User Lab
- Dialogforum
- Transformation Lab
- Finding your Nature through Food
- Petrified Times
- Spiel des Lebens
In addition, the event series “Netzwerk Naturwissen im Gespräch” (Nature Knowledge Network in Conversation) was created, in which current social developments and discourses on human-environment relations are publicly addressed. The events thrive on the fact that different network members speak publicly in various formations about current events, such as the Conference of the Parties in Montreal (COP 15), the global climate strike and new publications of thematically relevant books.
Furthermore, the Nature Knowledge Network offers a monthly reading group for networkers, museum employees and other interested parties. The group uses texts to discuss current concepts and different perspectives on the topics of extinction, biodiversity change and species diversity.
Further information on the individual dates of the projects, events and the reading circle can be found in the atlas, on the Museum für Naturkunde website and on our social media channels. If you have any suggestions or questions, please contact us at: netzwerknaturwissen@mfn.berlin.