Science for the public
The Daimler and Benz Foundation is funding a special event format that sets out to stimulate a dialog of trust between science and the public. The “Innovative Science Communication” competition, launched at the beginning of 2023, was won by the Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden (SNSD). The “SenckenBike” project, initiated by the Senckenberg Museum Dresden, is receiving funding of around 30,000 euros: This series of five open-air events is being carried out with two electric cargo bikes. Fitted out as mobile pop-up research stations, the SenckenBikes are intended to bring research and researchers from the SNSD into the city and initiate a dialog with society at large.
Since 2009, the former Dresden State Natural History Collections, together with the Museum of Zoology and the Museum of Mineralogy and Geology, has numbered among the research institutes and natural history museums of the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research, with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main. Under the name Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden, this institution became a member of the Leibniz Association following the merger with the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research. With over 7.5 million objects, the SNSD is one of the oldest and largest collections of its kind in Germany. Portions of the collections and the latest research findings are shown to the public in changing special exhibitions at the Japanese Palace in the Baroque Quarter of Dresden.
The SenckenBike project aims to arouse interest in topics from the research fields of biodiversity and geodiversity by encouraging as many people as possible to spontaneously visit the mobile research stations. With their communication concept, the initiators above all want to reach people who do not normally take up the offers of traditional museum work or who are not actively interested in scientific topics. In the new format, the museum is now coming to them with its research activities.
With various topics adapted to the location, the aim is to show where Senckenberg’s scientific work offers points of reference for people’s lives, for example with the topic of biodiversity loss. Visitors can engage in discussion with the scientists on site. Children will always have the opportunity to participate in the research; a small booklet for young researchers also invites them to actively continue their activities. After a visit to the mobile research station, visitors can inform themselves of follow-up events and the next locations via the social media channels or the project page on the Internet.
The SenckenBikes are versatile, can be set up almost anywhere, and highlight the sustainable focus of this project. The eye-catching design of the charging boxes is intended to generate a powerful external impact even when on the move. The bikes can be loaded with a number of different modular boxes corresponding to the various scientific topics presented. Along with selected illustrative objects from the collections, they also contain materials for hands-on research such as binoculars, cup magnifiers, identification literature, and much more.
Following the launch of this project in mid-2023, the topics, dates, and locations for 2024 were first of all determined in close consultation with the scientists. A graphics agency developed the name (“SenckenBike”), the slogan (“Exploring the diversity of nature together”), the design of the cargo bikes, the advertising material, and the project website. The cargo bikes have already been procured and tested. Once the main content of the individual theme days was defined, suitable materials were selected for the respective module boxes.
The project is planned as a series of events to present various facets of the SNSD’s research activities. The SenckenBikes will appear at various locations in Dresden on five Saturdays between April and September 2024. The planned topics and locations include the following: “Forbidden souvenirs – What souvenirs my I take home with me?” at Dresden Airport, “STEINaltes Dresden – A journey through the history of the earth” in the city center, and “Insect diversity – Preserving and promoting” at the Japanese Palace. Each project day is prepared in close cooperation with the scientists and the museum’s education department. Sustainable reuse of the electric cargo bikes and of the module boxes and materials is already planned as a fixed element of educational museum programs at schools and daycare centers.
