Slow Nature. Collectively gathering wildlife data
I hope to lead a year-long project documenting the living organisms around Rotterdam, focusing on sites like Brienenoord Island. Alongside workshop participants, we capture images of specimens, which we collect and digitally archive in the GBIF database. Together, we create a catalogue that tracks how these specimens change over time and how their appearance varies across digital devices. Our findings culminate in a physical mural displayed at Brienenoord Island's community center. Regular meetups provide a space to discuss new discoveries and explore how Rotterdam's evolving biodiversity shapes the city. I am a designer and researcher exploring the intersection of nature and technology. My work focuses on bridging the gap between human users and the applications they interact with, considering their needs more closely in the design process. I aim to raise awareness about the energy consumption of digital technologies while using them as tools to reconnect people with nature. By harnessing technology and sharing skills, I strive to foster a deeper understanding of our digital impact and create more sustainable interactions with the natural world. Looking at what can be noticed beyond what the technology tells us to see we will create slow, analogue knowledge, together on the island. Following on from recent workshops on Brienenoord in which our senses are challenged, interrogated and developed, this workshop asks us to question how we have become accustom to understanding nature through data. We will challenge our intuitive ways of knowing and together develop a mural of collective knowledge that will help us to slow down and better relate to our surroundings using the island as a test site. I see the final outcome come together in the form of a publication about the interspecies connections formed in the city of Rotterdam.