26 October 2023 – 4 February 2024 | Free Space Forum Wissen
Digital Forest. A Virtual Journey into Climate Research.
Date: 26.10.2023 – 04.02.2024
Place: Forum Wissen, Free space
Climate change is becoming increasingly noticeable for all of us. It is also affecting the forest. The special exhibition ‘Digital Forest’ at Forum Wissen, the knowledge museum of the University of Göttingen, shows, among other things, in a virtual reality, how scientists from the Universities of Göttingen and Leipzig are researching the influence of drought on the forest. At the same time, visitors are invited to consider their own actions in the climate crisis. The special exhibition will run from 26 October 2023 to 4 February 2024.
The exhibition which is available in German and in English focuses on innovative technologies and methods of climate research in the forest – state-of-the-art sensor technology and data analysis methods from the field of artificial intelligence. In the core zone of the Hainich National Park, one of the most pristine forests in Central Europe, a sensor network records the water transport from the roots to the leaves of the trees every half hour. From a 40 metre high measuring tower, the ‘breath of the forest’ is constantly measured and data on evaporation performance and CO₂ uptake is generated. Thanks to modern laser technology, digital copies of the trees are created, making drought damage visible. Above all this, satellites are travelling round in their orbits providing bird’s-eye images of the changes in the forest.
The special exhibition “Digitaler Wald / Digital Forest” makes all this visible and tangible. It shows how climate research in the forest ecosystem works digitally. At the same time, the exhibition encourages visitors to think about what each and every individual can do to protect the climate. A journey in virtual reality takes them right into the research station in the Hainich National Park and makes modern field research in the forest tangible. This immersive VR experience is framed by real objects such as measuring instruments, informative graphics, playful hands-on stations and diverse voices from different researchers. Current positions from various perspectives such as forest protection initiatives, climate activists and climate regulatory bodies are intended to stimulate visitors to think about their own actions and to continue the all-important dialogue between science and society on the climate crisis.
More information on the events programme will follow.