In the summer of 2016, Naturevolution led a multidisciplinary scientific expedition to Scoresby Sund on the east coast of Greenland. For two months in the field, the exploration objectives were accompanied by scientific manipulations related to global warming and Arctic biodiversity, all interspersed with logistical hazards. Beyond these objectives, the expedition aimed to raise awareness of the beauty and fragility of the Arctic areas, the need to protect them, and to bring about behavioural changes in our direct or indirect relationship to the environment, through image and storytelling.
The Awareness Component of the Expedition
The awareness-raising objectives for the Scoresby 2016 project in Greenland were multiple. The aim was initially to share the discoveries made during the expedition, but also to disseminate knowledge and scientific research on the Arctic regions in an attractive way.
In the second phase, the challenge was to raise awareness as widely as possible of the beauty and richness of these regions, of their fragility in front of global warming and the intensification of human activities – two threats directly linked to our way of life – and finally the preservation of these sensitive environments.
Project actions included the production of a travelling exhibition, 15 and 52-minute films for festivals and television, school and educational interventions, the publication of a book, the setting up of a web-series and the presentation of the expedition on a website. At the request of our partners, we have drawn up a review of our awareness-raising activities, which we share with you here.
Our actual achievements
When we returned from the expedition, we set about it without waiting. A first 13-minute teaser and a large exhibition were quickly released during the fall of 2016, followed in spring 2017 by a 52-minute film selected in many festivals, broadcast on Arte in summer 2018, and soon on Ushuaïa TV. At the same time, many events for schoolchildren were held, through dedicated screenings and interventions in schools.
Out of some 30 events, nearly 60,000 people were affected live, including around 6,000 schoolchildren of all ages, not to mention the audience reached via the Internet, radio interventions and television broadcasts.
1. Film General Audience – Screenings-Debates
Teaser of 13min
Aired on the following events:
• ‘Rencontres Montagnes & Sciences’ in Grenoble (2,000 people – November 2016)
• ‘Terre d’ailleurs’ festival in Toulouse (450 people – November 2016)
• La Rochelle International Adventure Film Festival (800 people – November 2016)
• ‘Rencontres Montagnes & Sciences’ in Bourg d’Oisans (300 people – November 2016)
• ‘Rencontres Montagnes & Sciences’ in Valence (600 people – November 2016)
• ‘Rencontres Montagnes & Sciences’ in Clermont-Ferrand (500 people – January 2017)
52 minute film “Groenland, les Murmures de la Glace”
Broadcast on TV and in replay
The 52 min film “Groenland, Les Murmures de la Glace” was broadcast on Arte in July 2018 and is now available for replay. It will soon be broadcast on Ushuaia TV and internationally.
Aired on the following events:
• ‘Aventure et Découverte’ Festival of Val d’Isère (600 people – April 2017, public prize)
• ‘Explos’ festival in Ax-les-Thermes (480 people – May 2017)
• ‘Les Écrans de l’Aventure’ Festival of Dijon (500 people – October 2017)
• ‘Rencontres Montagnes & Sciences’ in Grenoble (2,000 people – November 2017, public prize)
• La Rochelle International Adventure Film Festival (800 people – November 2017)
• ‘Rencontres Montagnes & Sciences’ in Bourg d’Oisans (300 people – November 2017)
• ‘Rencontres Montagnes & Sciences’ in Valence (600 people – November 2017)
• ‘Quais du Départ’ festival in Lyon (400 people – November 2017)
• Autrans International Mountain Film Festival (450 people – December 2017)
• ‘Rencontres Montagnes & Sciences’ in Clermont-Ferrand (500 people – January 2018)
• Meetings Montagnes et Sciences in Lyon (200 people – January 2018)
• ‘Curieux voyageurs’ festival in Saint Etienne (600 people – March 2018)
• ‘Partance’ festival in Toulouse (600 people – March 2018)
• ‘Les Escales Voyageuses’ festival in Avignon (600 people – March 2018)
• ‘Rendez-vous de l’aventure dans l’Espace des Mondes Polaires’ festival in Premanon (March 2018)
• ‘Le Vénéon fait son cinéma’ open-air festival, at La Bérarde (August 2018)
• ‘Terres d’Ailleurs’ festival, at the Astrolable cinema in Figeac (September 2018)
• ‘Festival de l’Image’, at the Clos des Fées in Paluel (October 2018)
• 5th ‘Université des Alpes’ in Annecy (October 2018)
• ‘Objectif Aventure’ festival at CENTQUATRE in Paris (January 2019)
2. School interventions and projections
With the 13-minute film
• 2 lectures of 2 hours at the Collège Louis Lumière of Échirolles (50 middle school students – March 2017)
• 1 intervention of 1 hour at the school of Sechilienne (25 primary school children– November 2016)
• 1 screening-discussion of 1 hour as part of the ‘Rencontres Montagnes & Sciences’ de Grenoble (3,000 high school students – November 2016)
• 1 screening-discussion of 1 hour as part of the ‘Rencontres Montagnes & Sciences’ in Villard-de-Lans (150 high school students – December 2016)
• 1 screening-discussion of 1 hour as part of the International Mountain Film Festival in Autrans (400 primariy school children – December 2016)
• 2 screenings and discussions of 1h30 as part of the La Rochelle International Festival of Adventure Film (700 primariy school children – November 2016)
With the 52-minute film “Groenland, les Murmures de la Glace”
An educational document was produced for teachers in association with the film.
• A 2-hour screening-discussion as part of the La Rochelle International Adventure Film Festival (800 primary school children – November 2017)
• 1 screening-discussion of 2 hours in Dijon (250 junior high school students – October 2017)
• 2 interventions of 2 hours at the school of Sechilienne (134 primary school children– November 2017)
• 2 presentations of 3 hours at the Louis Lumière College of Échirolles (350 high school students – December 2017)
• 1 school screening as part of the ‘Pyrénicimes’ festival in Pibrac (November 2017)
• 2 school interventions with projection in Figeac and Decazeville (September 2018)
• School intervention during the Pariscience Festival, at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (October 2018)
3. Exhibition
A travelling exhibition including texts, photos and illustrations was presented to more than 25,000 people at the La Rochelle Adventure Film Festival in November 2016, nearly 10,000 people at the Val d’Isère ‘Aventure et Découverte’ festival in April 2017 and as many at the ‘Explos’ festival in Ax-les-Thermes in May 2017.
You can discover it in pictures on this link: An exhibition invites you to discover Scoresby Sund.
4. Internet, radio and social networks
The expedition was reported live during the expedition with 65 articles combining stories, sounds, photos and interviews, published in the expedition’s logbook and relayed on Naturevolution’s Facebook page (4,000 followers in 2016).
Seven radio interventions were made, including three in the show ‘Le temps d’un bivouac‘, during the expedition and on set (France Inter – July 2017), and one in ‘La méthode scientifique‘ (France Culture – October 2016).
Following the first photos published in the summer of 2016, the expedition has been revisited on Naturevolution’s Instagram account (800 followers) since late 2017.
In progress
Development of an educational project – Naturevolution is currently in the process of structuring an educational component related to the massifs in which we operate, their physical environment and their biodiversity. This component provides for the development of additional teaching materials and more school-based interventions.
Web-series – We are currently looking for additional financing to exploit the many contents brought back from the expedition and to trace the expedition and its stakes through a web-series.
Book – A book is being produced by Evrard Wendenbaum and Aurélie Calmet.
Multimedia – We are in the process of redesigning the Naturevolution website and we plan to build an interactive media library that will showcase Scoresby Sund and our discoveries.
Conclusion
Following the expedition, the Naturevolution team made use of as many different channels as possible to reach the widest possible audience: nearly 60,000 people on the events alone, including 6,000 schoolchildren, and several tens or possibly hundreds of thousands thanks to the Internet, radio interventions and television broadcasts. In 2018, we will continue to explore new opportunities to raise awareness of the protection of natural habitats and encourage changes in environmental behaviour by making the best use of audiovisual content brought back from expeditions.
The scale of our awareness-raising activities is the result of the strong motivation of the Naturevolution team and the commitment of our partners who place their trust in us. We would especially like to thank the ‘Terre d’Initiatives Solidaires’ foundation for its support on the awareness and pedagogy component of our actions, a component that requires daily work but often little visible once the expedition is over.