francesca925

[francesca925]

Blog 7:Personal thoughts and summaries

Today ended the first presentation at the University of Portsmouth, which was very rewarding and opened the door to a new world for me.

The overall process of our group advanced well, although in the course of the presentation, there were some small situations, such as a page of slides suddenly disappearing, the video playback error, being sluggish, etc.

but this all constitutes an exclusive memory; in terms of content, the professors pointed out that we recognize our own shortcomings, for example, some of the content of my part was too long and In fact, it could have been selectively deleted, and the five of us could have distributed our presentations more evenly, and we could have gone more in-depth about artifact making, falling back on the artifacts themselves, which is the most important thing.

Below is my summary of the learning models used by the group and individuals, as well as some shortcomings:

·Team： Tuckman's Team Development Model - Form, Storm, Norm, Perform

come up with our ideas

put them together

divide up the work

we choose the best and then we move forward with a model that we are comfortable with (WhatsApp + face-to-face).

Weaknesses: communication was not close enough, otherwise it would have been more efficient.

Personal： GROW model - Goals, Reality, Options, Willingness​​

Produce something beneficial for biodiversity conservation - Reality takes into account professional constraints, funding, status, ability, etc. - Choose what is within my power - Be confident and have a plan to accomplish my goals finally.

I really understand the name of our class, what is interdisciplinarity, people with different specializations who are good at different fields will get together and burst out great energy, that is to say, the conservation of biodiversity can not only be the efforts of the environmental protection department but also need to cross-departmental and cross-disciplinary collaboration to achieve the ultimate goal. My part is over, and my task is done, but actually, it's not over, because preserving biodiversity is still ongoing and it's relevant to everyone.

[francesca925]

Blog 6:Slides production and detail refinement

After the research and ideas were in place and communicated to the group, we decided to start creating the slides, and for better "synchronization" we chose the platform Google Slides.

The group members worked together to complete the PowerPoint presentation, I think it is very important is the "logic chain", each person needs to summarise their own part of the research into several modules, and following the artefacts idea generation - the group members of the idea summary and refinement --Artefact production - Artefact publicity and promotion;

Therefore, I have listed a few suggestions for the presentation on Google Slides based on the different specializations of the group members and the work they have done, and regarding the template for group presentations given by Dr. Matt on Moodle:

These include:

·the order of presentations

·fixed language at the beginning and end

· The key points to be mentioned in the presentation

· A list of group study patterns

· What each person might include in his or her presentation

Figure 9&10&11 Screenshot of Google Slides - made by myself

And for me personally, I made the following content refinements while making it:

·extracted key data and examples from all the research I have done

·collect images and short videos

·minimize text

· The unity of the background color palette and the theme of the Slide production

·Going into detail: promotional and application video sections

Below is a video I independently produced and dubbed for New Forest's publicity and promotions：

The hedgehog is introduced as the first point of view, its friends are introduced in turn, and an interesting storytelling video is created by combining the different habits of the four animals in the New Forest, and ending with - welcome to The New Forest, which attracts and guides the audience to the next step of the virtual game interface.

[francesca925]

Blog 5: A burst of new ideas

As our group deliberated together, we identified the four most important members of the final New Forest as the most widely watched species of endangered animals in the UK: the Scottish Wildcat, the Beaver, the Red Squirrel, and the Hedgehog; and the New Forest built around them must contain a very large number of mysterious stories, I can already imagine. The video I intend to make is less than two minutes long, with the fundamental aim of attracting attention and achieving a call to action.

When I happened to go through the photos and videos I took last year at the Beijing Safari Park in China, I observed something interesting: the zoo has different facilities for different animals with different habits. For example, monkeys and orangutans, who like to climb, have a lot of jumping and climbing facilities at different heights in their living area, while pandas, who like to be lazy, playful, and have less exercise, have all kinds of toys (ping pong balls) all over their living area. The panda's area is full of toys (balls, ducks, water features); and the keepers usually place the baby pandas' favorite bamboo in higher positions in order to build up their limb strength.

Figure 5&6： Taken at Beijing Zoo on 15/4/2024

Figure 7&8：From China News

It occurred to me that it might be possible to add and upgrade facilities in New Forest; these endangered species in the UK are already facing an existential crisis, and in order for them to flourish, it is important to ensure that they can live better in New Forest, in addition to safeguarding their basic living environment; The five senses of an animal: hearing, sight, smell, touch and taste.

Considering the different natures and specific needs of animals, it is also crucial to think about how these facilities can be safely incorporated. eg:

Multi-sensory exploration area:

create an area containing a variety of natural materials (e.g. different textured bark, fragrant plants, coloured flowers, etc.) that stimulate the animal's senses of touch, smell and sight. Such an area encourages animals to explore and interact, enhancing their sensory experience.

Music and sound elements:

Research has shown that certain animals respond positively to music or specific sounds. Devices that produce natural sounds (e.g., running water, birdsong) can be installed or soft music that is beneficial to the animals can be played to provide them with acoustic relief and stimulation.

According to a news report from China's Yunnan Province, the Yunnan Zoo had installed TVs for baby pandas suffering from depression：

From this, we can see that safeguarding the lives of animals is the most basic requirement, and on top of that, paying attention to their emotions and psychology, and really thinking about how they can live better, improve the quality of the environment within their capacity, and extend their lifespan is also a key link in the process of conserving biodiversity.

[francesca925]

Blog 4

Based on the New Forest artifact, which was initially conceived, I started a new round of thinking, and I came up with a good idea about promoting and applying it, with the ultimate goal of hoping that more and more people will spread more knowledge about endangered species in this way, and thus raise their awareness of the need to conserve biodiversity and protect the environment:

Overview: Based on Matt's poster about the artifacts, and taking on board the opinions of the two professors, I think it is possible to add a QRcode to the poster, scan it and have a video on the welcome page as well as create a virtual New Forest web-based game, designing a few segments, such as "Helping Animals to Find Their Way Home", "Foraging for Food", "Finding the Way Home", and so on. "Foraging for food" and answering questions with rewards for passing, as detailed below:

New Forest

Promotion and publicity:

(online and offline interaction)

Offline: -Lecture; 1'30s introductory and promotional video about the endangered animals in the park.

-Campus stage: (1) Poster display (with QR code), calling on students and teachers to complete the game challenges in the QR code to get rewards;

(2) Set up a question-and-answer session on animal protection knowledge, and you can get a gift if you answer correctly.

-Poster QR Code content:

1. Welcome page after scanning: 1'30s introductory and promotional video about the endangered animals in this park.

2. Name of the game: Eco Messenger

Objective: To educate players about the habits of endangered animals and the importance of biodiversity conservation by completing interactive tasks.

(1) Game Segment

-Starting Interface: At the beginning of the game, players will first see a short introductory video introducing the mission of the park and the purpose of the game. As well as a demonstration of the operation of the guidelines, players click on "Start Game" to enter the interface for selecting animals.

-Selecting Animals: Players can swipe across the screen to select the animals they want to learn about and help.

Each animal has a short description next to it, including its endangered status, habits and the protection measures it needs.

(2) Task Module: each animal has customised tasks, such as:

-Food finding: the player helps the animal to find the right food in the virtual environment.

-Habitat Building: Choose the right habitat elements to build a safe home for the animal.

-Knowledge Quiz: Complete simple multiple choice questions about animal habits and ecological conservation to earn extra points.

(3) Points and Rewards

-For each completed task, the player earns 10 points.

When they reach 100 points, players receive a virtual badge that proves they are an "Eco-Envoy".

-Points can be used to unlock more information about the animals or to enter a prize draw for physical prizes (e.g. animal dolls, customised mugs).

(4) Sharing function:

After completing a mission, players can share the achievement on social media and earn extra points for each share. The sharing interface provides preset promotional images and links for players to share with one click.

-Online: social media posts, pitching to official media

Format: Post: Copy + Video + Game URL + QR CODE + Poster

The role of promotion and application choosing online + offline forms are:

(1) Educate the public: effectively enhance public knowledge and awareness of biodiversity conservation through games and videos.

(2) Enhance community participation: Through offline activities and online interactions, it enhances community cohesion and promotes exchanges and co-operation among schools and community members.

(3) Encouragement of sustained participation: Through the points and rewards system, motivate people to sustain their participation and spread the message of animal protection.

The game can continue to be developed to establish more simulation scenarios located in different countries, regions, and environments, adding more information and knowledge about endangered species protection and reflecting a certain degree of sustainability;

(4) Increase the visibility of the project: utilize social media and official media pitches to increase the exposure of the project and attract more support and funding.

[francesca925]

Blog 3：Artefact Initial ideas for dissemination and application

As a student of journalism and media, if we want the artifact to be seen by more people, publicity and promotional strategies are essential, and if the artifact can really be realized, some many measures and methods can be adopted, such as the use of AI technology, cooperation with larger international organizations or private individuals to complete the artifact, and the promotion of the artifact to a wider range of people to encourage them to participate in the interaction and to raise awareness of biodiversity conservation amongst more people. For biodiversity conservation awareness, I have created a table:

Figure 4: Screenshot of my document content

After communicating with the group members and the professor in the classroom, Dr.Matt thought that the column on education and community participation was very important, and I also thought that the first three items in my table about the promotion of the artifacts were still idealistic, which was only a beautiful vision, but in the face of such a serious situation of biological conservation, education and popularisation and promotion to the public are obviously more important; after the group members and the professor At the end of the exchange, we had another internal discussion to confirm the range of species included in New Forest and the location of New Forest Park in the UK; Species selection list:

Secondly regarding the promotion and application strategy of the artifacts, imagining a method that can be remotely involved in the manipulation and at the same time achieve a promotional effect requires further thinking …… Meanwhile, I realized a problem in this meeting, I chose the endangered species gorillas in my previous endangered species selection to study the habits related to this group to provide a better life for them, but I didn't consider that mountain gorillas are a species that live in high altitude and in cold, wet climates in areas such as Africa, (but our group didn't consider exactly where New Forest should be built before discussing with the professor). did not consider exactly where New Forest should be built) Based on the basic geographical location and climate conditions of the UK, the inclusion of mountain gorillas in New Forest can be ruled out.

[francesca925]

Blog 2：“New Forest” Idea Outputs and Reflections

In our third group Joel and George are architecture students, for some reasons I missed this session and in this session Matt and George presented a preliminary draft about the artefacts, I regret that I didn't join in this group discussion and didn't feel the joy that comes from exploring and thinking; they came up with a preliminary proposal that I think is very good, it's a named New Forest, an artificial forest park, with the goal of creating an open space that includes man-made landscapes built with local natural materials. The main goal is to attract and introduce new and existing species that will thrive here.

The space will be limited to animal use and is large enough for animals to move freely and to come and go as they please. The artificial landscape has been developed to encourage interaction between young animals, so that when they leave (if they choose to) they will be more likely to return to raise their young due to the memories and experiences they have created during their important formative years. This means that the space promotes breeding, which in turn helps to address low rates of biodiversity. Space ensures that young birds can grow up in a safe and comfortable environment. After this information was synchronised in our group chat, I started a series of thoughts and research on how to add new elements to New Forest to make the creation of this park system a perfect fit;

       Initially, I suggested that we could landscape close to the ocean, estuaries, major rivers, and land with enough nutrients to support a diversity of plants, but I realised that this was not enough, and that we needed to add something more specific and creative.

According to relevant reports：

To restore biodiversity, rewilding is a key strategy to address the biodiversity crisis. The main components of rewilding include restoring ecosystems, reintroducing lost species, and connecting fragmented habitats to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem function. This holistic approach not only supports wildlife populations but also helps mitigate climate change by restoring natural habitats that can absorb carbon dioxide. These efforts are aimed at reversing severe declines in biodiversity and increasing ecosystem resilience to ensure that natural systems can effectively sustain life.

[francesca925]

Blog 1：Initial ideas and research

The words "Protecting Biodiversity" have always been around me growing up, from school - adverts - news - social media, but I have never really looked into what biodiversity is, how to deal with the decline of biodiversity and how to protect it; Firstly, I went through the introductory section of the course on Moodle and the examples of previous students' work many times, but I hadn't formed any initial ideas about artefacts yet; for the scavenger hunt in the first lesson, I went to Victoria Park near my flat and photographed some small squirrels and this big, strange tree; I thought about what would be closer to the words "biology", "creativity" and "idea", but didn't come up with any great ideas. (I'd like to thank ECTIP for this course, it's been a long time since I've been able to look at nature, animals and plants so closely, and it's a great feeling!)

Figure 1&2: Photographed in person at Victoria Park

I decided to look for videos on social media and video sites with the keyword "biodiversity conservation" in order to find some inspiration; I watched 3-4 documentaries and feature videos to gain a better understanding of the seriousness of the issue of biodiversity conservation today. I think that if I want to make truly beneficial and creative artefacts I need to be more aware of the theoretical issues surrounding biodiversity and the specific threats we are facing, so I have created the following mind map:

　Figure 3: The mind map I made in "X-Mind".

In December 2022, a global conference was held in Montreal, Canada, to adopt a new framework for the conservation of the world's biodiversity called the Harmony with Nature 2050 Vision. The framework sets out an ambitious plan for action to transform the world's relationship with biodiversity and ensure that the shared vision of Harmony with Nature is achieved by 2050.

The range of information in the link tells us that biodiversity issues are cross-cutting challenges that can be solved independently by more than just governments or environmental authorities. According to a 2019 international scientific report, about 1 million plant and animal species are at risk of extinction globally. As temperatures continue to rise, ecosystems suffer major impacts: a temperature rise of 1.1 degrees Celsius has already altered marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems around the globe, while an increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius could lead to the disappearance of 70 percent of coral reefs. If temperatures rise to 2 degrees Celsius, we could face the total collapse of many more ecosystems. These data underscore the need for cross-sectoral and international cooperation to protect our natural environment."