Swiss climate project wins German design prize

A project of the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHDK) and the University of Freiburg was honoured with the Federal Ecodesign Award on Monday, according to a press release from the ZHDK. The Expedition 2 Grad project received this highest state prize for ecological design in Germany in the Concepts category. It brings climate change to life with the help of the young design discipline of visualisation.

Expedition 2 degrees briefly explained

Climate change is probably the most complex problem that mankind has to solve. The internationally agreed two-degree target is just as complex. Expedition 2 degrees lets you understand what it means in concrete terms if the earth warms up by an average of 2 degrees.

To make the abstract 2-degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement tangible, the award winners utilise the power of images and 3D glasses. "In a virtual world around the Great Aletsch Glacier, the expedition participants experience the effects of the temperature increase in the Alpine environment in an interactive and emotional way," explain the designers at the Website of their project. "They travel through time and space and see the Aletsch region through the eyes of their grandparents and future generations."

Expedition 2 Grad is a research and communication project of the Zurich University of the Arts and the University of Fribourg in collaboration with the University of Zurichthe University of Teacher Education Graubündenthe Swiss National Park and the World Nature Forum in Naters VS. It was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation. In 2019 and 2020, the virtual reality experience was on show at various locations in Switzerland. Further exhibitions are planned in Switzerland and abroad in 2021.

Expedition 2 Grad is aimed in particular at secondary school classes at levels I and II. The main module of Expedition 2 Degrees is the interactive VR experience. However, the expedition also includes a thematically appropriate supporting programme with a guided class discussion. Expedition 2 Degrees is also open to all other interested visitors in a simplified mode during visitor times at the exhibition locations.

Source: punkt4