The 8th “Science for All” Festival
Our country, due to its geographical location, is perhaps more affected by climate change. As a result of successive droughts in recent years, our food security has been endangered, and our cities are at risk of soil depletion and subsidence. Houses, farms, livestock, and roads are destroyed by heavy floods, and people are killed. As a result of these concerns, we have prepared several projects for the Iranian National Museum of Science and Technology.
One of these projects is called Dadarcheh and its audiences is children under 12 years old. We try to narrate stories about Iran’s environment in the form of motion videos, in dialects and languages common in Iran. We aim to teach coexistence and love for the environment and the importance of its protection from childhood. For this reason, in addition to the stories available in the book market, we collect local folktales and mythological stories and currently, we narrate in 9 dialects and languages, including Turkish, Luri, Kurdish, Persian, Kabuli, Gilaki, Sistani, and Arabic. One of our oldest mythological stories is related to the fight between Tištrya (god of rains and the harvest) and APŌŠ (Apaoša) (demon of drought.), which is narrated in different forms since ancient times and is a symbol of the water importance and nature of drought. This year, at the 8th science festival, we had a call for illustration, in which the participants read the story of Tištrya and APŌŠ (Apaoša) and drew an illustration for it. You can see the 58 received illustrations here.
Another activity we do at the museum is BoomRang. To begin with, it introduced the idea of local communities collaborating with environmental activists. A few short films were made to show how local actions can prevent the extinction of an animal species or prevent forest fires.
In the 8th “Science for All Festival”, the emphasis is on indigenous knowledge. We attempt to demonstrate water management methods in Iran’s desert and dry areas over the centuries and introduce related indigenous technologies. One of the wrong policies leading to water shortages today is replacing water well pumps with echo-friendly knowledge. There was also a call for science fiction writing on three themes: history, future history, and technological solutions. Taking a critical view of the past and present will exclude new ideas for the future. The list of winners and the 60 stories received can be found here.
The three short radio plays in Rashgo demonstrate how simple mistakes lead to irreversible changes in the climate.
For more information on INMOST projects and to participate, call 09032748258. The 8th “Science for All Festival” website also features all the works and contents.
Sona Agha Babaei
Festival Secretary