This summer saw the return of the ‘Green Energy Glade’ to Green Man Festival in Wales, which ran from 20 to 23 August.
A joint outreach initiative coordinated by the Geological Society, the British Geological Survey and Cardiff University, the Green Energy Glade invites festivalgoers to explore Earth’s resources, energy transitions, changing climate, and Wales’s future environment.
Through interactive activities, creativity, play and conversation, the three organisations worked together to tell a story about environmental choices. In the context of climate change and the energy transition, visitors explored diverse topics including future alternatives to plastics, the geological origin of minerals in Wales, as well as the many uses of Earth’s natural resources in everyday life. The Geological Society’s ever-popular mineral handling collection provided a unique opportunity for the public to get up close with the textures, weights, and colours of the natural materials that help make our world work. Against a background of music, colour and the diversity of Einstein’s Garden, the Glade created an open and hands-on space for over 3500 people to have conversations and pose questions about the connections between our Earth and modern society, as well as a warm spot for a rest.
Supported by a ‘Trusted Voices’ grant from the Learned Society of Wales and the Williamson Trust, the festival provided an opportunity for undergraduates who participated in recent science communication training in July to gain confidence in communicating science to the public, building on skills that they developed in the workshop. The students' contributions thoroughly showcased the value of creating trust and connection through local voices when communicating science.
We also launched a new collaborative activity with the Secret Post Office (SPO), exploring the material properties of rocks and minerals through a self-guided activity pack (in zine form). This was distributed throughout the festival by the Posties. Lucky recipients were invited to make use of their scientific observation and record-making skills, and consider the material properties of found objects using creative techniques such as cyanotype printmaking, field sketching and crayon rubbings. We were excited to see the diversity of objects and the creativity that went into each one of these that we received hand-delivered back to us by the SPO.
Each year that we are able to deliver conscious and creative public engagement at Green Man, we learn something new about people’s relationship with our planet. This year we were particularly grateful to be able to share that experience with volunteer undergraduate students and our project partners with help from the Learned Society for Wales. Through collaborating with the SPO, we reached new audiences across the festival that revealed to us a little of their perspective on the world around them. Each connection made throughout the weekend was an opportunity for us to create a fun and welcoming experience for someone to connect with geoscience. We are grateful for the trust visitors placed in us to contribute a little to their memory of the festival.
Geological Society outreach work
Our outreach activities are vital to communicating geoscience to our members and the general public. We host a variety of outreach activities every year, and we attend festivals and events held by external organisations.