On Wednesday 21 June, it's party time! We celebrate the longest day of the year as well as the beginning of summer. Come to the Midsummer Night Celebration at the Amsterdam Science Park and find inspiration, good food or a new perspective - and maybe even all three.
The Midsummer Night Celebration is part of the landscape festival Met andere ogen ('through different eyes'), in which we work with visitors to build a different relationship with nature. In the run-up to 21 June, several workshops and biodiverse interventions are planned that shift our attention from bricks and structures to the critters and soil.
Midsummer marks both an end signal and a starting signal: we humans move away and leave our work for what it is. As a result, other life flourishes. From then on, man is no longer a builder but a visitor, discovering the more-than-human city during the summer months.
Before that happens, we will gather on 21 June for a full evening programme. You can also visit the different parts separately.
T-Talk: Lecture on the positive effects of a green environment | 17:00 - 18:30 hrs
The colour green is said to help relieve stress and improve concentration. There are also scientific studies showing that a green environment contributes to better health - both mentally and physically. Yet the positive effects of a green environment are far from always taken into account in the construction of urban areas.
What is that really like? Can we make ourselves and our environment healthier by encouraging biodiversity? And does an urban jungle work as relaxing as a wooded environment?
In this informal lecture, we will delve deeper into the relationship between greenery and well-being. The speakers will be announced soon.
(Do-it-yourself) Dinner | 18:30-20:00 hrs
During this dinner, there will be an opportunity to have a bite to eat in the Science Park area. You can do this on your own (check the map at Restaurant Polder, for example) or sign up for the picnic with Amsterdam's tastiest falafel.
Walk: Met Andere Ogen | 20:00 - 22:00 hrs (starting point Café Polder)
Finally, there will be the official opening of the walking route along all the biodiverse interventions and artistic constructions in the park. These places have been worked on by artists, researchers and local residents since the beginning of June. They have laid the foundations for the growing installations that will continue to be shaped by the more-than-human life on the park in the coming months. During this first joint walk, the makers will present their work and each place will be activated in a special way. Walk along and marvel at the (bio)diversity on the Amsterdam Science Park!
Drinks at Café Polder | 22:00 hrs
Afterwards, there will be drinks at Café Polder.
During the summer months, all structures and planted ideas will grow. During these months, walkers can pick up walking maps at Café Polder and discover the route on their own.
Met andere ogen: Landschapsfestival invites you to set your senses on the Amsterdam Science Park and discover the city as a living place, together with artists, local residents and scientists. During the landscape festival, we will build a different relationship with nature together. Workshops, installations and biodiverse interventions will shift our attention from bricks and structures to critters and soil during the summer months.
About T-Factor
This programme is part of the international project T-Factor. How can we create urban initiatives in an inclusive way and for a variety of life forms, such as people, plants, animals and microbes? Over the next two years, within T-Factor, Waag will investigate these and more questions about interim initiatives at the Amsterdam Science Park.
