Today's children and young people grow up aware of many different crises, including the so-called biodiversity crisis, which is also referred to by biologists as the sixth mass death with up to 1 million plant and animal species threatened with extinction.
This assignment describes a design process in which a group of students in a Danish primary school develop a biodiversity labyrinth as a local response to this crisis. The school only has asphalt and wood chips in their schoolyards and the students develop the idea of a green maze that can be a habitat for animals and a play place for children.
The project around the biodiversity labyrinth will be part of an action research programme, where the school's teachers are also invited to develop the green idea through a workshop. Here, the process is followed in a focusgroup conversation, where opportunities and barriers are discussed at the prospect of having to provide space for and show care for live animals and plants in the schoolyard.
The theoretical and methodological-analytical approach of the assignment is based on Bruno Latour's actor-network theory and it investigates how different actor networks are formed in connection with the design of the biodiversity labyrinth and the further process that follows from it.
The assignment asks the question: How can actor-network theory describe the work process of translating a green idea into sustainable existence? The task concludes that both human and non-human actors play a significant translating role in the work that is ongoing around various issues and projects, where common interest must be negotiated and created around different proposals for solutions. It illustrates how a heterogeneous actor network is a persistent work process and one can never be sure of its stability.
Several major organizations in the US and UK, among others, are committed to transforming gray, paved schoolyards into green, vibrant schoolyards. This development is still in its infancy in Denmark. The aim of the assignment is to provide other schools and organizations with inspiration and knowledge on how to work with this process and how a wide range of actors; Human and non-human play a significant role in this.