3Q4U - 3 Questions for you

Antworten auf die Krise von Prof. Dr. Michael John Gorman, Gründungsdirektor von BIOTOPIA, München

What did you learn from the crisis?

Prof. Dr. Michael John Gorman, Gründungsdirektor von BIOTOPIA - Naturkundemuseum Bayern in München hat einen Lehrstuhl für Life Science in Society an der Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität inne. Foto: Andreas Heddergott, © Biotopia Naturkundemuseum Bayern
Like quite a few people, I learned how to make sourdough bread! But, perhaps more importantly, I learned to stop and listen. With human noise being reduced, with fewer planes in our skies and fewer cars on our streets, we could suddenly hear the sounds of the natural world much more clearly. The Corona Spring was for me not a Silent Spring, but one where we could learn once again to listen.
What touched you most?
Stimulated by the pandemic silence, we (Biotopia and Stiftung Nantesbuch) created a new platform, www.dawnchorus.org to allow people all over the world to share their local dawn chorus – people under lockdown, often in their homes with young children. A young woman in Pune, India described how during the lockdown, she could hear the song of a particular bird, the Red Wattled Lapwing that she had never heard before. I find it moving that people at a difficult time can find connection through our natural world, and perhaps also something that can inspire us to take better care of our fragile ecosystems.
What does "Not Going Back" mean for you?
I think we have learned many things through this difficult experience, about how to manage with less air travel, and less unsustainable behaviour, and also how to support each other in new ways through unpredictable times. For me, one of the most extraordinary moments of the crisis was when the price of oil went negative on April 20, the first glimpse of a fossil-fuel free future.