On August 26, the final event of the Erasmus+ project "Stories About Nature Connections" was held at the library, the aim of which was to present the activities, methodologies, and creative workshops implemented during the project to the librarians and library community of the Panevėžys region.
In the first part of the event, the project lecturers shared inspiring reports. Icelandic academics and arts and education specialists Asthildur Jonsdottir and Ellen Gunnarsdottir presented the methodology of the mobility workshop held in Iceland in the spring on the topic „Visual Storytelling: Narratives of Climate Change and Glacial Transformation“. 10 project participants from Anykščiai Public Library and Reykjavik Nordic House in Iceland learned through various creative activities how to combine artistic expression with scientific knowledge, reflecting on climate change processes and their impact on everyday life. The guests of the event, having learned about the methods, were pleasantly surprised that quite simple, everyday objects can be used to engage the participants in the education.
Secondhis visit, which took place in Lithuania and brought together the staff of Anykščiai Library and the Reykjavik Nordic House (Iceland), during which the lecturer rDirector Klementas Leonas Davidavičius gave a presentation "Visual storytelling. From script to visualization" (Visual Storytelling. From Script to Screen). In it, he presented the methodologies used during the workshop, designed to develop creative and digital skills through visual storytelling. The audience learned the basic rule of storytelling – it is not the chronology of events that is important, but how the narrator felt, what change he experienced during the course of the story. During the presentation, short films created by the project participants – film haikus – were also presented. It is important that applying this methodology is extremely simple, because today everyone has a phone in their pocket.
The final event of the project „Nature Tells“ was also attended by guests from Belgium. They arrived in Anykščiai with a bus called Matty and invited them to get acquainted with the Make-a-Thek project. In cooperation with selected libraries in Europe (and next year on other continents!), „make-a-thek“ creates a space for innovation, learning and sharing, thus promoting a more closed, local economy. They encourage people to abandon the consumerist design, use and waste model and to consciously reflect on what they buy, make and use in the fields of fashion and handicrafts.
In the second part of the event, participants were able to practically try out the presented methods: visual storytelling "Cinema Haiku", painting on canvas or an ice cube, creating a stop-motion film, reusing textiles in the creation of decorations, reviving a garment, and much more. It is nice that those who participated in the workshops immersed themselves in the experience headlong - no one rushed home, tried not one, but even several workshops, and actively joined the discussions on how each of us can contribute, even in small steps, to the preservation of nature, sustainability, and stopping climate change processes.
We would like to remind you that the project does not end with this event. The knowledge and methods acquired will continue to be used. We will apply it in trainings and workshops. If you or your organization would like to participate, please contact us!
