Abstract

Since rapid urbanisation, a lot of kids suffer from nature deficit disorder, which is due to
spending less time outdoors and kids have stopped empathizing with nature and life connected
to it. Our Biodiversity is extremely complex—the extent to which we are all connected remains
largely unknown—yet it’s currently suffering dramatic loss due to various human-made
inventions and interventions which is having a drastic effect on not just the environment but on
our physical and mental health as well and most importantly we've stopped empathizing with the
life that's around us. This design solution is an attempt to develop empathy in kids for nature
and life connected to it .

Personal connection

When I was a child, my garden for me was full of surprises.I'd see new plants germinating and
growing on their own, see differently coloured butterflies dancing around, rabbits hiding in the
bushes, dragonflies during the monsoon, cuckoos in summer. I'd always wonder where do they
come from? What do they do in the garden? How do they disappear in different seasons?
Where do they stay? How did the different flower and fruits plants magically germinate in my
garden? And when I'm not around, who takes care of them?

Description

The project is all about developing empathy in kids for nature and life connected to it. In schools
we are taught, that tiny insects like ants, dragonflies, small insects like honeybees are pests and
harmful for us and we must stay away from them. With the help of a picture book, a small pop
up book, I'd want kids to understand how these living beings are not pests but actually our friend
and how they hugely help in supporting a healthy ecosystem and help sustain the environment
through various means like pollination, dispersion, decomposing organic waste, changing soil
structure etc. The book would consist of a small garden and how these living beings help make
it better and sustain it in different seasons. The book will have twelve pages for each month of
the year, showcasing the secret, hidden and the invisible life of these tiny living beings, their
usefulness, their contribution to the nature, and making kids understand that these living beings
are friends and not pests.

Objectives-

1. Help kids develop empathy for nature and different species and life connected to it.
2. Help kids understand the usefulness of tiny insects and living beings , their contribution
to nature and how they sustain the environment.
3. Motivate kids to develop a connection to nature and the beautiful life that revolves
around it.
Research questions-

1. How does nature sustain itself? What is the contribution of different species, insects,
birds and animals?
2. What is the usefulness of these tiny living beings? Does it have any impact on us?
3. What can we learn from them?
4. How do they behave/change and contribute differently in different seasons?
5. Are they harmful and dangerous? Like they are described in school textbooks?

References for research

The Secret Network of Nature: The Delicate Balance of All Living Things
The Inner life of animals
- Peter Wohlleben

Flora- A botanical pop-up book