OPAL Biodiversity and Nature of Birmingham Light Up Science Festival

OPAL Open Air Nature Labs West Midlands have laid out a green carpet in September for City visitors – the Nature of Birmingham Trail starts at the Central Library and links main points around the City Centre for visitors to two major Festivals during September.

Arts Fest, which has over 100,000 visitors from 10th to 12th Sept, has as its theme this year Landscape and Heritage and OPAL has produced the Biodiversity Light Up Show on 10th Sep with digital artist Andy McKeown which will throw light on the natural heritage and biodiversity of the Midlands – and projection at various locations on the Nature of Birmingham Trail, including Victoria and Centenary Sq, Birmingham Art Galleries and Town Hall. Visitors to the project web site can submit images of from their local patch onto a Kaleidoscopia biodiversity map of their area.

For the British Science Festival, from 14th – 19th Sep, OPAL have a 2 hour show called the Nature of Birmingham Science by Light Night on Friday 17th Sept, staged along the Canal Waterside of the City Centre. It starts at 8pm at The Mailbox waterside Quay and follows the Univ of Birmingham’s Hydrogen powered narrowboat which powers the light show projected onto the waterfront buildings along the towpath, through Gas St Basin and under Broad Street past the ICC Symphony Hall to the National Sea Life Centre.

Jonathan Silvertown, Professor of Ecology at the Open University and head of OPAL’s Biodiversity Project with national survey starting this month, is a keynote speaker at the Science Festival on 17th Sep. The OPAL Science by Light show in the evening is followed by open weekend activities 18th-19th at the Aston Lakeside area where people can get hands on experience of the OPAL Earth, Air and Water survey packs as well as the new Hedgerow Biodiversity collection of resources, and all available online.

* The OPAL Nature of Birmingham Science by Light project is an arts-science partnership sponsored by the Natural History Museum’s Centre for Biodiversity and the Birmingham Botanical Buds social enterprise for British Science Festival. The project’s Kaleidoscopia software is available online as well as the Gallery of local biodiversity images created by communities participating. Web: http://www.junctionbox98.net email: dk@lightinguptime.net

* OPAL Nature of Birmingham City Trail is a Birmingham partnership, and is available from Central Library, Tourist Information Office, & OPAL W Mids: http://www.opalwestmidlands.org

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