Demonstrators and CO2RE Hub bring excitement and hope to Cardiff

By Natasha Martirosian, Research Associate on Monitoring, Reporting and Verification, University of Bristol. 

Excitement, hope, determination, awe. These were the emotions reflected to us throughout the “Explore Our Planet/Archwiliwch ein planed” showcase in Cardiff last month, organised by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Techniquest, and the National Oceanography Centre. Buzzing with the voices of children, chaotically bouncing around the showroom like photons in the sun, the fun-filled event had many wonderful moments, from connecting with fellow scientists on our quest to resolve deep issues, to witnessing life-changing moments in children’s (and adult’s) lives.

The morning of Friday, October 18^th started with the full moon rising with the sun. A bright, sunny day put a pep in all our steps as we walked along Cardiff Bay, passing the Welsh parliamentary building. Old, traditional architecture contrasted with modern glass structures adorned in wood. We finally reached Techniquest, a massive building with a glass façade overlooking the harbour.

Our GGR Demonstrator (GGR-D) representatives, Dr Feifei Deng and Dr Jenny Rhymes, set up their demos side by side: enhanced rock weathering (ERW) and peatland restoration. Feifei demonstrated ERW using a carbonating soda stream and water bottles filled with silicate rock dust. When the bottles were shaken, the silicate rock dust absorbed the carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the air inside, imploding the water bottles and providing a visual demonstration of CO₂ being removed from the atmosphere. To demonstrate peatland restoration, Jenny used a carbon analyser with a plant inside. The analyser was connected to a super computer, which analysed the gas content and fed the data to a laptop displaying a live graph of CO₂ removal as the plant photosynthesised. We also displayed documentaries about our GGR-D projects, and a giant printed figure from the second edition of the State of CDR report describing attributes of various kinds of GGR. To encourage creative engagement, we set up a GGR mural/collage activity nearby, with all the craft supplies a child might want to use as they explored GGR methods.

The first group of children arrived at 9:59 on Friday morning. It was all a joyous blur from there until 17:00 on Sunday when the doors closed. In total, 417 children aged 9 to 11 and from 8 different schools – and nearly 2,400 members of the public – visited the showcase throughout the weekend. We liaised with scientists from a range of projects, sharing insights on our work, and learning from the different ways organisations engaged with their audiences. The beautiful moments captured in this article, snips of lucidity in the chaos and excitement of the children present, could inspire the deepest of sceptics to hope again.

Many children ran across the floor from one display to another, buzzing around like bees, touching everything and focusing on nothing in particular. However, there were those that lingered, listened, learned. There was an inquisitive child from Betws primary school very keen to share her knowledge of the natural world with us, and her aspirations of working in conservation when she grew up were moving to hear about.

When I gave her our Goodbye Greenhouse Gas information/colouring booklet that describes nine methods of GGR, her face lit up. She promised, upon my request, “to never give up hope no matter what [she learns about the world]”. I later saw her pull the booklet out of her cardigan to show her teacher and share her new knowledge with others.

Members of the Welsh parliament dropped in, curious about the weekend’s showcase. Dr Emily Cox and I explained what the CO₂RE hub and the GGR-D program are all about. After they left, heads nodding with delight and interest, one official came back and asked more about peatlands. Jenny shared the complexity of land-use change and agriculture, the impacts of both draining and rewetting peatlands. He walked away informed, looking like he’d had a light-bulb moment.

On Friday evening my Bristol colleague Dr Evangelos Mouchos spearheaded a VIP event for high-ranking Welsh government and policy officials. The Deputy First Minister of Wales gave an inspiring, uplifting talk, and a Welsh choir gave a powerful performance. Then the national poet of Wales recited her commissioned poem, Global Warming. This sobering poem addresses the impacts of the cost of energy crisis: many will struggle to stay warm and capacities for staple food production will diminish.

Over the course of the weekend, Feifei from the ERW project used an estimated 400+ bottles of silicate and carbonated water to demonstrate CO₂ removal. We could see the neurons firing in people’s brains in real time as they watched the bottles shrink instead of exploding with “fizz”. This display was hugely successful in getting across the point that we can remove CO2 from the atmosphere. One child couldn’t wait to share with her friends that “we can help heal the planet”, as she hurried away with a huge smile and her newfound hope.

The weekend was full of these moments, giving us a better idea of where knowledge gaps in public understanding of GGR lie. Not a single person who approached us knew what GGR was, or that there are solutions to the crisis we are in. An expert in human behaviour or psychology might speculate about the catastrophic impacts of this lack of hope on greater society. It begs the question, should we be doing more to engage with the education system and families on climate solutions? When activism is loud and sometimes destructive, should we be louder and more productive? Does the scientific community have a responsibility to spread our message far and wide, and invest even more into this type of outreach and communication? That’s a question for NERC, and URKI to answer – but I think it’s clear: people want and need hope.