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Global technology company and leading conservation organisation partner to raise awareness about urgent climate-related issues through the interactive virtual museum Museo Kalikasan
Recognizing the urgent need to raise the awareness among Filipinos of their role in fighting climate change, Epson and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines have teamed up to launch a virtual museum called “Museo Kalikasan,” an interactive platform that can help deepen the Filipinos’ understanding of climate and environmental issues.
Anchored on Epson’s “Turn Down the Heat” campaign, the virtual museum raises awareness about the impact of climate change in different ecosystems and encourages action about reducing each person’s impact through meaningful ways such as sustainable consumption and transitioning to cleaner sources of energy.
Museo Kalikasan’s goal is to make learning and discovering the current state and condition of the planet fun, accessible, and interactive for everyone. The virtual museum explores climate change through a 3-D simulation that provides immersive explanations and illustrations on key themes and topics.
The three-dimensional online Museum, which is recommended to be viewed via web browsers on desktops and laptops, highlights the human role in the constant destruction of the environment.
Museo Kalikasan caters to Filipinos by using a visually striking, yet simple interface that anyone can use. Akin to many online games, registered users can customize avatars to their liking before starting their virtual adventure, free to explore three educational biomes—the Arctic, the Tropics, and the City. Thematic biomes provide virtual experiences and perspectives that are unique to their respective themes. They cover everything from biodiversity in an ecosystem to climate change science.
‘The battle against climate change can be won by conquering the hearts and minds of people, starting with the youth, who stand to lose most if the climate crisis is inadequately addressed.’
The Arctic biome—engulfed in planes of ice and scenes from the polar region—showcases the Arctic habitat and biodiversity present in the ecosystem for the user’s appreciation, brings to light the effects of global warming in the Arctic, especially on endangered species, and emphasizes the need for action against climate change.
The Tropics biome—all vast dryland and deep bodies of water—gives a glimpse of the distinct biodiversity in both the tropical terrestrial ecosystem and the tropical marine ecosystem. The biome focuses on the effects of climate change on various tropical habitats and organisms around the globe, and how they continue to pose a threat to the tropics.
The City biome—full of city skylines and modern technology that users may be familiar with—calls attention to the importance of sustainable living as part of the One Planet Lifestyle. The biome highlights the problems of waste management and pollution in the world and offers practical examples that can be applied to daily life.
The virtual journey ends with users being encouraged to sign a pledgeboard where they can choose sustainable lifestyle practices or advocacy that they are willing to commit to. It’s a small but important step towards making a significant change.
“The battle against climate change can be won by conquering the hearts and minds of people, starting with the youth, who stand to lose most if the climate crisis is inadequately addressed. This partnership with WWF Philippines furthers Epson Philippines’ commitment to building a sustainable future through projects that educate the youth on the urgency of climate change and empowering them to take an active role in protecting the environment and the planet,” said Ed Bonoan, general manager of marketing division at Epson Philippines.
“Technology plays a vital role in the implementation of environmental education in the Philippines. Especially during the pandemic, venturing into the virtual space has significantly helped us continue our work on promoting environmental awareness and spawning consciousness of sustainability among students, teachers, and citizens alike,” said Dino Calderon, WWF Philippines project manager for education for sustainable development. “Thanks to our partnership with Epson Philippines, we now have Museo Kalikasan, a new three-dimensional virtual museum designed to bring an immersive experience to users from anywhere in the world. With Museo Kalikasan, visitors can learn about climate change and its impacts on the environment, and discover ways of reducing their carbon footprint, in a fun and interactive way.”
The virtual museum is integrated into Camp Kalikasan, an online portal with educational materials in easy-to-understand formats such as stories, comic strips, games, puzzles, and videos about environmental topics, including habitat conservation, covering marine protected areas, biodiversity conservation, watersheds, rivers, lakes, mangroves; climate change mitigation, covering renewable energy, low carbon cities, climate risks; and sustainable consumption and production, covering food waste, plastic, and finance.
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