BIOTOPIA Festival exploring the themes of Food, Health and Sustainability EAT took place on May 26, 2019.
Tasting the Future
With over 3,500 visitors, BIOTOPIA - Naturkundemuseum Bayern explored, experienced and discussed the myriad dimensions of food at the EAT Festival on May 26.
Visitors could approach topics like nutrition, food, health and sustainability with a wide variety of programmes: scientific lectures and panel discussions offered insights into our relationship and eating behaviour in relation to other living beings, possible ways to a sustainable and healthy diet for the entire planet and the influence of innovation on food waste as well as the fight against world hunger. Among others, the philosopher Richard David Precht, Brent Loken, co-author of the EAT Lancet Report, and zoologist Auguste von Bayern could be met on stage.
Listening and discussing, however, was only one aspect of the festival, where designers, scientists, innovators and culinarians came together to explore possible futures of food, to communicate the latest research and to make our relationship to food tangible.
How do our senses influence our experience of taste? How can agriculture function without soil, or vice versa, what makes our soil so important? Or would you rather master fermentation, cook with wild plants collected in urban areas or try Kombucha? Special thanks are also due to the numerous scientific institutions, such as the Bavarian Natural History Collections, the Bionicum, the Max Planck Institutes and more, who have participated in the EAT Festival with their projects and objects and who have illustrated research with a hands-on approach.
Another highlight was and is certainly the exhibition "MEAT THE FUTURE" in the Museum Mensch und Natur. With 30 speculative dishes, it questions our future relationship to lab-grown meat. Free of restrictions such as the physical shape of the animal, meat is rethought as a medium at the interface of design, ethics and sustainability. The exhibition is open until 23 June 2019.
Whether it is about looking over the shoulders of scientists or becoming active in workshops, there was something for everyone's taste at EAT; for the new generation as well as for die-hard foodies and the generally curious - with a full house throughout, the Festival has succeded in offering something for everyone.
Talks and Panels at the BIOTOPIA Festival EAT
Healthy for the Planet? The EAT-Lancet Diet
Vortrag von Dr. Brent Loken, EAT Forum
Sustainabality Slam: Exploring the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Talks by students
of the Institute of Genetics, LMU Munich
Why Your Microbiome Matters When You Drink Milk (Unless You're a Scandinavian)
Talk by Dr. Victor Schmidt, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology
Tiere essen
Vortrag von Richard David Precht, Philosoph und Autor
Uninelligentes Design beim Nahrungserwerb
Vortrag von Prof. Dr. Gerhard Haszprunar
Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns
Warum werden wir dick? Alles Kopfsache
Dr. Paul Pfluger
Helmholtz Zentrum München
Was geht uns das Insektensterben an?
Vortrag von Dr. Andreas Segerer,
SNSB-Zoologische Staatssammlung München
Was essen Schwämme, die Staubsauger der Meere?
Vortrag von Prof. Dr. Gert Wörheide
SNSB-Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie
& Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Anders essen: Innovationen in der Ernährungsbranche
Panel mit Kerstin Burseg, EIT Food
Mathias Rasch, Wicked Cricket | Maximilian Lössl Agrilution
Andreas Reiser, Kombuco Fizz | Johanna Braun, Global Food Summit, Moderation
How and what will we eat in the future? How does what we eat shape the planet? How can we feed the world without destroying fragile ecosystems? And is lab-grown meat really an alternative - or will algae burgers become a better option?
The festival will be a mouth-watering and thought-provoking exploration of eating in all its myriad dimensions, bringing together leading scientists, artists, designers, chefs, industry experts, innovators and the public to explore the food of the future in the stunning surroundings of Schloss Nymphenburg, offering a tantalizing variety of events suitable for all ages.
The diverse programme offers exhibitions, participative activities, hands-on science, experimental tastings, talks and panels for all tastes and senses: Experience the "Edible Munich" in a delicious discrict tour, create your personalized sauce recipe by means of an algorithm or predict your individual eating behaviour via food-tarot.
By approaching the topic from a variety of viewpoints, BIOTOPIA aims at initiating an inspiring, positively irritating interdisciplinary dialogue that fosters curiosity, captures people's imagination, contributes fresh perspectives, facilitates an empathetic understanding and sparks controversial discussion about the future of nutrition, agriculture, food and taste.
Festival Facts
Dates: May 26, 2019: 10am - 8pm
Location: > Hubertussaal, Schloss Nymphenburg, Munich & > Museum Mensch und Natur, Munich (inside & outside)
Admission Free.
Questions about the Festival: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We proudly announce that BIOTOPIA – Naturkundemuseum Bayern is joining the Global Coalition for Biodiversity, as the first official member from Germany. The Global Coalition calls for strong mobilisation of all national parks, research centers, science and natural history museums, botanic gardens, zoos, aquariums, and beyond to unite forces and make their voices heard about the nature crisis ahead of the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in 2021. After the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, BIOTOPIA also becomes the 2nd Natural History Museum worldwide to join the Coalition.
In June 2020, the Museum Mensch und Natur celebrated its 30th anniversary - unfortunately, due to the Corona Pandemic, however, without a celebration or other public event. Since the museum has become very popular with many visitors over the past 30 years, this anniversary is now being honored with a launch in Google Arts & Culture.
Use the search function to select the Museum Mensch und Natur and get the opportunity to explore selected stories and objects. In addition, you can even visit our museum virtually via various museum views. Take your time to look at some of the most popular objects and maybe you will feel like visiting the museum live again.
A provocative call for the transformation of science museums into "idea colliders" that spark creative collaborations and connections. Gorman focuses on the dialogue between scientists and artists, designers, policymakers, and the public and considers the questions, ideas and experiences of each visitor as an important resource for a new kind of museum experience. The book can be ordered online in English and provides exciting insights into the planned BIOTOPIA – Naturkundemuseum Bayern in Munich and giving forward-looking models of science engagement around the world.
The BIOTOPIA annual review 2019 is now available for download! It includes exciting insights behind the scenes, an interview with Dr. Auguste von Bayern, a review of the EAT festival and much more! So it's worth a glance and whoever is enthusiastic about BIOTOPIA's vision is welcome to donate and become a sponsor.
Due to the new lockdown, the Biotopia Lab opening is postponed until December - keep an eye on our website for updates and for hands on activities you can try at home biotopia.net/en/biotopia-lab
