The Museum Night events took place at three locations
22.05.2021
The visitors were welcomed on the premises of the ecological educational center of Kronotsky Nature Reserve at Yelizovo, at the ethno-ecological center of Koryak Nature Reserve in Tilichiki settlement, and at the visitor center in Ozernovsky settlement. All the visitors were told about the nature of the reserves, some geographic discoveries and daily routine of those working to preserve specially protected natural areas. Kamchatka local citizens as well as guest visitors took active part in a quest, devoted to the Valley of Geysers (Dolina Geyzerov), enjoyed our master classes and even engaged into volunteer work on site.
Yelizovo welcomed the biggest number of people. The Museum Night at this location was aimed at informing about the 80th anniversary of the Valley of Geysers discovery, which is being celebrated this year. The visitors to this event participated in a quest “Discover the Valley of Geysers”, added their colourful strokes to bring to life scenes from the life of animals in a gigantic colouring book, made souvenirs at master classes. Especially popular with children were the following: a photo zone with a bear family; vehicles used by state inspectors; archaeological sandbox.
Those who wanted were able to send post cards with images of the Valley of Geysers to their relatives and friends. To crown it all, the Museum Night culminated in a geyser ejection simulation. Popular science lectures about the geology of the valley of the Geysernaya River and the bears inhabiting the geyser canyon motivated the listeners for an active discussion.
"We were working hard on creating the festive atmosphere for our guests, telling them about animals, plants, natural phenomena in Kamchatka reserves in an interesting and coherent way. Volunteers and young naturalists (in Russian there is a word «yunnaty» which comes as a contraction of the Russian for «young naturalists», this is a club activity to unite those interested in animals and everything connected with nature) of Kronotsky Nature Reserve worked hard to make this programme come true. Besides, the members of a volunteer group of School for Protectors of Nature Reserves helped us significantly to arrange the quest and the master classes. Judging by the feedback from the visitors, this annual holiday became a long-awaited for and relevant event in the lives of local citizens and guests of Yelizovsky District” – remarked Marina Sokolova, Department for Ecological Education Methodologist at Federal State Budget Organization (FGBU) Kronotsky State Nature Reserve.
Within the framework of all-Russia educational event there were given tours of the new modern exhibition, master classes in drawing of Ilyinsky Volcano – one of the most beautiful natural locations in South Kamchatka Federal Nature Reserve – modeling lessons for children in the visit center of Kronotsky Nature Reserve in Ozernovsky settlement. The most important matter was the event called Fish Art – the visit center hosted a workshop for making decoration for the main building of eco-educational institution in the south of Kamchatka.
"To decorate the visit-center designers worked out templates in form of fishes of different sizes, and we, together with local citizens, both adults and children, are making the so-called art-objects. Each participant creates a fish of their unique colour-scheme, these fishes are intended for decoration of the facade of the visit-center of Kronotsky Nature Reserve in Ozernovsky settlement. We hope that our visit-center will serve not only as a meeting place for nature lovers, but also as a pearl of the settlement,” – says Tatiana Davydova, artist, supervisor at visit-center of Kronosky Nature Reserve in Ozernovsky settlement.
In the settlement of Tilichiki the staff of ethno-ecological center of Koryak Nature Reserve, Local History Museum and Library for Children performed an entertainment-educational programme More than Just a Museum – Science and Tech. The event visitors were told about the role of various vehicles in patrolling Koryak Nature Reserve territory and spotting poachers; there were arranged decorative and applied art exhibitions of the items made by local people; we taught visitors how to make fishing nets of nettle and how to process salmon skin for it to be good for making clothes and accessories. To crown the Museum Night programme we acted out a traditional local ceremony called Kil’vei - saying thanks to Winter and welcoming Spring; and volunteers took part in an environmental activity Clean Tundra (collecting litter, etc.).
For your information, Federal State Budget Organization (FGBU) Kronotsky State Nature Reserve has been organizing Museum Night events since 2015. We make use of gamification and popular science information to tell our guests about the nature of protected areas of Kamchatka and the need to conserve it. These events have proved to be very popular both with local citizens and guest visitors to the peninsular.
