Science Slam at the Munich Volkshochschule

Inspiring an audience about a topic in just ten minutes? Not an easy task for scientists! Six slam poets took on this challenge at a Science Slam event on March 28th at the Volkshochschule Munich (public adult education center) organized by acatech. The theme was "Of Humans and Animals."

"Destined companions - of humans and animals" is the annual theme for 2023 at the Volkshochschule Munich. A fitting theme also for a Science Slam: on March 28th, six slam poets competed against each other in the rooms of the  Volkshochschule to provide the audience with new perspectives in a mixture of information and entertainment. The event was jointly organized by acatech, the Volkshochschule Munich, the German Museum, and the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society.

For their performances, which could last a maximum of ten minutes, the slam poets, who are also scientists, each brought along enough visual aids: slides, films, live insects, and insect food. One slam poet dressed up as a blueberry, and another brought a participant from the audience onto the stage and let her take on the perspective of a cow.

Here is an overview of the contributions:

• Bernadette Pest, a master's student in film and media culture research at LMU Munich, addressed heteronormativity in animal documentaries under the title "Homosexual animals - and where they are not seen."

• Herpetologist Frank Glaw from the Zoological State Collection deals professionally with all aspects of amphibians and reptiles but spoke on this evening about his hobby passion "Why do humans have so little empathy for insects?" He focused on grasshoppers - and brought some with him. They behaved completely calmly during the presentation and the rest of the event, but attracted many interested observers for close-up observations.

• Wolfgang Müller (coordinator for cattle farming at the Bavarian State Estates in Grub) let the audience see the world through the eyes of a cow, illustrating how animal welfare could be improved in cattle farming.

• Anneke van Heteren (Zoological State Collection Munich) took the listeners to Taiwan and reported on the life, death, and excavation of a fossil whale.

• Thassilo Franke (Munich Science Communication Lab) addressed ecological balances dressed up as "Captain Blueberry" - bumblebees in Latin America were at the center of his report.

• Christian Rombeck is a doctoral student at the University of Erfurt researching the ecological effects of global livestock farming and possible solutions through lab-grown meat - also the topic of his slam contribution.

The room at the Einstein 28 event center of the Munich Volkshochschule was filled to capacity. Attendees included Volkshochschule visitors, parts of the acatech family, and museum guests. After the slam, the audience got involved: the contributions were discussed in table groups and voted on which ones were the most inspiring and could broaden perspectives. In the end, Christian Rombeck received the most points and was able to receive the 2-kilogram heavy book "The World of Technology in 100 Objects" published by Beck Verlag from acatech member Helmuth Trischler.

There will be more slams at acatech and in Munich: the next time on May 6th as part of the Munich Science Days.