Trends in Learning Environments

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Learning Environments: A growing number of zoos, botanic gardens and theme parks see themselves as environments for learning as well as collections and recreational attractions. What is your message and how can it best be delivered? Learning Environments for exhibit planning include the following components: Bonding Message Delivery Theme and Storyline	Zoo Home Species Specific Trends In Trends Exhibits Animal Husbandry Horticulture Learning Business/Management Clients & Projects
Bonding: Bonding at Philadelphia Zoo. Photo: CLRdesign inc. People remember things they care about. The actions they take are based upon the passion they feel... No passion…No action Momentary passion…Momentary action Sustained passion…Sustained action. In the case of zoos and wildlife conservation, people care about individual animals they feel connected to, a bond formed from memorable, individual or multiple experiences with an animal or group of animals. Usually these bonds are formed from “nose-to-nose” or “eye-to-eye” encounters. They could form in a moment of: Empathy… “…they feel just like we do.” Surprise… “Wow!” Delight… “Oh, isn’t that too cool?” Fear… “Yikes! Crimony…that got my heart pounding!” Back to list
Message Delivery Stage One Select, refine and define your “message”. What do you have to say which the public will find worth remembering one year or ten years from now? Stage Two Create an attraction. Why else would anyone come? Stage Three Set up the encounter. Set the scene, build anticipation, eliminate distractions then immerse visitors in the story context or habitat. Stage Four Deliver the goods. Provide a memorable encounter, demonstration, “postcard” view, or photo opportunity (later viewing of photos reinforces the memory.) Stage Five Link your “message” to the memorable experience overtly and/or subliminally. Stage Six Generalize the emotion. “If you care about protecting this orangutan you must also care about protecting rainforests.” Link your message to an immediate or recent action. Stage Seven Reinforce your message with similar memorable experiences of other species/habitats, repeat visits or reminders such as publications, media exposure, special interest groups, on-line communications, etc. Stage Eight Update attractions frequently with “what’s new”, new attractions or provide other reasons for return visits to reinforce and update your message. Back to list	"What good are all of our conservation efforts if we don't teach young people to be better stewards than we were?" Jane Goodall "Novelty is the engine which drives attendance." Jon Coe
Themes Just as stage sets and costumes help bring movies and plays to life, themed buildings and landscapes can bring a feeling of “reality” to the zoo, botanical garden or theme park visit. “Immersion design” means simply immersing visitors in the theme of the story. Whether it’s placing visitors in a re-creation of an Asian rainforest, the Simpson Desert or a South African safari lodge, people, animals, plants and built forms all share the unique, memorable setting, free from distracting or discordant elements. “Cultural resonance”: Re-creation of cultural settings adds a human dimension to the educational message and visitor experience just as the re-creation of natural landscapes adds realism and an ecological connection to habitat immersion settings. Buildings, furnishings, graphics and plantings resonate with the educational message and cultural connection. Most visitors are naturally interested in other peoples and cultures. Cultural displays provide an opportunity to artfully integrate visitor service facilities, performances, classrooms, mini-museums – even animal holding areas – into the total immersive visitor experience. Back to list	Orangutan crossing at the Los Angeles Zoo. Photo: Jon Coe Cultural Resonance Examples Mayan ruins Thai river town Tropical lumber factory converted to primate sanctuary African national park African safari lodge
Zoo Atlanta's action- theme hero Mr Zuma in cartoons and then ... Photo: K. Kingsbury	Mr. Zuma in person. Photo: J. Sebo
Storylines…like walking through a story as it happens. Story telling may be our oldest and remains one of our most effective means of teaching. From the tales of Aesop and the Brothers Grimm to Disney, good storytelling captures our attention and our imaginations, sets the scene, delivers the message, and bears repeating. Stories also seem to fit into the brain’s framework for memory storage and retrieval. Storylines in theatre, movies, literature or themed attractions create a context or rational for the overall visitor experience and a guide for the sequencing or choreography of the component experiences. Back to page top	" Those who think there's a difference between entertainment and education don't understand either one." Marshall McLuhan

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