The Primorsky Aquarium as a subject of study by a Swedish researcher
Doctor Lars Kaijser, Associate Professor at Stokholm University, has paid a visit to the Primorsky Aquarium to collect data for his research project called “Staged Knowledge. Public Aquariums as Institutions of Knowledge”. The project aims to investigate the conceptualization of nature and environmental issues at public aquariums.
“Lars Kaijser, who is an expert in anthropology and sociology, has studied the availability and efficiency of the knowledge about environment, world oceans and their inhabitants provided for visitors at the Primorsky Aquarium,” said Olga Shevchenko, Head of the Environmental Education Service.
During his visit Dr. Kaijser took plenty of field notes about how various resources and exhibits of the facility were used during guided tours and learning sessions with children. Ways the Aquarium fulfills its mission of raising environmental awareness were of particular interest to the Swedish researcher.
“We prepared a special program for Lars Kaijser’s visit enabling him to plunge into the Aquarium’s life,” Olga Shevchenko said. “He intentionally arrived in Vladivostok on the eve of our educational day held on Wednesday, wishing to meet the Education Department staff and participants in the Educational Environment project; he also attended some classes within our another project - Growing up at the Aquarium. The Swedish researcher asked a lot of sociological questions: he wanted to know how we enrolled children, why we offered classes specifically in marine biology, how children digested the obtained knowledge, and how they applied it later on in life.”
“The programs for the projects are well developed – children are actively involved in learning sessions, each stage is age- and grade- appropriate for the participants,” Dr. Kaijser said. “Most of the classes take place at the Aquarium exhibits, and the manner in which your educators use them during the sessions leaves a positive impression. Certainly, I am very impressed with the exhibits, which are highly detailed and thoughtfully designed. I would single out the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit that allows visitors to immerse themselves into the life of the tropical forest and to get familiar with it from the inside.”
