Nano-museum on SmUCS

La Rochelle Université has designed and recently inaugurated a mobile NANOmuseum of the sea and coastline aiming to popularise and widely disseminate issues relating to Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability through art and science.

In 2022, La Rochelle Université was awarded the label “Science With And For Society” (SAPS) by the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, a 3-year label which comes with funding to structure and strengthen science and society initiatives within the University and its local area.

One of the project focus is to create a NANOmuseum to popularise and widely disseminate issues relating to Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability – a mobile (easy to transport), cross-disciplinary, modular and participatory device aiming to promote a shared understanding of sustainable development challenges in coastal areas through art and science.

After 6 months’ work between a team of researchers from the University and local stakeholders, the nano-museum first prototype was inaugurated on April 5 at La Rochelle Town Hall.

During 3 days, over 450 visitors and 50 schoolchildren (the museum was design to appeal to a young audience) of different ages and nationalities discovered the modules using different media and senses: touch with 3D printing, perception of space through projection on a micro-dome, hearing with immersive sound reproduction, visualisation of scientific data through interactive projection.

The topics touched upon ranged from the observation of birds, marine mammals and megafauna, to the valorisation of seaweed molecules, the corrosion of reinforced concrete infrastructures and cities’ carbon neutrality.

Feedback from the public, teachers and educational advisers opened up new avenues of work over the coming weeks to improve the Nano-museum for its second exhibition which was held at a nearby town library during the 2nd half of May.