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Evolve – Jordan, biomimicry, and the Sahara Forest Project
By Tala Kayyali, Jordan News
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Educational content has been generally
known for being bland, repetitive, and full of information that no one person
is capable of absorbing in one sitting. In recent years, however, there has
been a notable shift in favor of those looking toward documentary-style films,
where audiences can learn and be entertained simultaneously. اضافة اعلان
Platforms like CuriosityStream capitalized on this niche, providing a platform for engaging and compelling educational content to be streamed. On such platforms one can find documentaries about nature, human history, space, and countless other subjects.
(Photo: CuriosityStream)
One such project is Evolve, a six part series exploring biomimicry across the world.
Chris Baron, the series producer at BeachHouse Pictures, and Rob Sixsmith, head of factual programming at BeachHouse Pictures, were interviewed by Jordan News about their project.
Said Sixsmith: “Evolve is an environmental film. It clearly makes the argument that humanity may be helped by any single part of our biosphere and so we should preserve as much of it as we can.”
BeachHouse Pictures, however, has no interest in boring their audience with the traditional documentary format.
(Photo: CuriosityStream)
“Evolve is first and foremost an adventure and science film. We are not in the business of lecturing people or scaring them with doomsday scenarios. That just turns people off. We think the days of those documentaries are done. Instead, as documentarians we need to entertain. Throwing our presenter around in a fast jet and having him tag bull sharks in the name of science – this is what the audience wants to see. If we manage to entertain and make the journey comfortable and engaging, then hopefully more people will travel the road to engagement – and that is a win, win.
“Evolve is just a really enjoyable way to look at nature – it allows us to celebrate these incredible innovations and marvel at these creatures in a whole new way,” Sixsmith said.
(Photo: CuriosityStream)
In April last year, BeachHouse Pictures and CuriosityStream sent a film crew to Aqaba to work with the Sahara Forest Project Foundation on Evolve. According to Director of Institutional Relations and Communication for the Sahara Forest Project Foundation Magnus Borgen, “the mission of our work in Jordan is to revegetate desert areas to create new green jobs, and produce food, water, energy and biomass in arid land using only existing technologies”.
In order to achieve this goal, the Sahara Forest Project has been utilizing desalinated saltwater instead of groundwater, in order to promote sustainability and revegetate arid land. This technology was inspired by the Namibian fog-basking beetle, which gets its water source from the fog through special biological adaptations.
This is what fueled the innovations in biomimicry that the project is currently renowned for.
“They were looking to see what kind of projects are out there, finding inspiration in what nature can teach us in biology, and to see what kind of solutions could be implemented to both provide the new green jobs that we need from the world to combat climate change, and to produce some products that we need. The reason why they came to us is that inside this world of biomimicry, people were advising (BeachHouse Pictures) to look to Jordan, look to Aqaba, look at what we are doing,” Borgen added.
(Photo: CuriosityStream)
According to Sixsmith, “we always have a great time filming in Jordan. It is a place that welcomes filmmakers and facilitates the process. But perhaps most important, it is also a place where the water scarcity issue is of supreme importance and so, of all the amazing countries we filmed in, this made Jordan an obvious choice of us.”
Country Director for the Sahara Forest Project Foundation Ruba Al Zubi agrees.
“Jordan is very important and strategically positioned,” she said, adding that its location, its geopolitics, everything makes Jordan a gateway and a platform on which to come up with prototypes, pilot projects for everything.
Behind the scenes images of the production of Evolve at the Sahara Desert Project (Photo: Handout from Magnus Borgen)
“Whatever works in Jordan can work anywhere else in the region,” she said.
Jordan’s strategic location was a massive selling point to the production team behind Evolve, since it serves to highlight issues limited not just to the region.
According to Sixsmith, “in terms of global importance, the water scarcity issue highlighted by Evolve in the Jordan story and the way innovators are looking to desert animals to understand how better to use and preserve water is perhaps the single biggest issue”.
Alongside international aspirations and innovations, Zubi also expressed the more local goals and aspirations of the project, and the social aspects and responsibilities held.
Behind the scenes video of the production of Evolve at the Sahara Desert Project (Video: Handout from Magnus Borgen)
“We also are strong believers in building the capacity of young Jordanians to enter this sector, not just as workers, but also to be inspired to innovate and to excel.”
Weather to educate the masses on the value of studying biomimicry, or to entertain viewers with stunning visuals and exciting action, Evolve serves a valuable purpose. In the words of Sixsmith, “nature has been here an awful long time and we can learn innumerable things from the lessons life has learnt in order to thrive in every corner of the globe. Every single living thing is a part of that so we hope that Evolve shows that we absolutely need to preserve our biodiversity.”
Read more Lifestyle
Platforms like CuriosityStream capitalized on this niche, providing a platform for engaging and compelling educational content to be streamed. On such platforms one can find documentaries about nature, human history, space, and countless other subjects.
(Photo: CuriosityStream)
One such project is Evolve, a six part series exploring biomimicry across the world.
Chris Baron, the series producer at BeachHouse Pictures, and Rob Sixsmith, head of factual programming at BeachHouse Pictures, were interviewed by Jordan News about their project.
Said Sixsmith: “Evolve is an environmental film. It clearly makes the argument that humanity may be helped by any single part of our biosphere and so we should preserve as much of it as we can.”
BeachHouse Pictures, however, has no interest in boring their audience with the traditional documentary format.
(Photo: CuriosityStream)
“Evolve is first and foremost an adventure and science film. We are not in the business of lecturing people or scaring them with doomsday scenarios. That just turns people off. We think the days of those documentaries are done. Instead, as documentarians we need to entertain. Throwing our presenter around in a fast jet and having him tag bull sharks in the name of science – this is what the audience wants to see. If we manage to entertain and make the journey comfortable and engaging, then hopefully more people will travel the road to engagement – and that is a win, win.
“Evolve is just a really enjoyable way to look at nature – it allows us to celebrate these incredible innovations and marvel at these creatures in a whole new way,” Sixsmith said.
(Photo: CuriosityStream)
In April last year, BeachHouse Pictures and CuriosityStream sent a film crew to Aqaba to work with the Sahara Forest Project Foundation on Evolve. According to Director of Institutional Relations and Communication for the Sahara Forest Project Foundation Magnus Borgen, “the mission of our work in Jordan is to revegetate desert areas to create new green jobs, and produce food, water, energy and biomass in arid land using only existing technologies”.
In order to achieve this goal, the Sahara Forest Project has been utilizing desalinated saltwater instead of groundwater, in order to promote sustainability and revegetate arid land. This technology was inspired by the Namibian fog-basking beetle, which gets its water source from the fog through special biological adaptations.
This is what fueled the innovations in biomimicry that the project is currently renowned for.
Evolve is just a really enjoyable way to look at nature – it allows us to celebrate these incredible innovations and marvel at these creatures in a whole new wayBorgen describes nature as being equivalent to thousands of years of research and development, and modern science “can take inspiration from these natural innovations”.
“They were looking to see what kind of projects are out there, finding inspiration in what nature can teach us in biology, and to see what kind of solutions could be implemented to both provide the new green jobs that we need from the world to combat climate change, and to produce some products that we need. The reason why they came to us is that inside this world of biomimicry, people were advising (BeachHouse Pictures) to look to Jordan, look to Aqaba, look at what we are doing,” Borgen added.
(Photo: CuriosityStream)
According to Sixsmith, “we always have a great time filming in Jordan. It is a place that welcomes filmmakers and facilitates the process. But perhaps most important, it is also a place where the water scarcity issue is of supreme importance and so, of all the amazing countries we filmed in, this made Jordan an obvious choice of us.”
Country Director for the Sahara Forest Project Foundation Ruba Al Zubi agrees.
“Jordan is very important and strategically positioned,” she said, adding that its location, its geopolitics, everything makes Jordan a gateway and a platform on which to come up with prototypes, pilot projects for everything.
Behind the scenes images of the production of Evolve at the Sahara Desert Project (Photo: Handout from Magnus Borgen)
“Whatever works in Jordan can work anywhere else in the region,” she said.
Jordan’s strategic location was a massive selling point to the production team behind Evolve, since it serves to highlight issues limited not just to the region.
According to Sixsmith, “in terms of global importance, the water scarcity issue highlighted by Evolve in the Jordan story and the way innovators are looking to desert animals to understand how better to use and preserve water is perhaps the single biggest issue”.
Alongside international aspirations and innovations, Zubi also expressed the more local goals and aspirations of the project, and the social aspects and responsibilities held.
Behind the scenes video of the production of Evolve at the Sahara Desert Project (Video: Handout from Magnus Borgen)
“We also are strong believers in building the capacity of young Jordanians to enter this sector, not just as workers, but also to be inspired to innovate and to excel.”
Weather to educate the masses on the value of studying biomimicry, or to entertain viewers with stunning visuals and exciting action, Evolve serves a valuable purpose. In the words of Sixsmith, “nature has been here an awful long time and we can learn innumerable things from the lessons life has learnt in order to thrive in every corner of the globe. Every single living thing is a part of that so we hope that Evolve shows that we absolutely need to preserve our biodiversity.”
Read more Lifestyle
