The Grüne Woche trade fair – whose name translates as ‘Green Week’ – celebrated its 100th anniversary in January and facts and fiction were there once again with a stand that we designed for the Environment Ministry. With the tagline ‘Natur stärken – Klima schützen’ (Strengthening Nature – Protecting Our Climate), the presentation summed up the core activities of the ministry: preserving nature, making ecosystems more resistant and winning them back as key allies in the battle against climate change.
At five interactive points, visitors got to experience the sheer diversity of the ministry’s solutions: from AI applications for protecting nature to restoring valuable habitats and designing our cities to be climate-resilient.
The aim was to create a haven of tranquillity within the hustle and bustle of the trade fair. Like a ‘green oasis’, the stand would invite visitors to linger for a while and provide a space for them to reflect on ways to protect our climate and natural surroundings. The architecture and scenography picked up on this idea, with natural materials like wood and sisal, organic forms and transparent banners bringing the themes to life and creating an open, atmospheric environment.
The graphic design put different aspects of Germany’s natural beauty centre stage – from seas and coastlines to forests, soils and moors. Large-scale photographs were supplemented by colourful illustrations of living beings that make a key contribution to natural climate protection. For example, earthworms, glassworts and linden trees were singled out as ambassadors of their respective ecosystems and given the spotlight they deserved at the stand.
Conserving scarce resources also played a central role in designing and building the trade fair stand. For this project, facts and fiction once again worked together with sustainability initiative Trash Galore, which collects materials that are no longer needed and passes them on to social institutions in Berlin and to a second-hand store in Leipzig.
As well as this, the large-format banners are turned into bags and pencil cases and will be given away to visitors at coming events.
Impact at a glance