One of the most interesting and innovative aspects of the New Museum project is the use of the large green area of the surrounding garden.
Beyond the aesthetic value of these spaces, it was decided to exploit their evocative power to address the theme of the relationship between man and nature.
The domestic honeybee ( Apis mellifera) is known for producing honey and other products, such as propolis and wax. It lives in organized colonies, with a queen, thousands of workers and, during reproduction, a few males (drones). The colony can be considered a superorganism, composed of thousands of interdependent individuals. Bees also contribute to biodiversity through their role in pollinating many plants. Aromatic plants are widely used by bees and other pollinators. Many of them, such as rosemary, sage, lavender, helichrysum or nepeta have not only an aesthetic function, but with their showy and abundant blooms they also provide a valuable source of nectar and pollen. Also in the creation of these borders, ornamental plants, such as some cultivar varieties of Nepeta and Salvia, have been chosen alongside species naturally found in the Mediterranean basin, such as rosemary or common chamydew.
A bug hotel has been set up in the garden of the Museum. A bug hotel is an artificial shelter intended to provide shelter to insects and other small animals.
Every material present in it is colonized by different groups of species, thus constituting for them a specific habitat. For example, bees and wasps of solitary species, also fundamental in the process of spreading floral pollen, can use straws and pierced woods for spawning. The areas close to the ground, more humid, can be occupied by small litter animals such as isopods, diplopodes, gastropods and others.
The meteorological station in the museum allows to sample:
- temperature
- humidity
- rainfall
- wind (direction, intensity)
- evapotranspiration
- radiation
- UV rays
All collected data, together with some processing and simulation are available on this page .
In the garden of the Museum were built small plots sown with ancient grains and native legumes of species whose use for agricultural purposes appears documented in the archaeological sites of northern Italy from the Neolithic (from about 5600/5500 B.C. ). During dedicated workshops, participants will be able to experience the different phases of Neolithic cultivation: from ploughing and sowing, to the subsequent cleaning of crops from weeds, until harvesting, harvesting and threshing. With the archeobotanic Mauro Rottoli you can learn more about Neolithic agriculture.
In the high Friulian plain and in the morainic areas, characterized by gravelly soils poor in nutrients, lean prairies can be formed, called precisely magredi. There are two fundamental types: primitive and evolved magredi. The former are presented as discontinuous prairies, where a steppe vegetation is observed.
The evolved magredi (stable meadows) have more nutrients in the soil and a homogenous and continuous turf and are characterized by showy and colorful blooms. They are among the richest habitats in plant species and for their maintenance mowing and/or grazing are fundamental.
Separate collection is an easy practice, which can really make a difference: when we recycle, materials are converted into new products, limiting the consumption of natural resources. In this way, the process of extracting raw materials from the environment can be significantly reduced and the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators can be considerably reduced, reducing emissions of pollutants. The most sustainable choice, however, begins with the drastic reduction of waste production, encouraging the reuse and recovery of materials and limiting waste (for example in packaging) in the stages of industrial production. The Museum favours and encourages less waste production and proper separate collection.
Trees and shrubs have much longer life cycles than animals, however they are also destined for stages of senescence, decay and death. Very often, especially in the woods, dead wood is removed by humans because it is perceived as a kind of waste, a waste to be eliminated. It’s a valuable element for biodiversity, and its presence in forest ecosystems greatly increases the number of species present. There are many invertebrates (called saproxylic) linked to decaying wood, but this resource is also fundamental for amphibians, reptiles, birds and small mammals, which find refuge there, hibernation sites and the possibility of finding sources of food. Dead wood is also an important habitat for fungi, lichens, mosses and various plant species. At a domestic level it is possible to recreate these environments with small stacks of wood, which will soon be colonized by different animals.
The 2030 Agenda is a global action plan of the United Nations, divided into 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), created with the intention of combating poverty, inequality and climate change by promoting sustainable development by 2030. Every country is called upon to contribute to these goals. The covered area of the Museum Garden has been dedicated to Agenda 2030, creating a space where internal and external experts organize educational and outreach activities on issues related to the SDGs. The material used for the exhibit comes from responsibly managed forests and will be recycled at the end of its use.
Block of "platform limestone" weighing about 2 tons, found in Pradis (Carnic Pre-Alps) during the excavation of a house foundation. Dating from the Cenomanian period (upper Cretaceous, about 100 million years ago), it contains several dozen specimens of Chondrodonta joannae: some of them show slightly different shapes from each other and are related to the morphotypes " Pinna ostreaeformis" and Chondrodonta delgadoi.
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