Communication design for the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Languages, tools, technologies, collaborative processes for museum education

Abstract

This paper sets out to report an articulated research-action process, which started with some educational-scientific experiments carried out in a collaborative effort between the disciplines of design, multimedia representation and botanical sciences at the University of Palermo. The project in question focused on scientific communication and the development of communication products for the museum and institutional education of the Botanical Garden of Palermo. Within this initiative, design tools, technologies and methods of expression were experimented and later re-proposed in a territorial development project which led to the creation of the “Intangible Heritage Micro Museum of Wheat and Bread. Memory, knowledge, interaction” of Borgo S. Rita (CL). Today the micro-museum of Borgo S. Rita offers visitors an articulate narrative path with interactive elements; combining the educational-scientific dimension of learning with the historical-anthropological dimension of the small community memory, linked by the sharing of knowledge gathered over time as regards wheat production and bread-making. Moreover, the use of specific methods, techniques and technologies of communication and representation has helped to explore an “open” and collaborative design dimension, which can facilitate new co-design practices for social and cultural innovation within territorial development processes.