Bioeconomy-focused stories for curious children and young innovators (AGE 4-8)
APRE is supporting, through a participatory creative process, the production of 10 bioeconomy stories for children written by selected authors which have been scientifically validated by APRE’s experts. The final product, will be available in Italian by March 2025 and in English by April 2025. The podcast will initially launch with a collection of ten stories, with each 8-10 minute episode featuring one story that introduces children to the basic principles of bioeconomy.
INTRODUCTION
The digital world is changing rapidly, and with it the ways in which we learn and entertain ourselves and our children. A clear example of this evolution is the explosion of podcasts, a tool that is becoming popular especially among young people, who are increasingly comfortable with the use of new technologies as a means to learn and play. As part of the Horizon Europe project GenB , APRE is supporting the development of a collection of stories about the bioeconomy, designed to introduce children to complex scientific topics with a simple, engaging and, above all, fun appraoch.
CONCEPT: THE BIOECONOMY FOR THE YOUNG CHILDREN
Podcasts are perfect learning vehicles for children, who can enjoy them in any occasion: at school, traveling, while playing, or even before bedtime. This format allows to learn while having fun, stimulating imagination and curiosity. Using the power of stories to explain concepts such as sustainability, circularity, and respect for the environment, thus making the bioeconomy an accessible and fascinating topic for young children is a core goal of the GenB project.
A COLLECTION OF 10 STORIES
Our objective is to engage children and make them aware of the importance of sustainable living. Each story will be approximately 8 to 10 minutes long, in line with the attention span of our 4-8 year old audience.
The first story is devoted to explaining the basic concepts of the bioeconomy, a simple and clear introduction. The following stories focus on more practical and concrete aspects, talking about various environments and contexts of the bioeconomy (city, forest, countryside, and sea) and the biomasses that you can find in each one of them, as the source of bio-based products. Then the last story addresses the role that children and all of us can play in the process toward a greener world.
Each episode is comprised of scientific and socially relevant content and messages, presented in a narrative format that allows children to learn complex topics naturally as they listen to engaging stories that stimulate their imaginations.
THE SELECTION AND TRAINING OF AUTHORS
From January to May 2024, APRE began an author selection process, evaluating candidates’ experience and passion for the theme of Bioeconomy. Our careful and dynamic selection process reviewed authors’ past works and related reader reviews while also identifying those with podcast creation experience. We also examined the authors’ social media influence, particularly their ability to engage audiences and inspire curiosity among young children and families, thus ensuring a relevant database of followers. In June 2024, the final team of 10 Italian authors was finalised, consisting of diverse personalities from various creative fields, ready to bring a variety of styles and content to the project.
On July 18, 2024, APRE held an online meeting with all the authors, where they also had the possibility to share their background and and meet each other. Throughout the meeting, a capacity building webinar was held, where APRE informed these important “multipliers” about the bioeconomy opportunities, challenges and its applications, the bio-based products and the bio-based professions, so that they could translate these concepts into their stories. After the introduction to the GenB project and the capacity building with APREs’ bioeconomy experts, the authors began working on their first story drafts .Over the summer, the ideas grew; in late September, the summaries underwent a final review by APRE.
A PARTICIPATORY CREATION PROCESS
In October 2024, a second meeting was held, during which the authors shared their first summaries of stories and where the name of the podcast series (“BIO-ADVENTURES, first steps for young innovators”) was also decided, through a creative “brand naming” session. Throughout this creative process, the authors discussed and refined their ideas with the artistic-scientific validation team to ensure that each story was scientifically accurate and, at the same time, engaging for our young audience.
In November, the authors worked on the final drafts of the stories, which are now going through the last round of validation before publication. By December 20th 2024, the stories will be completed, and APRE will start the production work of the podcasts: from recording to defining the brand identity and preparing the English translations of the stories.
NEXT STEPS AND FINAL OUTCOME: A PODCAST FOR CHILDREN FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
The goal is to publish the podcast in Italian by March 2025, and to translate the stories into English to reach a broader audience. This collection of stories is not only an opportunity to educate the young about the bioeconomy, but also to build a new generation that is aware, curious, and ready to become protagonists of a more sustainable future.
With the perfect mix of science, creativity and storytelling, the stories of the bioeconomy podcast is intended to be an exciting journey that will help children better understand the world around them while having fun and learning. And who knows, maybe this will inspire them to become pioneers of a greener, more circular world, too!