'ĀinaQuest tackles plant blindness by re-developing people's relationships with plants

HONOLULU - April 10, 2024 - PRLog -- ʻĀinaQuest, a diverse team of educators, artists, technologists, and board game enthusiasts, are on a mission to increase community interest in plants through interactive gameplay and cultural storytelling. Their team emerged from the Build4Good AI Hackathon, hosted by Purple Maiʻa, with a shared vision: to deepen their pilina (relationship) with native plants. Since then, they've embarked on an exciting adventure, combining their love for board games, plant knowledge, and community engagement.

Plant Blindness: A Global Challenge

A total of 35 studies have shown that urbanization negatively impacts plant knowledge, reducing the utility of plant foraging. In contrast, rural communities in low and middle-income countries tend to have higher plant knowledge due to their dependence on natural resources (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2022/oct/urban-life-causes-plant-blindness-foraging-could-be-cure).

In a fast-paced industrial world, people often overlook the natural treasures that surround them and fail to recognize the vital role that plants play in our community, often leading to the misguided belief that plants are somehow inferior to animals (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.9...). This phenomenon, known as "plant blindness," affects approximately 71.5% of the state's population with residents living in places classified as urbanized areas (https://bing.com/search?q=how+many+people+in+hawaii+live+...). Despite our ancestors thriving alongside these plants, many fail to notice their significance.

Plant blindness is multifaceted, influenced by both biological (including cognition) and cultural factors. Overcoming plant blindness requires identifying factors that can be changed, and bridging the gap involves fostering a renewed connection with plants, appreciating their significance, and enhancing teaching and learning about them (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.963448/full).

ʻĀinaQuest: Fostering Connection

The antidote to plant blindness lies in fostering a renewed connection with the natural world. ʻĀinaQuest offers an innovative solution—an educational card game that combines fun, learning, and storytelling. Through ʻĀinaQuest, people explore native Hawaiian plants, read their mo'olelo (stories), and rediscover the biodiversity of our ecosystem.

Empowering the Community

As April is Native Hawaiian Plant Month, the team at 'ĀinaQuest invites the community to rally behind their cause:

1. Workshop with Experts: They'll facilitate a workshop, bringing together cultural experts, ecologists, and community members. Their insights will enrich the game and deepen understanding of native plants. Sign up on their website to receive updates on how to participate in the workshops (https://ainaquest.com/sign-up).
   
   
2. Hiring an Artist: To infuse their cards with authenticity, they aim to collaborate with a talented artist who is rooted in 'āina. Visit their Careers page on their website (https://ainaquest.com/careers) for more information.
   
   
3. $10,000 Goal: Their target is to raise $10,000 by April 30, 2024. Every contribution counts! They are collecting contributions on Experiment, an online platform for funding and sharing scientific discoveries (https://experiment.com/projects/how-can-we-make-building-pilina-relationships-with-native-plants-fun-for-the-whole-family).
   
   

Join Them in Cultivating ʻĀina-Based Stewardship

ʻĀinaQuest is more than a card game; it's a movement. Let's bridge the gap between humans and plants, one plant card at a time.