This is what it's all about.
1462! Yes, there are 1462 glaciers in Switzerland and that makes it the Alpine country with the largest number of glaciers (source: glamos.ch). For locals and tourists alike, these icy masses form part of the DNA of the country. But let’s be honest: did you know that there are so many glaciers? And did you know that many glaciers will disappear soon? A sad example: last week, the Pizol Glacier, has officially been declared to small to still be called a glacier.
With Recogn.ice we strive to ignite a global, positive spark of ’glacial consciousness’, so that everyone learns to recognise, understand and last but not least appreciate the cryosphere, which includes glaciers, snow fields, ice caps and all the other frozen water on our planet.
We are a non-profit organisation in our infancy (we only started in January 2019) and therefore we ask you to accompany and support us in the realisation of a first essential step: the production and installation of the very first picture frame with which we seduce passers-by not only to observe the landscape, but actually to recognise, enjoy and ideally photograph the glaciers visible through the frame.
With your support and the icy pictures you share with us and Social Media, we can give the photogenic frozen components of our planet the attention they need so much at this moment.
Did we already mention that Recogn.ice is supported by the World Glacier Monitoring Service? Fantastic!
Get the world to Recogn.ice!
Recogn.ice’s first tangible project will be the installation of 10 large scale picture frames in front of 10 easily accessible Swiss glaciers. These frames will catch the attention of thousands of hikers and cyclists and give them the little push needed to not just look at an Alpine panorama, but to actually see the glaciers. The design of the frame, by Swiss award winning designer Sebastian Marbacher, invites people to pose, take a snapshot and share their pictures online, using #recognice.
The frames function as a catalyst: our vision is to get the whole world to use #recognice for all the icy pictures they share, be it from glaciers, sea ice, permafrost features or the seasonally frozen rivers!
By neatly structuring all footage of the cryosphere in an interactive and accessible database on our website, we bridge the gap between incomprehensible and repelling scientific websites and the more popular, yet unstructured and universal platforms like Instagram.
This is what we need backing for.
Over the last couple of months we have successfully engaged with several Swiss NGO’s and municipalities. The feedback on our proposed Picture Frames is fantastic, however, most interested parties wish to see a ’working example’ to gauge the interest and engagement of passers-by.
What better way to convince those parties than to create and install a crowd-funded Picture Frame! With your support and the resulting inflow of glacier pictures, we create a strong testimonial of the engagement of the general public.
Sebastian Marbacher has estimated the cost of production and installation to be 5000 CHF. If we manage to crowdfund such a robust, steal frame, we firmly believe it will be easy to find a location for it!
We thank you sooo much in advance,
Larissa, Timo and Jochem
