Publicly revealed by Expo 2020 Dubai for Earth Day, Terra – the Sustainability Pavilion is an emotional journey that tells the story of humankind’s relationship with the planet, our impact on it and the urgent changes we must make to save it, and will spur visitors of all ages to take individual action for global good.
Visitors will be immersed in the beauty of the natural world – following the tracks of mega elephants in the Arabian Peninsula, uncovering the amazing symbiotic network of roots and fungi that allow trees to communicate in the ‘Wood-Wide-Web’, and being serenaded by a whale love song as they discover the inhabitants of the ocean’s midnight zone – an areas so deep it receives no sunlight.
Huge, interactive attractions will explain key sustainability issues and concepts. For example, a giant balance maze will require multiple people to collaborate to bring Earth into balance, symbolising Expo 2020’s theme of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’. Visitors will also be faced with some hard truths when they encounter a deep-sea fish whose body is clogged with discarded plastic (pictured), and Gnasher, an insatiable giant consumption-machine that ingests endless amounts of natural resources to churn out single-use consumer products.
A series of ‘would you rather?’ scenarios will spark some serious self-reflection on how our behaviour directly impacts our planet, followed by a more hopeful encounter at the Laboratory of Future Values, which will present real solutions to the challenges raised.
Terra, which means ‘Home Earth’, brings to life Expo 2020’s commitment to sustainability – one of Expo’s three key subthemes – and will act as a catalyst for change in the UAE, the region and beyond.
In fact, the visitor journey will conclude with a pledge to support positive change – from cutting back on food waste to eliminating single-use plastic. Even small individual steps can have big collective impact, and with Terra’s capacity for 4,400 visitors per hour over 173 days, that could equal millions of changes that help preserve the environment.
Terra incorporates the experience in and around Expo 2020’s Sustainability Pavilion – an extraordinary piece of architecture that pushes the boundaries of sustainable design and cutting-edge technologies and is designed to meet the highest global sustainable architecture standards.
Post-Expo, it will continue to inspire future generations and serve as an example of sustainable design, enjoying new life as a children and science centre in District 2020 – the integrated hub that will repurpose 80 per cent of the Expo site.