Project Wisdom Project Wisdom is about capturing the experience and knowledge of the elderly, it may be wisdom that has been passed down to them or wisdom they have obtained during their life from things they have observed and connections and patterns they have noticed. Knowledge has been lost so we would like to retrieve that which is still with us in our parents, grandparents and great grandparents. We also want to know about what our surroundings used to be like so that we can recreate lost eco-systems. We would like you to find somebody elderly that you know and just chat to them. Please don’t cold call anyone, if you don’t know anyone yourself perhaps a friend does ..or get in touch with an elderly club and ask them if you could chat to people there. Record what they say by note taking or recording device. Try and ask open-ended questions that help them recall the past; be patient and take your time. Us oldies need time to cast our mind back!
There are 3 main areas to ask them about:
How things used to be: plants, animals, land, waters, climate and people. Ask about abundance and nature of them compared to now.
Connections in our eco-systems, things like more berries signalling a colder winter. This may come in the form of sayings eg red sky at night… What plants make what illnesses better. What plants to use for string or for cleaning. Tricks to grow food or keep pests away. Also ask about interactions between species they have noticed. Or patterns (repeated events or structures), how a fox crosses an open field or patterns in nature such as branches off one tree matching.
Folk-lore that has been passed down –stories that tell us something about our surroundings.
Prepare your questions before hand but your real aim is to get a conversation going so be prepared to encourage through your responses. If they tell you a little make it clear you would like to know more! Type it up if possible and let us have your findings by email: [email protected] Or send it over messenger to Cornwall Eco Project Resource Centre We hope to compile a book. It would be wonderful to get schools involved in this so please do forward this to any teachers you know.