29 Oct, Plant biodiversity children’s workshop at Les Étoiles de Jamaa El Fna.

A plant biodiversity workshop for children at Les Étoiles de Jamaa El Fna introducing them to biodiversity, climate change, the interconnectedness of our ecosystems and plants as health and ethnomedicine. The first half of the workshop is led by Mereym Aakaairi, leader of MBLA’s agrobiodiversity program. Meryem will be accompanied by illustrator and graphic designer Zaynab Kriouech who will lead the children in thinking about the importance of design and drawing in a comprehensive drawing workshop focused on plant life. 

BIOS: 

Meryem Aakaari graduated with a Master’s degree in Biology and Environment and is the lead of MBLA’s agrobiodiversity program, she supports the development of this program in the High Atlas through community engagement and delivering participatory action research on cultural practices of conservation, sustainable land use practices and capacity-building activities. One of her goals is to help improve rural communities’ lives and the economic empowerment of rural women. Meryem is passionate about food production that respects her environment, nature and people. She also promotes the strong links between plate and planet through cooking workshops. She believes that our food choices have a large impact on both environmental and societal health.

Zaynab Kriouech is a Moroccan multidisciplinary designer and recent graduate of ESAV Marrakech. She has worked across the fields of Type design, Visual identities, Illustrations, Editorial design and Printed matter. Moving away from screen-based visual expression, Zaynab is bringing into play technology to create objects that value physical expression and experience without missing the chance to perform thinking by hand, experimenting with different materials and mediums, while being open to accidents. This has led her to develop innovative research methodologies that lead every time to unexpected solutions.