Birds And Nature Open for Full Fruition, Empowering Everyone II
BANOFFEE II continues the journey started by the original BANOFFEE project, bringing nature, biodiversity and the Deaf community even closer together.
Following the experience and results of the first BANOFFEE project, BANOFFEE II was developed as a new European cooperation between Malta and Italy, with a particular focus on Maltese Sign Language (LSM) and Italian Sign Language (LIS).
The project continues to promote a simple but important idea: nature should be accessible to everyone.
What did we produce?
BANOFFEE II has transformed knowledge about birds into a collection of accessible visual learning resources.
The project activities have included the development of:
One of the key outputs of BANOFFEE II was the development of a taxonomy covering 20 bird species selected for their relevance to the natural environments of Malta and Italy.
For each species, the project compiled the scientific name, English name, Italian name and Maltese name, together with a visual reference and a concise description of its main characteristics, including appearance, behaviour, habitat, feeding habits and migratory presence in the two participating countries. You can download the full list here
Bird signs in LSM and LIS
A new collection of signs relating to bird species has been documented in Maltese Sign Language and Italian Sign Language, expanding the environmental vocabulary available to Deaf sign-language users.
Short videos have been created to present individual bird species and their signs.
These resources can be used by Deaf people, sign-language learners, educators, interpreters, environmental organisations and anyone interested in learning how bird species can be represented in LSM and LIS. The videos are numbered from 61 to 80 and can be access here on our YouTube channel.
Educational videos
BANOFFEE II has also produced educational mini-documentaries combining information about birds and nature with sign language.
The videos help viewers discover different bird species while learning about their identification, characteristics, habitats and relationship with the natural environment.
