Biodiversity Exhibition Opens at Natural History Museum

On Thursday 24 April 2025, Luxembourg’s Naturmusée (MNHN - National Museum of Natural History) held a private launch event for its new temporary exhibition entitled “Sous les pavés, la nature” (Beneath the Paving Stones, Nature),which will run from Friday 25 April until Sunday 19 October 2025 at MNHN in Luxembourg-Grund (25 Rue Münster).

Speakers at the event were Patrick Michaely, MNHN Director, Thierry Helminger, Curator and coordinator of MNHN botanical section, and Laura Daco, MNHN Curator.

The exhibition, located on the second floor of the museum, highlights the importance of biodiversity in the urban environment, how plants and animals coexist with humans in the urban setting and how biodiversity can be encouraged and promoted by humans. The slogan is taken from Sous les Pavés, la Plage!  (Beneath the Cobblestones, the Beach!), one of the protest slogans used in France in 1968. It expressed the desire that beneath the city, hardened by stone, lay the freedom of the beach (represented by the sand on which the paving stones were placed).

Biodiversity is described as the variety of life on Earth, including all species from humans to organisms such as microbes, fungi and invertebrates.

Through a series of information panels, videos and art installations, visitors are guided to discover the biodiversity that is “underneath” or hidden in the built-up areas of cities and how animals and plants can adapt (or not) to urban settings. Visitors to the exhibition are also invited to imagine an urban environment in harmony with nature. Among the many information panels are ones on urban green spaces, highlighting the importance of parks and gardens in providing habitats for biodiversity. Animals and plants present in cities are often those that are able to adapt to a change in surroundings. It has been noted that the frequencies and rhythm of bird song change with their singing becoming louder as it competes with urban noise. Natural and near-natural areas will encourage more species to thrive. 

The exhibition also looks at the challenges that various species face in the urban environment, including light pollution. One information panel described how a single street light can attract and kill approximately 150 insects on a summer night. Solutions allowing humans and nature coexist in these settings are also put forward, for example using adapted and less damaging lighting. Supporting a community’s food needs by growing fruit and vegetables in urban patches also contributes to sustainable urban development. Hydroponics, a water-based solution to growing without soil, is also featured in the exhibition.

An interesting video presentation shows the results of changing car dominated-streets and carparks into green nature-filled areas. It encourages people to realise that cities and urban spaces could provide a pleasant and sustainable living environment in which humans and other species can coexist.

The programme of events associated with the exhibition includes activities, workshops and lectures for all ages. For further information on the exhibition and events, see https://www.mnhn.lu/blog/2025/03/sous-les-paves-la-nature-25-04-2025-19-10-2025/.