Learning About Nature Discloses Landscapes And Biodiversity

<< Background >>This project was meant to give our contribution to the ecological transition according to the objectives of the Agenda 2030 .The youth protest movements of Greta Thunberg was inspirational to stop with all this bla-bla-bla and start taking actions. We adopted the motto: we care, we can. We care the environment and we can take care of it. All the planned activities had this ultimate aim: making the participants responsible citizens, able to take ethical decisions that are respectful of others and of the environment.<< Objectives >>Our objective was to put the environment (LAND) at the center of the educational process, by making it a 3.0 open air laboratory (LAB), while raising the participants' awareness about landscape conservation, biodiversity, revitalisation and sustainability. They were encouraged to get back in touch with nature, to discover or develop a new sensibility towards the issue of environmental care. The utlimate aim was to turn the young participants into amateur nature guides during the two-year project and even beyond the life span of the project. Hopefully some of them will make a career of it after leaving school.<< Implementation >>Besides being engaged in virtual activities via the digital media, the participants took part in less formal outdoor learningactivities such as direct experiences, excursions and workshops as weel as in visits to local facilities specialized in the four areas of the project.Teamwork and responsibility sharing, combined with a problem-posing and problem-solving approach, fostered their socialization, cooperation and inclusiveness as well as motivation, creativity and interest towards scientific subjects.<< Results >>The students realised 4 different final products related to the 4 project topics:-LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION: a digital toolkit with video tutorials, e.g. about how to become a nature guide;-BIODIVERSITY: a herbarium, where to collect edible herbs, aromatic grass and medicinal plants,-REVITALISATION: a comic strip, to raise awareness among local primary and middle school children in each partner country-SUSTAINABILITY: the final awareness-raising campaign (paper brochure, online diary, flash mob)Once they became knowledgeable about the project topics, the participants got the necessary competences to turn into theambassadors of their own territory. They will use this knowedge and expertise whenever it is necessary, for example when other foreign students will come and visit our schools, city and country, or within their family contest, while being visited by family or friends. The target group also learned how to apply good practices in everyday life: recycling, revitalising, reducing waste etc.They learned, and will pass it on to the future generations, that the environment, both natural and man-made, is the primary economic and cultural resource for the local communities and the entire world.