The UN General Assembly have proclaimed 24th January as International Education Day. ‘Education is a human right, a public good and a public responsibility’. To mark International Education Day the European Union have developed a Nature Protection Toolkit an education resource for young people.
The Nature Protection Toolkit aims to improve young peoples understanding of European nature:
- What is meant by nature and biodiversity, including concepts such as species, habitat and ecosystem,
- Where protected species and habitats can be found in EU member states,
- Why Europe’s nature is important and why it is under threat,
- What the EU is doing to protect its nature and how students can get involved.
The toolkit includes activities to:
Encourage students to spend time in and connect with nature to discover the place of nature in their lives and value systems
Inspire and empower students to become more sustainable so that both nature and people can thrive
Embrace students in developing the knowledge and skills related to collaboration, communication and problem solving and systemic thinking, skills necessary to address natures challenges.
It comprises four modules including lesson plans and ready to use activities, materials and resources. The toolkit is available at the following link:
The European nature protection toolkit – Publications Office of the EU
The Water Forum have developed 4 education modules for secondary schools focusing on Ireland’s waterways and nature:
- The Global impacts of our water use
- Using digital maps to explore local water resources
- Freshwater biodiversity and habitats
- Water quality and pollution
Each module has a Teachers resource with lesson plans and PowerPoint presentations and Student workbook.
