A delegation from the State Environmental Institution "Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve" visited France in early October. The official trip was prompted by an international cooperation agreement between biosphere reserves. The development of environmental education is the common goal.
A delegation from the State Environmental Institution "Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve" visited France in early October. The official trip was prompted by an international cooperation agreement between biosphere reserves. The development of environmental education is the common goal.
During practical seminars, our four representatives learned many interesting things from foreign colleagues from Kampinos National Park in Poland and from the hosts from the "Northern Vosges" Biosphere Reserve.
The educational centre at Kampinos Park opened in 1997. However, the idea of environmental education originated with the British and dates back to their 1988 reform, which set tasks for schools. The UK government defined environmental education as the "heart" of its policy. Therefore, studying the natural environment in schools in that country is mandatory, while each institution independently determines how much teaching time to allocate to such activities. Environmental education should not be confused with biology lessons. Tour guide Elena Vashkevich introduces children to the animal and plant world in a playful manner. Special "talking" stands help not only to see, for example, what a particular bird looks like, but also to hear it. Instilling a love for nature in this way will help to preserve it in the future, as the integrity of the ecosystem depends on the careful attitude of everyone, even the youngest citizen.
France is home to the UNESCO headquarters, and great attention is paid to nature conservation issues. The list of UNESCO's global biosphere reserves includes two "Northern Vosges" nature parks.
The Belarusian delegation was accommodated in an eco-center called "House by the Water" in the foothills. There are many such centers within the Vosges parks. The parks themselves are unnamed and are distinguished only by their location, while the centers are named according to their focus – "Beaver House," "Green Woodpecker House." These houses are equipped with special tanks for collecting moisture, which is then purified through special filters and supplied to showers and toilets, meaning there are no underground utilities. The location where the practical experience-sharing seminar took place is extraordinary – the Vosges mountain range is in northeastern France and stretches for 830 km with a width of 40-60 km. The highest peak is Grand Ballon at 1424 meters.
The classes in the centers are interactive rather than lecture-based – the training room is equipped with pull-out stands, and three-dimensional objects can be touched. For mass training in a relaxed atmosphere, there are large, soft floor cushions for seating scattered around. The parks feature numerous castles, and even the administration of "Northern Vosges" is located in one of them. These are unique architectural monuments that the French carefully preserve.
The staff includes an architect who helps preserve the original appearance not only of the landmarks but also of the homes of local residents – there are over thirty settlements within the parks.
Being a two-hour drive from Strasbourg (Germany), we took the opportunity to visit the famous "Treetop Walkway" in the Northern Vosges, and at the same time, visited the local Biosphere House. The walkway is a unique structure that allows tourists to walk among the trees at a height reaching forty meters in some places, with observation decks and toy effigies of birds chirping with the voices of local avian inhabitants. The Biosphere House is a four-story glass building with a solar panel on the roof, three thematic museums inside, realistic local panoramas, a cinema hall shaped like an anthill… and so on.
On the last day of the stay, a round table was organized to summarize the seminar's outcomes and discuss issues of further development of international cooperation in promoting environmental education. It is noteworthy that in the future, exchanges may involve not only specialists' experience but also groups (classes) of pupils.
Evgenia LYAKH.
In the photo: Diana Simonovich ascends the "Treetop Walkway" (Germany).
