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Striving to Deliver Opportunities within the Environmental Industry

The Field Studies Council (FSC) is a charity established in 1943 to bring environmental educational to all. The organisation runs 17 field centres around the United Kingdom delivering a range of environmental educational courses to students and learners across the age spectrum. We also run several community initiatives aimed at reaching those not normally able to participate in environmental education, as well as a ground breaking volunteer project that works with biological recorders to increase their skills and provide the next generation of experts in groups of fauna and flora.

At the heart of our programme are a range of professional development courses for volunteers, students, professional ecologists and land managers. Many of these are in partnership with universities or recording societies and provide accreditation to those wishing to make an environmental subject their career, or for those continuing their development within the industry.

Two areas in particular have become campaigning grounds for our organisation in recent years. Firstly the lack of fieldwork within the curriculum, with the obvious loss of field skills amongst children in education, with its inevitable follow on impact on our industry as a whole by the separation of the population from nature itself. Then the lack of knowledge concerning taxonomy that many students have, again impacting upon our species knowledge and therefore management knowledge. This is particularly dangerous for the future of our wildlife – as how are we to manage and conserve what we have if we cannot identify what we have in the first place?

Working with the Heritage Lottery Fund, the FSC has developed a Biodiversity Training Project to work with volunteers in the Shropshire and wider West Midlands area – as a pilot project – over a five year period to increase field and identification skills through progressive field training. We are currently half way through this programme of courses but already have successes with several regular volunteers recording high quality biological records and submitting them to the relevant recording schemes locally and nationally. We even have one volunteer who is now about to become a tutor for the first time during 2009, which is particularly exciting. Ultimately these biological records will end up on the NBN Gateway (see Special Edition of CJS weekly – 18 August 2008) and influence planning and management policy.

So we are seeing this two-fold approach develop within professional development; the more traditional educational approach through top quality associations with schools, universities and recording societies, as well as less recognised, but equally valuable, ways of development with funded schemes such as the Biodiversity Training Project where the training that many universities and other educational bodies do not have the time or expertise to provide is being supplied to volunteers and others to plug this skills gap. It is likely that the future of professional development lies this way with alternative opportunities arising along the way and we at the FSC are striving hard to deliver these opportunities to those who wish to thrive within the environmental industry.

OPAL is an exciting new partnership initiative which has received a grant from The Big Lottery Fund. It aims to encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to get back in touch with nature by exploring and studying their local environment. Across England, OPAL regional offices are developing a wide range of participative programmes which will educate communities about the natural world around them. OPAL would like to hear from anyone with an interest in the environment, so If you would like to get involved with your local OPAL office call 020 7942 5120 or email OPALexplorenature@nhm.ac.uk                           www.OPALexplorenature.org

Sue Fenoughty, Secretary of the National Association for Environmental Education, and fellow members of the NAEE Executive.    A decade ago, Environmental Education was one of 5 cross-curricular themes in the national curriculum; by 1997, it had almost disappeared.    NAEE recognises that EE is needed today more than ever, to prepare today’s youngsters for their role as tomorrow’s stewards of the planet, and empowered  to take action to reduce the harmful impact of human activities on the environment.

There are opportunities in the curriculum for environmental education and also in some government initiatives so why isn’t Environmental Education higher on the national curriculum agenda?

Drawing on my own experience as a teacher and environmental education teacher-consultant, and those of my teacher colleagues at NAEE, I have gathered many of the reasons and some of the barriers facing classroom teachers attempting to include the environmental dimension of outdoor learning.

A lack of status for environmental education in the curriculum with schools focussing on the 'tested' subjects and government targets, means there can be little support from management and poor awareness of the opportunities within the curriculum for regular outdoor learning.  Professional development courses on EE are a low budgetary priority and budgetary constraints are cited against off-site trips or even for visiting providers.  Other school time constraints mean that time is short for planning and organising trips which in itself can be daunting with the additional paperwork of consent forms, extra CRB checks for helpers and the ever present health and safety implications.  Resources and experience are not always shared in some staffrooms and school management may question the necessity for outside activities.

Uninspiring schools grounds don't encourage teachers or pupils to leave the warm classroom, many pupils lack suitable outdoor clothing and even the fitness to venture far into what is for many an unfamiliar environment.

Lack of communication between teachers and providers of off-site activities can result in trips being regarded as 'extras' instead of enhancing the core curriculum. Visiting from conservation workers to school may not be sustained with follow up work and some teachers demonstrate an unwillingness to become involved in activities preferring to stand back and let others do the teaching.

Environmental Education is a very practical, pupil-centred approach to outdoor learning, its hands-on approach suits all ages and abilities, from learning through play in the Foundation Stage right through to A level biology field work.  

Teachers need to be released from ‘teaching to tests and targets’ and given time to stand back and enjoy being outside learning with their pupils about the surrounding environment.   Bringing back environmental education would raise pupil awareness of the world outside the classroom, and strengthen the role of school visits to places further afield to pursue their environmental studies, at field study centres, etc.  

 NAEE’s aim is to restore Environmental Education to the curriculum and we welcome links with all people and organisations who share this vision.  For further details, please see our website www.naee.org.uk

Centres - Wales :

Centres - Scotland :

“Earth Education – A New Beginning” was published on Earth Day back in 1990 challenging the accepted institutional view of environmental education and offering an alternative to many environmental education projects and activities.  So have things moved on since those heady days when earth education was still fairly new to the UK?

With much talk about obesity and lack of ‘natural play’ (see National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence – promoting physical activity in children, 2007) and ‘Nature deficit disorder’ (see Richard Louv, Last child in the Woods, 2005) it seems environmental education still hasn’t managed to address the need for more ‘contact’ with the natural world and a greater kinship with the non-human world.  There is, therefore, still a huge role to play for earth education within the programmes offered by environmental/countryside organisations.  Earth Education is about living more harmoniously and joyously with the natural world. 

Many organisations may well start off with Earthwalks which were first developed by the Institute for Earth Education in the 1980’s and, I would suggest, there is a greater need for them today in this ‘sendentary’ disconnected age.  Earthwalks are light refreshing touches of the natural world focussing on the ‘senses’ and encouraging a sense of kinship, joy, reverence and love for the natural world.  For those who have not been on one and even those such as myself who have been on lots they offer a new perspective and great joy at just being ‘out there’ and in touch with the earth and its life.  Earthwalks are a carefully crafted series of flowing activities woven together to create a whole sensory experience of the natural world.  The Institute for Earth Education has been working on some new earthwalks which we hope will be published in the near future.   Once practitioners have experienced Earth Education they often move on to run their own Earth Education programmes. These are magical learning adventures that include activities that deal with understandings of how the natural world functions ecologically and how we are fundamentally part and parcel of these processes.  These are combined with more ‘feelings’ activities and provide a springboard to look at changing lifestyles.  With all the talk about climate change and the urgent need to preserve biodiversity and the planet’s ecological systems that keep the climate in balance – particularly the cycling of materials such as water, oxygen and carbon, and use of energy - earth education programmes are even more relevant today than back in 1980 when the first real solid programme – Sunship Earth, was published.

So if you are intrigued or wondered what happened to all that earth ed energy back in the early 1990’s – we are still here and thriving and running regular workshops introducing earth education as a whole and more specialised workshops dealing with specific programmes, earthwalks and Muir Treks (a wilderness experience aimed at teenagers and adults). 

For more details do contact IEE by visiting the website – www.earthed.org.uk  

Jon Cree, IEE UK Training Co-ordinator

Learning does not happen just in the classroom, and is not restricted to children and students.  At the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough we aim “To bring people together to take action for wildlife”.  In order to do this, people need to make informed decisions, therefore, it is important to target learning opportunities to suit the needs of the audience.   Innovative partnerships and volunteer support enable us to do much more.

We have a long and successful record of education and community work; staff work across 5 Education Centres and many more outreach programmes.  Our broad aim is to engage communities with wildlife through their local nature reserve or other greenspace.

Working so much with schools, for us, it's easier to follow the academic year, from August to July.

story telling in a tepee

As soon as the schools break up, the process of reviewing the successes, feedback and evaluation of sessions begins, along with the review of programmes.  To engage wider audiences, a huge programme of events run over the summer holiday period; everything from summer wildlife walks to community picnics and wild adventure and play days.  Offering something for everyone we work with youth groups and summer schools, social services, and offer family learning events.  Summer is naturally the time of year when new audiences are best encouraged to get out-and-about, and there’s a great deal of wildlife to be found too!  We also try to do some outreach work at other summer events , further widening our audiences.  Events such as healthy living, community festivals and faith festivals can all be great to join forces with, and have seen great success. August is also a time when exhausted staff take the opportunity for a well-earned holiday!

building a den for teddy - at a community event for under 7s

Come September and the new school year, the new autumn/winter programmes begin.  Focusing on changing seasons, it sees themes of fruits and seeds, dispersal and hibernation dominating.  Community events held in the October half term mimic this by looking for signs of autumn, other events go wider with links to Eid and Halloween, and a bat event which always draws in the crowds! 

As the days grow shorter, wetter and colder, it has traditionally been hard to entice people outdoors.  But we try to teach people that suitable clothing keeps you warm and dry, and being the first to spot some tracks or signs in fresh snow, or winter mud, is magical. Once people develop a lifestyle it becomes harder to persuade them to new ideas, but as always, working with children can break patterns, educating parents and the wider family.  Many Wildlife Trusts now run Forest School type programmes.  Attendees are taught how to dress and  are provided with waterproofs.  This year we ran Forest Schools in spring and late autumn with both early years and year 3s.  Programmes differ slightly from mainstream education programmes, but we aim to get students out whatever the weather and leaning about being in the woods through play, activities (which can be curriculum-lead) and confidence building.  This winter we are also planning a Forest School Awareness Day to encourage more practitioners within schools and other centres.

pre schoolers at Forest School

December provides a focus for events, with National Tree Week.  Last year, an Interfaiths Community tree planting to extend a community woodland was a huge success, and this year we’re planning our first ever Tree Dressing event in Peterborough.

members of the Peterborough Inter-Faiths Council plant trees as part of National Tree Week

 February half-term sees events which can run either inside or outside, depending on the weather, who attends, and how they are dressed.

Winter is also a time to focus on school grounds, meeting with after-school clubs to discuss ideas to begin to develop the grounds over spring and summer.

School children learn about minibeasts and habitats at their local nature reserve (which they walked to from school!)

Bookings begin to increase in April and May and the new schools programme, looking at spring wildlife, starts.  It is also a time to focus on teacher training events, before we get too busy. June and July is the peak season and Education staff can have wall-to-wall bookings for weeks on end!  This is when schools want to be out; all the minibeasts are there demonstrating their adaptations to the full and their habitats are blooming!  This is a subject most primary schools want to cover especially at this time of year.  Towards the end of the school year, we also respond to numerous requests from schools for fun, end-of-term activities for groups.  These can range from adventure activities such as shelter building and orienteering, craft making from natural materials, to pond dipping.  Whatever the activity, the emphasis is on fun.  Which leads us nicely back into the summer of community events again…!

Events and training for providers:

Learning Outside the Classroom at Nell Bank Nell Bank is a partnership between the Nell Bank Trust and Bradford Council. The centre has a 30 year history of providing outdoor and environmental education to all ages and abilities. In August 2008 the centre won the National Lottery Best Environment Project Award.

Pond dipping – raised ponds means they are accessible to all!

Today I went for a walk in Middleton Woods. It’s very muddy at the moment. The sort of mud that children love, sticky, squelchy and deep. Both parents and teachers, in fact, try to keep children out of exactly this sort of stuff. But I’m not a parent and I was a teacher in a previous life so anything goes. As far as I was concerned the 35 children and adults from inner-city Bradford following me were going to get a quality mud experience. The laughter, giggles and squeals of delight said it all. Best PE lesson of the week? Last week I worked with a group of KS2 visually impaired children from Leeds. One child who had no sight and reportedly rarely spoke didn’t stop talking all day about the woods, the hens, the pond dipping….   Best science lesson of the year?

Yesterday I went on a Nellbanian Bear hunt with a group of very imaginative KS1 children. Independently they explained at length the bear paw prints they found in the mud and wondered, could I also hear the bear rustling the trees? While sniffing at the air, they asked if I too could smell the bear and even showed me where they had found bear pooh!    Best literacy lesson of the month?

Tomorrow I’m working with upper KS2 who have been stranded on the Island of Nellbania. They have to work together to save humanity from environmental disaster, rescue rare Giant Nellbanian Frogs and cross piranha infested custard.  Best PSHE lesson of the week?

I’m not totally crackers I just have a great job which enables me to work in a fantastic outdoor setting with all ages and abilities. I’ve been working with children for 18 years, only four of them have been in a classroom.

Working outdoors is not for everyone but experiencing learning outside the classroom is an important aspect of both teaching and learning. Without this article getting too serious, many researchers draw attention to the fact that teaching and learning in the classroom has restrictions placed on it simply by its nature. A teacher has a requirement to deliver a prescribed curriculum. Learning in the primary classroom often takes place in the same room with the same teacher for the whole school day. Lessons are invariably delivered from the front with limited opportunity for extended or unconstrained discussion between the teacher and individual learners. This leads naturally to an asymmetrical relationship forming between the teacher and learner.

Taking a class to a centre like Nell Bank helps redress this relationship imbalance. If someone different teaches a class it allows the teacher to learn something new with the children. It could be about animals living in a pond, woodland or even just going for a walk and getting muddy.  Lets face it it’s hard to remember a lesson you had about fractions when you were ten, but the residential visit you went on with your primary school teacher…. Unforgettable! Ruth Welch, Senior Training Officer at Nell Bank If you are interested in the work we do at Nell Bank please contact us. Centre Manager: Bruce Fowler.  Contact Details:   Nell Bank Centre, Denton Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire. LS29 0DE  Telephone: 01943 602032    Email:ruth.welch@bradford.gov.uk           Visit: www.nellbank.com   (Photo credits: Nell Bank)

This summer, everyone’s having a great time.

 Centres: England (Midlands & Northern)

Longtown O.E.C. is a fully equipped residential centre for 55 people. It has excellent on-site facilities including a small woodland, river access and a classroom set in 15 acres of private grounds.  It is located in Herefordshire between the eastern edge of the Black Mountains and the River Monnow.  The centre runs specialist training courses for outdoor leaders including navigation, campcraft and first aid. More details are available on our website at www.longtownoec.co.uk   or for further information please contact us on 01873 860225, email longtown@northamptonshire.gov.uk

If your aim is to engage 11 – 14 year olds, the old adage holds true; it’s not what you say, but how you say it.

Their attitude to fieldwork comes mainly from their background – both academic and socio-economic. Whatever the starting point, engaging young people is a mixture of salesmanship, empathy, persuasion, entertainment and of course patience.

To get young people to ‘buy into’ your fieldwork, you have to ‘sell’ it to them. They need to be convinced that it will be worthwhile and of benefit to them, but they won’t be convinced by the argument that ‘it’s the law’ or ‘it’s the rules’. Good salesmanship skills can help to explain what they will learn, what they will see and how it relates to what they can do next. Empathy is needed to understand that any fieldwork you do with them will be seen as just that; work in the field. School is inherently ‘boring’ (their word, not mine) and routine, so again, it’s back to the salesmanship! Empathy is needed also to see their priorities and ideas will be coloured by seemingly unrelated issues, such as boy/girlfriends, the affect of fieldwork on their new trainers and other apparent trivia that will nonetheless have a significant impact on the outlook and approach of an individual. You have to persuade them that you can be relied on to deliver what you promise; it’s no good being a brilliant salesman, then letting them down in the field. We employ young graduates, normally in their first ‘teaching’ posts, who often find it easier to gain the trust of 11 – 16 year olds, than much more experienced teachers. There is no ‘generation gap’, no experiential divide and absolutely no temptation to use phrases such as; “in my day”.

Two students doing Psammoseral Succession on Shell Beach, Studland, Dorset. Photo Credit: PGL

If you can be entertaining, interesting, humorous and friendly, you will always do better with this age group that if you adopt a draconian disciplinarian approach. The image of the teenage rebel is one that is well worth keeping in mind; if you lay down the law, the natural reaction is rebellion.

And patience; this you need plenty of. Young people of this age are hugely image-conscious, to the point where they will not wish to show their enthusiasm or enjoyment while it is happening, but will then admit to these ‘weaknesses’ afterward – endlessly frustrating and somewhat confusing from the adult perspective. 

Our courses, ranging from Environmental Science, Ecology, Biology, Geography, Geology and History, are put together to fit within the curriculum or syllabus they are using and are, as a general rule, as practical as possible; we have always focussed on data collection and practical activities, even games with younger children, in the belief that most young people are both happier learning though practise rather than theory, and that in addition, their learning is more efficient. This older age group will not necessarily be one you would attempt to play games with, but the idea of maximising the practical aspects definitely holds true.

Tom Davis

PGL travel Ltd, Alton Court, Ross on Wye, HR9 5GL 08700 551 551  enquiries@pgl.co.uk

Centres: England (South & Anglia) 

The Residential Experience aka “Our Geog Trip Down South”  By Michelle Rogers, Deputy Manager   I have just waved off a group of AS Geography students and knowing that I need to write this article I have decided to use them as my inspiration.   The group arrive on their coach on the Monday afternoon and are welcomed by the teaching team.  “We arrived at the Chatsworth Field Study Centre in Swanage by minibus. We pulled up to the centre and we saw two friendly faces there to greet us; these two people were our tutors for our time in Swanage. We were taken into the building and were given information about the Centre and then we were able to choose our rooms. (Megan Trinder and Melissa Collyer, Staunton Community College)

The consultation with the teachers started long before this week, from booking and a preliminary visit.  During that meeting we discussed the programme for their visit in great detail.  This includes the locations they would like to visit and any elements of their syllabus that needs to be covered.

The first evening with the group, uses activities to get to know the local area.  A popular choice is the “Blind Drop”, a night navigation exercise involving team work and map reading.  Small groups are dropped in different locations with information including grid reference aiming to return safely to the centre. Most groups find different routes, all enjoy the experience and return safely.

The next few days of the experience involve visiting various sites in the area, such as Lulworth Cove, Studland and Swanage Bay.  They complete exercises and worksheets to enable them to collect the information they require.  The students enjoy using the different equipment; and everyone gets involved.  The tutors deliver the information about the areas, giving the students time to think around subjects and draw their own conclusions, before moving on with the topic.  “We learnt and saw things that can’t be displayed in text books, it's the taking part, working and observing that made us remember crucial information” (Hannah Cherry, Harlington Upper School) 

Grassland Study.  Photo Credit: Allnatt Centres

Evenings are for classroom based follow up sessions ranging from traditional drawing up of graphs to a dragon’s den style presentation.  “We may not have enjoyed that late lesson times, but we all agreed that it was better than working from a textbook, in the same old classroom back at school.” (Megan Trinder and Melissa Collyer, Staunton Community College).  Once the sessions are over the students have free time, to make use of the centres facilities, many opting to use the sport equipment provided. Towards the end of the week tutors talk to the students, reviewing their experiences.  It is important not only to find out how the week has gone in terms of their course work and case studies; but also the overall experience.  For many groups it’s an opportunity to get to know each other and the teachers.  To conclude, the residential experience is vital to the students, both for subject information and social skills.                                www.allnatt.co.uk

Education Officer Alex Robertson showing a bat box to the children Photo Credit: Scottish SPCA

Scottish Wildlife Education and The Scottish SPCA   The Scottish SPCA Education Department undertake the task of spreading the animal welfare message across Scotland. At the core of their work is their mission to engage as many people as possible in animal welfare. Essentially their role is to engender informed and caring attitudes towards animals in young and old alike, in order to prevent cruelty to animals, sadly so often caused by ignorance. The School Outreach Programme offers free sessions with an Education Officer on a variety of curriculum linked topics that also link with animal welfare.    The aim is for a hands-on approach with audience participation from the start in a wide range of wildlife linked activities.  The Education Department also run a range of workshops at community education events. In the wildlife crime workshop, children are required to examine various crime scenes and use their detective skills to discover the crimes and track down the crooks. Whilst this is a lot of fun it also makes them aware of threats to wildlife such as illegal trapping, poisoning and badger digging. (A member of the public once reported a stuffed badger as a casualty caught in a snare!)

Lindsey Cowie, Education Officer helping a girl make her bat box Photo Credit: Scottish SPCA	It is hoped that schools will be able to complement their wildlife topics in the future with a visit to the new build Wildlife Rescue Centre. With a purpose built classroom and enclosures that prevent any disturbance to the animals, visits will promote the understanding of Scottish wildlife, and the threats it faces. Students will learn how to make informed decisions and develop responsible citizenship.
	The Scottish SPCA rescues around 16000 animals a year, nearly 3000 are wildlife casualties. Let’s hope that education (with a varied programme of activities and resources) can continue to enlighten and inspire, so preventing cruelty to animals. Lindsey Cowie, Scottish SPCA Education Officer education@scottishspca.org  www.scottishspca.org

Twenty Years of Education in Exmoor National Park   Leaving Strode College, Egham in 1988 as a P.E. and geography teacher I could never have predicted the fantastic opportunity that education in a National Park (NP) would offer me. It was largely accidental and something I certainly hadn’t planned.

The NPs in Great Britain are areas protected because of their natural beauty and recreation value.  National Park Authorities (NPA) work to achieve the conservation of these areas and to encourage a better understanding and enjoyment of their special qualities. In achieving these aims the Authorities must also seek to foster the social and economic needs of the local communities. In the late 1980s the education service within Exmoor NPA was me, as part of the Ranger team; of which there were four. My remit was simple to make as much happen through local schools and volunteers as was possible. It was heaven, no school environment, children and teachers very willing to get involved and do something, but the cloud of the prescriptive National Curriculum (NC) was upon us. Despite this restriction teachers wanting to get their children out of the classroom found the way, and my feeling is that more learning took place outside the classroom then.

In the 1990s Somerset County Council were looking to dispose of their outdoor residential education centres, and Pinkery came the way of Exmoor NPA. Despite the ups and downs of changing curricular and emphases placed on schools, Pinkery has remained very popular with many schools returning for over 15 years.  I suggest this is a reflection of those teachers that ‘believe’ and are prepared to put in the extra effort that a residential experience demands. A considerable body of academic research would support the linkage between early experiences outside the classroom in the countryside and future beliefs or career.   

The present era, has been one of verifiable and quantifiable health and safety mechanisation. I understand the necessity and agree with the fundamental principles, expressed by Alan Dyer of Plymouth Uni, who says “ensuring children are safe is part of being a responsible adult. But where do we draw the line so that the excitement and adventure are not lost?”. ⁽¹⁾

For those that have the passion to share the countryside with others, don’t be put off.  Freeman Tilden, a Canadian Mountie, and pioneer of outdoor education quotes Anatole France:  “do not try to satisfy your vanity by teaching a great many things. Awaken people’s curiosity. It is enough to open minds; do not overload them. Put there just a spark. If there is some good inflammable stuff, it will catch fire.” ⁽²⁾

Today, within Exmoor NPA, and generally speaking all environmental providers, education is no longer just a ‘bolt on’ to get some good pictures of happy children but is an integral part of many projects. Lottery funding has enabled us to deliver education projects in Taunton, Bridgwater & North Devon and an education officer to deliver a project on the Brendon Hill Mineral Line. We realise that the adults of today are the children of yesterday and the more time we can spend integrating them into their environment the greater the understanding and belief in the purposes of a NP. We certainly aren’t perfect, but I like to think that trying to engage every child during every year of their education within Exmoor has created some inflammable stuff.

Dave Gurnett, Education Manager, www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk

Ref 1 Dyer, A. (2003) A Sense of Adventure, Earth Education from Resurgence 226.  http://www.resurgence.org

Ref 2 Tilden, F. (1957) Interpreting Our Heritage, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.

Providers and Organisations:

Wildlife Watch is the junior wing of the Wildlife Trusts and has been engaging families in taking positive action for the environment since 1971.   Watch encourages and nurtures young people’s interest in wildlife and the environment by creating learning opportunities, and inspiring personal participation and celebration. We have subscribing members across the UK and support a network of volunteers working with young people in community-based Watch groups.

Watch Leaders are adult volunteers recruited by Wildlife Trusts; some have existing wildlife knowledge or environmental skills but others, who simply bring an enthusiasm to engage children in environmental action, learn alongside them. The culture is one that truly values the place of adults as mentors and role models and The Wildlife Trusts support Leaders teams with procedural guidance, face-to-face training, insurance and information resources.

Participating in, and shaping group activity – such as pond-dipping, improving a local area for wildlife, campaigning or bat surveying -  enables children group members and adult volunteers to develop interpersonal and practical skills and the confidence to enjoy being outdoors and learn through personal experiences - having fun and making a difference.

If you would like to know more about volunteering with the Wildlife Trusts, as a Watch Leader, within an education team or in another role. Please contact your local Wildlife Trust you can find their details on www.wildlifetrusts.org under Your Local Trust.

Volunteers required:

Take a walk in the Park / Guiding lights   The first guided walk in a British National Park took place in Pembrokeshire in 1966. Here at Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority we recognise the role guided walks can play in reaching out to a wide audience and helping them to understand and feel connected to a place. With a guide, a good walk becomes a great walk; a great walk becomes a memorable experience.

For more information on the activities and events programme run by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority or for a copy of the 2008 evaluation please contact Rebecca Evans on 0845 345 7275. Visit our website at www.pcnpa.org.uk.

Resources:

The continued popularity of panels is because they are a logical (and relatively cheap) way of plonking a lot of information close to where it is needed. This may sound a bit negative but it’s important to recognize the limitations of panels in order to design good ones. 

This panel (aimed at younger people) explains how a Biomass Boiler works and discusses associated environmental matters. A technical 3D cut away of the boiler with lots of annotation was tempting but we  kept it simple.

Good panel - or a stinker? Most visitors are not there primarily to be educated. Any learning that takes place will probably need to be a tease. Nowadays, panels are almost a standard requirement in a well-interpreted site. Imagine that you’ve just arrived by car at the site (why didn’t you cycle?!!) the first thing you look for is the welcome panel to tell you what’s what. If it’s a good panel you will find what you need to know (main points of interest, where the toilets are, no camping etc). You will be educated with some fascinating facts and learn why you need to care about the site too......result! If the panel is a bad-un (and many are) it will provide information about the sponsors, some stuff about history that you can’t relate to, a long list of plant species but few good pictures. There will, however, be lots of meaningless logos. You will soon be bored and thinking about bushes nearby because they haven’t said where the toilets are!

Know your audience. Visitors are believed to retain: 30% of what they read, 50% of what they see and 90% of what they do. This has implications for how we do our panels. In short, we need less text, lots of nice pictures, and suggested things to do. Using ‘Tilden’s tips’ good panels should ‘provoke’ people to engage with the subject (use provocative titles like “Pimp my Panel”). Having captured their interest it is then important to continue with clear, stimulating ideas that they can ‘relate’ to. For example: Rather than describing forge work as ‘hot’ one could say, “the intense heat from the blacksmith’s forge could be felt from the opposite side of the road”. A gun “as long as three buses” is easier to imagine than one “15 meters in length”. Pictures are even better! It can also help people to identify with the information if a character narrator delivers it. This might be an historical figure speaking to us from the past. This works particularly well with children (and the child in all of us!) Information must not be supplied but ‘revealed’ in response to genuine curiosity that is being generated. Since visitors may retain 90% of what they do, we should also be encouraging them to, “see if they can spot a lizard” or “ smell the bluebells?” and “make a rubbing of that cast sign” and so on. Lots more to say but I’ve only got 500 words. You get the idea don’t you?............ hope it wasn’t boring.   Philip Rutt is a designer, illustrator and a director at ARC Creative Design Ltd. Tel: 01030 250170 www.arccreativedesign.com

Panels are a great way of providing information close to where it is needed. This one has some nice images that help to bring the bandstand to life and (considering it's in two languages) there's not  too much text.

Training courses with a relevance to Environmental Education provision

All in 2009, one day events unless otherwise specified.

9 January and 7 May: Presentation Skills at Hartpury College For details: 01432 702479 debbie.probert@hartpury.ac.uk www.hartpury.ac.uk

15 January: Working with Schools on Sustainable Development Education in Manchester run by Environmental Trainers Network (ETN), BTCV  For information: 0121 3592113 etn@btcv.org.uk www.btcv.org/etn

21 January: Greenwood Working with Teenagers at and by Bishops Wood Centre. To book: 01299 250513 bishopswoodcourses@worcestershire.gov.uk www.bishopswoodcentre.org.uk

23 January at Itchen Valley Country Park and 27 March in West Sussex Practical Task Leadership run by BTCV Southern Central contact them on 02380 769719 SC-training@btcv.org.uk www.btcv.org/southerncentral

29 January: Early Years Adventures at Bishops Wood Centre as before.

2 February: A Way with Words: Writing about Places, Writing for Visitors a week long (5 days) course at Plas Tan y Bwlch. For information:  01766 772600  www.plastanybwlch.com

3 February: Introduction to Leading Environmental Activities with Primary School Groups & How to Meet Teachers Needs and 4 February: Working with Schools & Education for Sustainable both by Bishops Wood Centre as before.

11 February: Working with Secondary Schools Through the National Curriculum at Bristol and 18 February Working with "Friends of.." Groups at Doncaster both run by ETN, contact as before.

2 March: Advanced Storytelling by Bishops Wood Centre as before.

23 March: Education in the Countryside week long (5 days) at Losehill Hall contact them on 01433 620373 training.losehill@peakdistrict.gov.uk www.losehilltraining.org.uk

Forest Schools practioners courses

Level 1 on 13 July and  Level 2 on 20 April at Sheffield. Level 3 19 January at Newtown, 23 February in Derbyshire, 9 March, 27 April & 29 June all in Sheffield and 14 September at Ulverston. Level 4, 26 January also in Sheffield.  All course are for five days and are run by Archimedes Training contact them on  0114 2855534  www.forestschools.com

They also run a free taster day at Grindleford (Derbys) on 7 April.

Details believed correct but given without prejudice.  A4 side this Special Edition: 12