A new educating community, for the future of the environment
Italy preserves a priceless treasure of animal and plant biodiversity: an asset to be jealously guarded as human wellbeing depends on the state of health ecosystems and the services they offer us. But the value of natural resources is still not sufficiently recognised.
Schools play a key role in the growth of youth: this is why they should provide the necessary tools to learn about global phenomena and encourage active participation in the challenges of change, both personal and collective. With this project we want to offer tools to support this process to schools, starting with the Milan province.
Sustainable development requires transversal skills and participative methodologies to involve students in the ongoing social and environmental transformations.
With this project we want to activate a new educating community to be ecological, informed and aware. We do so by proposing a participatory educational model focused on protection of biodiversity and environmental sustainability.
It is what we called "Wild school" and it is designed so that it can also be replicated beyond the project, in other school contexts.
In addition to the theoretical and practical classroom courses offered by Istituto Oikos educators, there are also concrete environmental restoration interventions to make the green areas of schools more hospitable to pollinators, birds and small mammals, so that the urban biodiversity increases, starting with school areas.
Training teachers and educators for an open, green and innovative school
To increase their knowledge on the main themes of environmental sustainability, teachers will have a new online on-demand course available, which will be added to the materials already available on LeaF - Learning for the Future, the Istituto Oikos e-learning platform.
A group of teachers from 4 schools in Milan and Busto Arsizio will also have the opportunity to participate in "training" courses on the proposed methodologies and they will receive the Wild school kit to propose again the model to their colleagues.
Citizen science paths and activation with students
Knowledge necessarily comes from experience: this is why we will train "Green Agents – Territory Guardians", students aged between 9 and 12 who will be able to take on the role of small field researchers, supported by Istituto Oikos naturalists. Green Agents will also participate in organising communication and mobilisation activities involving their peers.
School open to territory
We also want to involve the local authorities (Municipality of Milan, Municipality 3 and the Province of Varese) in this 'school sustainability' path. The aim is to strengthen the dialogue between school and territory. We will do this with different targeted initiatives, including a communication and awareness-raising event realised by Wild school protagonists themselves.
Young people's interest in environmental sustainability issues is growing year by year and the increasing attention to making sustainable choices is an encouraging sign. Now is the time to utilise an already fertile ground and to build a school truly ecological and actively committed to promoting change.
The project is possible thanks to the support of Cariplo Foundation and the Woolrich Outdoor Foundation.