What's cool about this project?
The "Nordic interpretation group" consists of representatives from the leading organisations of nature interpretation and environmental education in Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Therefore the group in and of itself is cool.
All the organisations in the group are working with educational programs themselves, or together with other educational institutions. The vision for this co-operation group is to promote “nature awareness, connectedness and environmental empowerment for everyone in the Nordic countries”. The mission is:
Through organizational co-operation, bringing together Nordic nature interpreters and environmental educators to increase the quality of nature interpretation and environmental education to fulfill the vision.
Knowledge on nature interpretation and environmental education is more actual than ever, in order to engage people in taking actions for climate, nature and biodiversity in the Nordic countries. One of the key aims of nature interpretation/ environmental education is to increase awareness of the severity of the climate and nature crisis, but also to share inspiration and methods to deal with this situation and to encourage faith in the future.
However, there is also an increasing interest and need for the social dimensions of nature interpretation/environmental education for instance nature-based activities connected to education for health and well-being, participation, integration, and accessibility. Cross-sectoral nature interpretation has a growing relevance to a socially sustainable and just future.
Through this project we want to take our work further by co-developing and delivering knowledge about the novel interpretive methods and offers in the Nordic countries.
What happens in the project?
The project runs for two years, 2023-2025.
Each participating country have hosted a webinar with focus on giving an overview on what courses and other educational activities are offered for nature interpreters / environmental educators in their country.
In March 2025 there will be a Nordic seminar in Sweden where new insights and key findings will be compiled and strategies developed for how the participating organisations can apply new knowledge to their educational programs.
