The ALPARC Permanent Working Group on Environmental Education and Communication organized a two-day workshop on October 10-11, hosted by the Adamello Brenta Natural Park at the stunning Palazzo Lodron Bertelli in Caderzone Terme, Italy. The aim of the workshop was to promote exchanges between staff from different Alpine Protected Areas working in the diverse field of environmental education.

The event started on Thursday morning with a planned excursion to the Nature Park. Unfortunately, due to bad weather conditions, the planned hike was cancelled and replaced by a (wet) walk past waterfalls to one of the park's visitor centres. Nevertheless, this proved to be an ideal introduction to the workshop, as the Adamello Brenta staff took the opportunity to present their own educational activities to the participants.

In the thematic sessions that followed, participants shared their park activities and best practices. One key discussion was the use of new technologies in environmental education. The UNESCO Dolomites Foundation presented its Geotrail online tool, while the Adamello Brenta Park demonstrated their virtual reality headsets used in their project "parks without borders", which participants were able to experience firsthand.

A major difficulty that was highlighted is the engagement of teenagers in park initiatives. Some participants reported specific activities tailored to this age group (e.g., the Capricorn Club in Nature Park Beverin), as well as the establishment of youth councils (e.g. in the Nature Park Orobie Valtellinesi) and junior ranger programs (e.g., in the Nature Park Prealpi Giulie) to address this challenge. Participants agreed that it is promising to also work with teachers in order to help them integrate environmental topics into their educational strategies. The Adamello Brenta Natural Park, for example, already organizes annual seminars for teachers.A key takeaway from the workshop was the importance of continuing to engage young people in environmental initiatives, as we need to see it as an investment in our future.

Also, all participants were open to the idea of participating in future joint projects (e.g., an Alpine Space project), possibly focussing on the adoption and revision of the criteria of the Alpine School Model.

This workshop was co-organized by ALPARC and the Adamello Brenta Natural Park.                             

© Photos: Guido Plassman / ALPARC