This year 1,582 parks and green spaces were awarded the international Green Flag Award. You can find your nearest winning parks at greenflagaward.org Because we all know how much parks mean to people, the annual People’s Choice award is now open – giving you a chance to vote for your favourite. The vote will close at noon on…
A report on the Quartz website, says that it’s estimated (by water.org) that up to 358 million people in sub-Saharan Africa do not have reliable access to clean drinking water, but researchers have devised a book on water safety whose pages can be used as a filter. Trials done in 25 contaminated water sites in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya,…
North Pennines Geopark has just opened an exhibition celebrating insect species that live within its confines. It is part of a five year project to promote education, research and knowledge about invertebrates – ‘Cold Blooded and Spineless’ – supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The project launched with a spring bio-hunt, which saw volunteers and…
Do you know the difference between re-cycling and down-cycling? If not, this blog in the Guardian about textiles may leave you better informed. And this is a current story about H&M, which is launching an effort to promote recycling, cut its environmental impact, boost its ethical credentials, and address looming shortages of raw materials. As population pressure mounts,…
Last month saw the launch of #GeoparkHour on Twitter. Every Tuesday at 1300 UTC, Global Geoparks worldwide and their local partners are encouraged to share the best examples of their work promoting geological heritage and supporting sustainable economic development through eco-tourism. The initiative was launched by the coordinating team behind the 7th International Conference on Geoparks that is due to take…
If not, then Plantlife’s new identification sheets for seaweeds might be just what you want. They are available here, along with numerous other ones as well.
Outdoor environmental education cultivates curiosity and discovery in children, which are the fundamental building blocks of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths), and it encourages students to make science a part of their everyday lives – so says a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, (and the Children and Nature Network). The report says: “Consider that engineering,…
LOtC Resource Packs are lesson plans for curriculum focused learning outside the classroom. Each pack contains 6 lesson plans, a case study of a project, and general tips and information on delivering learning outside the classroom,and all plans list the equipment needed, suitable venue, and ideas for differentiation, expansion and follow up in class. The packs…
On September 1st, the iSpex-EU project was launched. This is setting out to recruit people from cities across Europe (see the map) to monitor air pollution. The project aims to contribute to research by encouraging people to use their mobile phones to record levels of particles and droplets known as atmospheric aerosols. Toby Shannon, the UK co-ordinator of…
Here’s a blog post from the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust on the importance of learning outside. It begins: It’s a myth to think that learning outside the classroom is ‘just play’ – we’ve seen first-hand how play helps children develop their social, emotional and physical skills. Every young person should experience the…