The Adventures of Ed the Bear

Steve Savage, Biologist, Environmental Educator and Author, writes about the One World One Ocean project and the key role of Ed the Bear. One World One Ocean links UK schools with ocean scientists around the world and creates real time events that are shared with schools.  The project also provides opportunities for scientists, climatologists, marine archaeologists and conservationists to share their knowledge and experiences with…

I Love My World

‘I Love my World’ claims to be the book most used by qualified Forest School teachers, endorsed by no less than Michael Morpurgo.  It is packed full of well thought-out, inspiring ideas for leading outdoor activities with children, teenagers and adults. Holland’s teaching plans are empowering and precise, with clear instructions on how to prepare,…

River Xchange

RiverXchange is a year-long programme that connects students around the world to learn about water resources. Its goals are [i] to help students and teachers understand and appreciate their local water resources so that they will take action to protect them, and[ii]  to reinforce this understanding through communication with pen-pals in other states or countries. It…

Using a book to clean water

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,…

Cold blooded and spineless

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…

Recycle your textiles

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,…

GeoPark Hour

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…