Multipliers Open Science Community gets active in Slovenia with outdoor lesson in the forest
The Multipliers Open Science Community (OSC) in Slovenia is getting active! On 16 June, the project’s OSC partner Slovenian Forestry Institute (SFI) conducted a workshop at the Betnava Forest, in the city of Maribor, attended by 21 students of the gymnasium school II. gimnazija Maribor. Dr Urša Vilhar, from SFI’s Department of Forest Ecology, introduced a set of games that allowed students to get to know and experience the forest in a playful and interactive way.
The activity then focused on different aspects of biodiversity and forest ecosystem services. Students had fun identifying plant and animal species, determining the habitat and conservation status of various animals, and considering the vast range of ecosystem services that forests provide, such as clean air and water, carbon sequestration and raw materials.
In the end, students were enthusiastic about getting to know the forest in a more experiential way. With many pupils often lacking fieldwork experiences, which are scarce in regular high school biology programmes, the workshop highlighted the importance of outdoor lessons in opposition to traditional learning in the classroom. Because they engage students in hands-on experiences, outdoor lessons allow learning by doing, while also helping pupils to connect theories and knowledge to real-world situations.
The project activities in Slovenia are coordinated by Multipliers partner University of Ljubljana.
«The best classroom and the richest cupboard are roofed only by the sky».
Margaret McMillan (1925)
