The melting of ice on the water has left the participants of the CoCoRiCo project very busy.On February 20, Estonian and Latvian teachers gathered in Valmiera, preparing themselves for the upcoming fieldwork period in various workshops.The aim of the seminar was to collect input for adapting teaching materials to the curricula.To adapt the observation methodology in order to better integrate them with national curricula by collecting working practices from various teachers participating in the project.
In the first part of the seminar, the Latvian Institute of Hydroecology introduced the pan-European amateur science campaign “Plastic Pirates”.As part of the campaign, students will help scientists collect data on plastic pollution in water bodies, as a large part of plastic waste reaches the marine environment through rivers.Therefore, one of the main goals of the campaign is to create connections among students so that they understand the actual amount of waste pollution carried to the sea by rivers.You can see one of the tasks of the Plastic Pirates campaign in the video below.
In the second half of the seminar, Maria Ivanova, coordinator of the Baltic Sea Project at Tartu Nature House, introduced various digital tools that can be used in the study of water bodies.In her presentation, Maira paid special attention to the iNaturalist application, through which the entered data reaches the researchers’ desktops.
More photos from the seminar can be found on the Facebook post of CoCoRiCo project partner Baltic Environmental Forum – Latvia.
NEXT ACTIVITIES
Plastic Pirates observation in Valga and Salacgriva (April 20)
Biodiversity observation in Pärnu and Valka (May 6)
Experience sharing webinar for students
Join our inspiring webinar “Outdoor education and sustainability in action” on March 18th at 16:00–18:00 (EET)! Our webinar is aimed at educators, environmental education specialists and all outdoor education enthusiasts!
Are you an educator passionate about innovative teaching methods, outdoor education, and sustainability? Join us for an exciting and interactive webinar showcasing creative ways to inspire students, protect the Baltic Sea, and enhance environmental education!
What’s in it for you?
Discover hands-on outdoor education methods from experts across the Baltics and Sweden
Get practical resources for integrating sustainability into your curriculum
Network with like-minded educators and exchange best practices
Learn about real-life projects making an impact on students and the environment
16:00 – Why Outdoor Learning is a Game-Changer for Sustainability? Welcome & Introduction by Gedy Matisen, Tartu Nature House Virtual tour in Tartu Nature House: Outdoor activities for environmental education
16:15– Saving the Baltic Sea in Action Lessons from the “Save The Baltic Sea” expedition by Dovilė Jadenkutė, NGO For Clean Lithuania
16:30 – Nature as a Classroom: Outdoor Learning in Sweden Discover Norrtälje Nature Centrum with Lotta Andersson, the executive director The Philosophy Behind Outdoor Education by professor Anders Szczepanski, Linköping University
17:00 – Science on the Move: Mobile Ecology Classrooms Bringing Science Outdoors! Implementing mobile classroom boxes for hands-on ecology investigations in Sweden with Anna Westerlund
17:25– Rocks That Tell Stories: Teaching Geology with Animated Characters Enhancing Student Skills & Environmental Awareness through outdoor adventures with animated glacial erratics characters Rock Study Programs for 4th–9th Graders by Anna-Grete Joamets, Tartu Nature House
17:50– Open Discussion & Collaboration How can we bring outdoor sustainability education to more schools, kindergartens? Collecting new ideas and starting potential partnerships
18:00 – Closing & Next Steps
Materials will be sent to your e-mail address provided upon registration. The webinar will be recorded and can be re-watched later on.
All fans of the Nordic countries are welcome to the Norwegian Culture Evening at Tartu Nature House on Tuesday, January 28th from 17:30-19:30.
The cultural evening will introduce the Norwegian nature and its diversity. Participants get to try out Norwegian tongue twisters and get to know more about the local culture. We will warm up our legs with a few folk dances and warm up our fingers by making arts and crafts inspired by the indigenous people of Norway, the Sami. In addition, we will be able to try some typical Norwegian snacks.
The cultural evening will be held in English.
Participation fee 5€ (can be paid on site in cash and by card).
The cultural evening will be held by the Tartu Nature House project partners from Norway, the Re Innovasjon center in Bodø. It is part of the Bodø-Tartu Duo Networking Project, financed by the Norway Grants. The project partners are Tartu Nature House, Tartu Art School and Re Innovasjon.
Additional info:
Gedy Matisen
International cooperation coordinator
gedy.matisen@tartuloodusmaja.ee
Join us to explore innovative tools and methods that enhance the quality of environmental education through the lens of the circular economy.
Provide an overview of strategies and tools for assessing environmental education quality in Estonia and Finland.
Share interdisciplinary circular economy study programs available in Estonian, English, and Finnish.
Offer key insights, tips for effective international collaboration, and open discussions on future project ideas.
Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with educators across Europe!
FOR INFO AND REGISTRATION in advance for this meeting CLICK HERE
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar on 22nd of November.
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Organised by Tartu Nature House and Helsinki Recycling Centre’s Environmental School Polku, in collaboration with the Estonian Environmental Education Association and the Finnish Association of Nature and Environment Schools (LYKE).
The webinar is part of the European Week for Waste Reduction and celebrates the results of the Erasmus+ project “QualitE: Together Towards Improved Quality of Environmental Education“ (2023-2-EE01-KA210-SCH-000185260)
Tartu Nature House is hosting a canvas bag designing workshop on the 10th of October at 18:00-19:30.
In the workshop, each participant can design a unique shopping bag made of cotton fabric. For the decoration of the bag, we mostly use stencil technique. A range of nature-themed stencils is already available and you can also cut the design element that suits you yourself.
The skills and techniques acquired in the workshop can continue to be used to decorate other textiles. This way, an old and worn cloth can be given a whole new life with simple techniques. The materials and dyes are chosen as environmentally friendly as possible and we use paper scraps as aids. The stencils are cleaned and used repeatedly.
If you are interested in Japanese culture and language then join the Japanese culture evening in Aparaaditehas on the 17th of September at 6pm! We will play traditional games, do origami, learn some simple Japanese phrases and try Japanese food. The culture evening is hosted by students and their sensei from Sophia University, Tokyo.
The event takes place in Aparaaditehas, venue “Elutuba lava taga”, Kastani 46 – door nr 6 from the courtyard.
Tartu Nature House hosts its traditional mushroom exhibition where a wide selection of mushrooms from Southern-Estonian forests, meadows, parks and lodges is displayed. If lucky, 100-150 different species can be seen. In the small mushroom laboratory you can also get acquainted with the mycelium, spore leaves and tubes and animals living in fungi. Mushrooms growing in the park of the nature house are also marked during the exhibition. Event takes place in estonian, but the nametags of mushroom species are in latin also.
Mushroom exhibition 17.-21.09
Tartu Nature House, Lille 10
09:00 -18:00
TICKET: Adults 5€ / pupils, students, pensioners 3€ / children under 5 years free of charge
The event is part of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 side programme.
Tartu Nature House is a small green oasis in the middle of the city. A beautiful park surrounds the centre, where visitors can familiarise themselves with different educational trails, a beaver dam meant for humans, gardens, a viewing platform and children’s play area.
The innovative and sustainably built house works as environmental education centre, hobby school and a visitors centre. At the heart of the building is the winter garden where you’ll find various exotic plant species, as well as tortoises.
The focus of the exhibition “Fathers and Sons” are the fathers in the animal and plant kingdom, their association with their descendants, the duration of their generations and the future of the species. The exhibition is divided into several major themes and offers something to visitors of all ages. In addition to the roles of fathers in raising their offspring, the exhibition makes complex topics such as genetics and reproduction more understandable. The cellular level is also under observation – with the help of moulages and games, an otherwise invisible world is opened to the eye to better understand conception and heredity.
Painting exhibition “From Dark to Bright”
Estonian artist’s Kaie Shestakova-Karu beautiful natural paintings bring a blossoming spring and summer to the Nature House. The author himself characterizes his own works as follows: “Colours play an important part in my life and that is precisely why my works are characterized by a great abundance of colour. There was a period where I liked to paint pastosely and there was also a time when my paintings were in mostly dark tones. I have gotten inspiration for creating my paintings from my home garden, pets, poetry, music and theatre.” Kaie Shestakova-Karu has graduated from Tartu Art School and is a member of the Estonian Artists Association.
This summer Tartu Nature House hosts the exhibition “Fathers and Sons“ which concentrates on fathers as caregivers in the animal and plant kingdom!
The exhibition is divided into several major themes and offers something to visitors of all ages. In addition to the roles of fathers in raising their offspring, the exhibition makes complex topics such as genetics and reproduction more understandable. The cellular level is also under observation – with the help of moulages and games, an otherwise invisible world is opened to the eye to better understand conception and heredity.
The focus of the exhibition “Fathers and Sons” are the fathers in the animal and plant kingdom, their association with their descendants, the duration of their generations and the future of the species. “Paternal care in nature has been given very little attention and the importance of fathers is generally rather underestimated, yet it is vital to the continuation of the species,” says Lennart Lennuk, curator of the orginal exhibition.
The visitor will see shining examples of Estonian species that prove that fatherhood occurs in many animal groups, but also colorful examples of males with no paternal care. The exhibition also finds out what kind of fathers are for example wolves, bears and stickleback fish, and what role they play in raising their offspring.
Several exhibits offer playful activities where visitors can test their skills and knowledge. You can find the right nests for different species of birds and lead a grain of pollen on its journey to the right destination, try to build a nest yourself or try your hand at the game of determining the sex of a bird, mammal, insect and plant.
The exhibition is created by the Estonian Museum of Natural History. All texts are in estonian, english and russian.
The exhibition is open until the 28th of August
Mon-Fri 10am-18pm
Ticket: full ticket 5€/discount ticket 3€/family ticket 13€
Traditional Family Days in Tartu Nature House
Family days focus on workshops, informative presentations and discussions. The event is geared towards families with children, though everyone with an interest in sustainable living are welcome.
