Taking into account challenges of nature education and identified needs of stakeholders, the project is structured around three main objectives: - Supporting professionalization of nature education stakeholders in Europe by strengthening their skills and providing them with educational resources to enable them to better respond to the emerging challenges they face in the field; - To promote exchange of practices and pedagogical innovation by using participatory methods and co-constructing with them a training course that can be adapted to different contexts and countries, with an emphasis on experiences lived in and with nature; - To contribute to creation of a European network of nature educators to disseminate and sustain the results of the project. The intercultural co-construction of the program has resulted in a tool that is adapted to the environmental, institutional, and socio-economic contexts of the partner countries. This co-construction process has given the volunteers a real ability to take ownership of the subject, to disseminate the results themselves, and to forge strong links between them with a desire to continue collaborating.
This project aims to contribute to the development of professional training in nature and environmental education (NEE) by integrating contemporary issues to strengthen the skills of stakeholders, promote them, and gain recognition for them at the European level. In light of the ecological, health, and social crisis, and given the limitations of the approaches developed to date, educators are seeking new pedagogical approaches to build environmental education that contributes to ecological awareness, understanding of the complexity of interactions, and provides the keys to action. The training needs expressed by those working in the field relate to understanding the issues, mastering methodologies, using tools, and sharing professional practices. We have found that the training available and the degree of professionalization of those involved do not keep pace with the challenges of our time, do not meet needs, and vary greatly within our countries. The intercultural approach allows participants to benefit from a wealth of experiences in other contexts and to draw inspiration to develop more integrated and comprehensive innovative responses.