Education and learning
To meet the NERC Act (2006) requirements, the main biodiversity aim of this strand is to raise awareness of biodiversity and promote opportunities for formal and informal learning about and understanding of the natural world.
Context
The Council provides many formal and informal opportunities for residents, employees and visitors to experience and learn about the environment they share with wildlife. These can be through Key Stage curriculum within education or through museums and libraries. The delivery mechanisms also vary from structured lessons, guided walks and events to leaflets, Internet and enquiries to officers, be they estate workers, rangers or home-helpers.
Examples
- Children, Young People and Families department provide resources to deliver Key Stage targets relating to the environment.
- A Manifesto for Learning Outside the Classroom is being commissioned to promote opportunities for outdoor learning across the county.
- Warwickshire’s libraries are supporting the Big Wild Read and BBC Breathing Places programmes. In conjunction with the Ecology Unit there is information available in all libraries about wildlife events occurring each week in Warwickshire.
- The Museums Service has a dedicated Natural History area at Market Hall, promoting the county’s past and current biodiversity. Regular environmental education events are also run from the museums and a Wildlife News newsletter is regularly produced listing events and local conservation groups.
- The Early Years team works in partnership with other local authorities and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust to provide Forest Schools throughout the county, which involve taking children from 3 years old out into a woodland area weekly throughout the year.