Kurzinfo:
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Abstract:
Within the Comenius multilateral network CoDeS that focuses on school community collaboration addressing sustainability, the on-going collaboration between the National Park (NP) Hohe Tauern in Austria′s central Alps and the Middle School in the NP village Winklern acts as a good practice example for a sustainable and long term partnership. The presented case study includes multi-stakeholder perspectives of teachers, pupils, inhabitants/parents, rangers and hut keepers who co-operate towards the mutual aims of fostering environmental learning and responsibility as well as raising the acceptance of the National Park within the community. For the past ten years the Middle School included tasks relating to the NP at the center of their educational work, supporting one of their main focuses, the annual outdoor program ″Nature-Sports-Fun″. This initiative was evaluated by a team at the Institute of Instructional and School Development at Klagenfurt University, commissioned by the NP. In addition to evaluating the academic project itself, attitudes towards the NP were also examined. 59 graduates of the school and their parents (questionnaires), 19 teachers (interviews), 4 rangers (interviews) and 3 hut keepers (interviews) were questioned. The results were reported back to the school and the NP. The program ″Nature-Sports-Fun″ essentially reached its goals of making nature more accessible to children through experience-oriented learning and of encouraging responsible, sustainable action. Inhabitants identify with the region strongly. The NP is viewed as one of the most important economic factors in the region. It publicizes the region and fosters tourism. However, nearly all of those polled were of the opinion that the NP alone could not prevent young people leaving the region, as it cannot create enough jobs to keep them there.
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