Projects - Seeing the World through Nature
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Seeing the World through Nature
BirdLife Partners from Cyprus, Poland, Ireland and Malta have teamed up for an environmental education project with the aim to develop environmental educational resources for teachers of blind and visually-impaired pupils.
The project, titled ‘Seeing the World through Nature’, is a collaboration between BirdLife Cyprus, BirdWatch Ireland, BirdLife Malta, the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (the leading partner), and the Polish Association for the Blind, and is funded by the European Commission through its Erasmus+ funding stream.
The aim of the project, which will run until March 2022, is to develop environmental educational resources for teachers who work with blind and visually impaired children, in consultation with international experts in this field, to enable them to deliver an engaging and enriching programme of environmental education in a truly appealing manner. These resources, as well as a mobile application to assist children in the recognition of birds, will then be made available free of charge to educators in each of the partner countries, and across the BirdLife International partnership.
The project will also give the opportunity to teachers to strengthen their skills and confidence when it comes to teaching about nature, to understand and learn how to teach about nature and how to use the educational resources to be developed to engage disabled pupils in various school subjects.
The project will build on the successes of other recent environmental education initiatives that have involved the BirdLife International partnership, most notably the award-winning Erasmus+ Empowering Teachers and Pupils for a Better Life through Nature project that finished last year. It will also draw inspiration from Spring Alive, the ongoing multi-national environmental education project centered around migratory birds, operated by BirdLife partners across Europe, Central Asia and Africa and currently sponsored by HeidelbergCement.
Project deliverables
Educational blocks
Ready-made resources for teachers of preschools and primary school children with visual impairments to engage their pupils with nature, through interactive, sensory, outdoor and indoor activities, focused on birds and their habitats.
Block 1 – How to become a good birdwatcher
Block 2 – Wandering out in autumn
Block 3 – What do birds eat
Block 4 – Winter is not so bad
Block 5 – Birds living next to us
Block 6 – Spring migration
Block 7 – Why do birds build nests
Block 8 – Which birds live in farmland
Block 9 – How birds care for their young
Block 10 – Forest birds
Block 11 – Wetland birds
Teacher’s guide
The guide is addressed to teachers (in either special or mainstream schools) who are interested in learning how to use the educational material, as well as to organisations, clubs, etc. that organise afterschool programmes for visually impaired children.It is also intended for institutions and organisations that work with the teachers of visually impaired children and plan to train teachers on how to use the resources of the ‘Seeing the World through Nature’ project. Based on who is using the document, users will find some parts more relevant than others.
You can download the teacher’s guide here.
Mobile app
An important resource that supplements the educational package is the project’s app, called ‘Meet the birds’. The app is designed for visually impaired people who want to learn about birds in the field. It is also useful for people without visual impairments. It contains descriptions and sound recordings of the birds most typically found in the regions of northern, central and southern Europe represented by Ireland, Poland, Cyprus and Malta. The user has the option of setting the font size and adjusting the screen contrast as suits them best.
The app is available to download from Google Play and the AppStore on either Android or iOS smartphones or tablets.
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