Protected Areas Open Day at Park Maksimir, Croatia
June 8th, Zagreb – The Protected Areas Open Day targeted students with special education needs under the theme “Increasing accessibility and involvement of all visitors to protected areas”.
Last Saturday 8th of June, twenty students from the Secondary School-Centre for education and training participated in the interactive educational programme ˝The Life of a Tree˝ in he Park Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia. The educational programme was developed in joint cooperation by WWF Adria, Public Institution Maksimir and the Secondary School-Centre for education and training, and it is intended for students with special educational needs.
Students at the Protected Areas Open Day - Photo by WWF Adria
People with disabilities often face wit inaccessibility to certain parts of protected areas, which results in their exclusion from regular programs offered in protected areas. The Protected Area Open Days event aimed at raising awareness of the need to make protected areas and programmes they offer accessible to all individuals of the society.
Protected Areas Open Day bag for the students
With this educational programme students are offered recreational and experiential learning about natural values in the nature itself which gives students an opportunity, especially those with disabilities, to learn to observe, watch, listen, feel and move. Below, you can find the educational and preparation materials that where produced for the CEETO Protected Areas Open Day at Park Maksimir:
Programme of the event - WWF Adria
- Leaflet for teachers - The Life of a Tree;
- Leaflet for educators . The Life of a Tree;
- Workbook for students - The Life of a Tree;
- Programme of the event - The Life of a Tree.
The Public Institution Maksimir has been implementing educational programmes for elementary school children for many years and this educational program for students with intellectual disabilities further enriched the park's offer and made a step towards ensuring that the protected areas are more accessible to all target groups. Secondary School-Centre for education and training is a three-year vocational school which educates young people with special educational needs.
CEETO stand at the Protected Areas Open Day - Photo by WWF Adria
The programme is designed within the framework of the European project CEETO, aimed at enhancing the capacity of protected area managers (national parks, nature parks, Natura 2000 area etc.) to manage tourism in a sustainable manner to preserve protected area´s natural values.
