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Field Research in Vilkija Region
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Author: Arunas Snieckus, Lithuanian Green Movement Vilkija Group
Consortium Member: Baltic Ecological Programs Office (ECOLOGIA)
Status: Completed - Final Report
Budget: $1087
Collected: $1087
Needs: $0
Result: Field studies and practical outdoor activities develop young people's feelings of responsibility toward their natural environment.
Donors: ECOLOGIA's Baltic Mini-Grant Program, supported by The Moriah Fund of Washington D.C. [May 1997]
Comment: Organizers and teachers worked in cooperation with a local museum, developing programs to combine ecological and traditional Lithuanian culture studies.
Information about Organization
The Vilkija Group of Lithuanian Green Movement was established in
1991. Our fields of activity are environmental education, ethnography, and practical
work for environmental protection. The goals of our group's activities are to:
- Introduce schoolchildren and teachers to local environment, history
and culture;
- Teach them to evaluate the current environmental situation and environmental
problems;
- Collect and amend ethnographical materials;
- Preserve our environment and cultural inheritance by practical activities.
We have 11 group members actively involved in group activities.
The most important projects we have completed so far are:
- Ecosystem studies of Karkle stream and the lower reaches of the
river Dubysa, ornithological and floral studies of Nyka and Nykute
streams, and studies of etymological Ringove preserve;
- Collecting legends, customs and traditions of the pre-Christian
period, identifying the localities of the mounds and other mythological
places; organizing research expeditions to the regions of Jurbarkas,
Sakiai, Telsiai, Skuodas;
- Regular cleaning of Ringove and Jaucakiai mounds, and Nemunas riverside.
Project Summary
In the development of an environmental education strategy for
Lithuania, we concentrate on practical work, taking an active
interest in our environment, including its social and cultural aspects. Because the
official educational system is not capable of addressing such tasks, the
Lithuanian Green Movement (LGM) and other public organizations can make
a significant contribution to this field. Based on our environmental
education experience, we plan to develop a 3 day
field studies programme (shortened options can be developed for various
age groups) for groups of schoolchildren in Kaunas.
This programme would combine observations and research of nature, studies of
history and ethnoculture, and practical environmental activities. The
information and methodology of the programme would be published in
a booklet. This project has been prepared in coordination with the Ecosophical Club of
"Atgaja" society.
Field studies are a very important component of environmental education. All schoolchildren and their teachers in England, Denmark and Sweden spend from 5 to 10 days in field studies centers. The first
centers of this type in England have already reached the sixth decade of their activity. Unfortunately, Lithuania does not yet have any tradition of such activity. Our programme could become a starting point for a field studies center at The A.Juska Museum of Vilkija. The 10 day period during the school year that
the Department of Education and Science provides for extracurricular
activities and excursions could be used for this purpose.
The Environmental Center at A.Juska Museum of Vilkija
could become the place for Kaunas' and other regions' schoolchildren and
their teachers to join in the special 3-5 day programme of field study. At
this location, Open Society of Lithuania Foundation
"Health Education" programme environmental workshops for the teachers
of Lithuania could also be conducted. Teachers would learn to work with the new programmes of
integrated education with emphasis on practical activities, links
between nature and culture, solution of current problems, and acquaintance
with environmental and ecotourism issues.
Project Concept
Field studies and practical outdoor activities are some of the most
effective means to excite the curiosity of children about environmental
research and ecological issues. The knowledge acquired in this way is
significantly more emotionally based and related to personal experience
than the knowledge gained from books or in classes. Everybody can
find many interesting things in nature. The lack of such activity is
particularly felt by the town children who are both physically and
spiritually more remote from nature than country children. From an
educational point of view, field studies are a perfect opportunity for
communication among teachers of different branches of science and for
application of problematical integrated educational methods.
It is particularly important to develop feelings of responsibility of
the young people towards nature and culture, to encourage them to take an
active part in the development of a harmonious society. An
environmentally friendly (or opposite) human behaviour is based not so
much on information and knowledge of natural science, but more on the traditional
ethnic values and universal culture. .
Methods of Implementation
| 10/01-02/01
|
Collecting and organizing the data, preparing field studies
programme;
|
| 02/01- 04/01 |
Preparing and publishing informational-methodical booklet and other
materials; purchasing preparation materials; |
| 04/01 - 05/31 | Programme examination and evaluation working with schoolchildren and teachers (3 groups) |
Budget
|
Preparing and publishing of informative-methodical materials |
$315
|
|
Payroll for consultants and trainers
|
$140
|
|
Field studies supplies (reference books, maps, compasses, photo-supplies)
|
$178
|
|
Supplies for environmental work (axe, saw, rakes, spades, scythe,
plastic bags, gloves)
|
$220
|
|
Postage, transportation expenses
|
$80
|
|
Unforeseen expenses
|
$55
|
|
VF Administrative Cost
|
$99
|
|
Total
|
$1087
|