New research presented at the annual conference in Estonia of the Society for Ecological Restoration
New research presented at SERE
New research to understand changes in children's perceptions of nature within the framework of the ‘Giants of the Lagoon’ programme for schools was presented at the 14th European Conference on Ecological Restoration held in Tartu (Estonia) this August, dedicated to ‘Bridging Science, Practice and Policy of Nature Restoration’.
SERE 2024 is an international conference, organised by the European Chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SERE), that takes place somewhere in Europe every two years. Everyone working on the science, practice, and policy of ecological restoration comes together to share knowledge and discuss the future of European nature.
The decline in biodiversity demands urgent action, and degraded ecosystems around the world require an effective and knowledge-driven path to recovery.
Ecological restoration is a topic that is gaining increasing attention on both political and scientific agendas. Specifically, the EU is now actively working on the Nature Restoration Law. New and ambitious goals and actions to reverse biodiversity decline in Europe are due to be agreed upon in the near future so this is a crucial time to develop the most effective approaches for the long-term recovery of nature.
Topics ranging from the theory and practice of restoring various ecosystems (wetlands, grasslands, forests, rivers, agroecosystems, urban and marine ecosystems) to the socioeconomic and political contexts of ecological restoration are covered at the five day SERE event.
We are pleased that our work to build capacity among the next generation of lagoon custodians was presented at SERE by Milena Holmgren and Juul Limpens, our partners in the WaterLANDS project (GA 101036484) from Wageningen University & Research (WUR). The Giants of the Lagoon schools programme, centred around participatory experiences, is being designed, developed and analysed by an interdisciplinary team to demonstrate the positive impacts on school children who are given the opportunity to get to know the lagoon environment. This creates a stronger connection with nature that triggers thinking about how to take care of it too.
Analyses of data from the pilot stage of Giants of the Lagoon, led by the WUR team, were discussed at SERE in Estonia and an article based on this work has been submitted for publication.
Findings indicate that the Giants of the Lagoon educational activities carried out in the context of the natural environment increased awareness and appreciation of the interconnectedness of elements, natural, physical and anthropic, that characterise the lagoon.
Since 2023, almost 500 students aged 11/12 have been taken on boat excursions to the island of San Sant'Erasmo and accompanied by a combination of their usual teachers, WahV associated professionals and naturalist guides. The programme for the academic year 2024/5 is about to be launched with a number of integrations and refinements from the past two years’ work.
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