🇸🇰 Closer to Nature

A new multisensory space at the Secondary Forestry School, built in cooperation with the excellent Ekovysočina and supported by the excellent Žilina Self-Governing Region.

The Closer to Nature project was supported by a regional grant from the Žilina Self-Governing Region's own revenues for 2024, No. 1/2024.

An innovative educational space for the general public and primary and secondary school students has been added to the premises of the Secondary Vocational School of Forestry in Tvrdošín.

The area consists of three information boards: two made of durable Dibond and one made of sheet metal. The sheet metal board, "Creative Activity," is magnetic and will be used to display students' work during lessons and also to present the departments of the Secondary Forestry School, with which OZ Lesník closely cooperates. At the same time, the public and students will learn information about forestry and forest ecology from the Dibond boards that is not normally available in the school curriculum (the history of Slovak forestry and interesting dendrological facts about the three most numerous trees in our forests). The combination of a multifunctional metal board and two educational boards is therefore ideal for open-air biology or geography lessons, closer to nature.

The proximity to nature is also ensured by two beautiful pyramid flower beds, also from the workshop of Ekovysočina, which focuses on educational woodcarving with respect for people and nature. The first herbs will be planted in the pyramid flower beds in the spring by the school's gardening club in cooperation with local elementary schools as part of Orava Herb Day.

The main part of the park also consists of multisensory elements – a dendrophone made of solid acacia wood and a wooden memory game. The dendrophone contains playing slats made of different types of wood, the names of which are laser-engraved on the surface of each slat. Students and the public can try out how each type of wood sounds (playing sticks are hung on the element) and how its internal structure and density affect the acoustic properties of the wood.

The last part of the park consists of benches for community gatherings or open environmental education classes. The benches are located opposite the wooden memory game made of solid larch, which contains 36 rotating boards – an 8x8 game grid.

The aim of the memory game is to develop awareness and knowledge of eight current threats to forest ecosystems and eight methods of protecting the environment from deforestation, drought, or climate crisis in a playful way. Both sides of the memory game are UV printed and contain an image to which students must then assign an environmental threat or protective factor. This element was also prepared for us by the excellent Ekovysočina.

The area is also enriched by a portable weather station combining digital skills with sustainable education and a kit for building an insect hotel and bird feeder.

We invite you to spend your free time in a meaningful way and look forward to welcoming primary and secondary school students who would like to enrich their lessons with innovative and experiential pedagogy in our educational space.

We would also like to express our immense gratitude to the Žilina Self-Governing Region for supporting our initiative through regional subsidies from its own revenues for 2024. Thanks to the financial assistance of the ŽSK, students and the public will have the opportunity to experience environmental education in a slightly different, more experiential way, closer to nature.