The importance of outdoor learning and nature and environmental education is growing at a time when the well-being of children and young people, their connection to nature, and their faith in the future need to be strengthened. The consequences of climate change and the loss of nature depend on the actions we take today. We must respond to children’s and young people’s growing concern about the state of our living environment.
From June 9–11, ULOS–UT–OUT offers a space where teachers, educators, and youth workers can come together to develop ways to foster dialogue, participation, and the building of a sustainable future—in Tampere’s urban nature.
– At the ULOS–UT–OUT conference, adults will also have the opportunity to experience the effects of a nature-based learning environment firsthand. All it takes to learn outdoors is the courage to step outside and make room for insights, says conference coordinator Maija Ihantola.
In Tampere, the program will take place at several nature sites around the city. Workshops will be held in the parks surrounding Sammon koulu and the Kaleva church, as well as in the Kauppi forest and along the shores of the Iidesjärvi bird lake.
The themes of the program trails include, for example, wild nature in the city, small and big adventures in nature, and nature in vocational education. Activities on offer include an escape game about a Baltic Sea rescue operation, an ant workshop, and a hands-on workshop on working with children with special needs in outdoor education.
Among the keynote speakers, Professor Kirsi Pauliina Kallio of the University of Tampere encourages us to recognize the opportunities for environmental education even in places where we don’t usually look for them. Sofia Laine, Research Professor at the Finnish Youth Research Society, and Jarmo Kokkonen, Director at the Church Council, will examine values, ethics, and the good life in their joint presentation.
The improvisational theater group Stella Polaris will present its own interpretation of a keynote lecture by Ilari E. Sääksjärvi, a professor at the University of Turku, on the fundamental importance of biodiversity.
The City of Tampere’s Nature Ambassadors project supports the participation of early childhood and elementary school teachers from Tampere in the event. ULOS–UT–OUT’s main partner is the Priodiversity LIFE project, which focuses on halting biodiversity loss.
This event offers Tampere residents the chance to join a nature excursion on Tuesday evening, June 9. The meadow excursion to Kalevankangas will explore a valuable dry meadow that is home to, among other species, the highly endangered moth Athetis gluteosa.
On Wednesday, June 10, you can join an early morning birdwatching trip at Lake Iidesjärvi, where you’ll observe the birds’ morning activities and bird banding. After the birdwatching, you can continue on to Vuohenoja, where you’ll learn about trout stock management.
As early as May, work communities have the opportunity to experience and try working in nature. The organizers of the ULOS-UT-OUT event invite work communities to kick off the spring work week on Monday, May 18, from 8:30–10:30 a.m. at the Pyynikki observation tower.
At Pyynikki, you’ll have the chance to try out different ways of working in a natural environment: walking meetings, nature offices, and restorative breaks. Throughout the morning, there will also be plenty of information available on the positive effects of nature on work.
