Nature Festival: an opportunity for schools to raise awareness of marine and aquatic ecosystems

As part of the “Nature festival”, numerous school classes across France organised activities to help their families and local communities discover local biodiversity.

In Brittany, in a coastal region, ten-year-old children organised activities to help their families learn more about the biodiversity of an urban park, particularly the aquatic life found there. They ran various workshops: catching insects in a river, drawing what they had observed, and so on. This school was awarded the “European Blue School” label in December this year. It has also held the ‘Educational Land Area’ accreditation for the past two years

The day ended with a gathering of the whole school – pupils aged 6 to 10 – to celebrate all the work carried out within the school.

This was a highlight for both pupils and parents, who were also able to learn a great deal from their children.

In France, amongst the other schools that organised events, some put on performances to raise awareness of biodiversity, others offered guided tours, and still others held picnics in natural areas. However, few ‘blue’ events are organised as part of the Nature Festival. Next year, let’s add even more ‘blue’ to the Nature Festival

This festival is held all over the world every year in May, as close as possible to 22 May, the International Day for Biological Diversity, which represents a real opportunity for Blue Schools to raise their profile by organising events to help people discover marine and aquatic biodiversity.

The Picardy Estuaries and Opal Sea Marine Nature Park has celebrated the 10th anniversary of its educational marine areas!

The Picardy Estuaries and Opal Sea Marine Nature Park was a pioneer in the Educational Marine Areas initiative, as a pilot scheme was set up as early as 2016 in the Baie de Somme: the Jules Verne School in Le Crotoy, which is still part of the scheme today.

Today, ten years on, thanks to the commitment of the schools, local authorities and other local stakeholders involved, the Park’s network of Educational Marine Areas is taking shape, expanding and fulfilling its ambition to give young people the opportunity to engage with their local environment. This year, 28 classes are taking part in the scheme and 13 local organisations are supporting the pupils throughout the year.

On Friday 5 June, more than 300 pupils from the EMA classes were gathered in Nausicaá aquarium, during Team For Ocean festival. This aquarium is a scientific cultural centre that promotes awareness of the bond between Mankind and the Ocean. To mark World Oceans Day, Nausicaá has invited the public to the fifth edition of the Team For Ocean Festival.  Pupils were able to take part in the awareness-raising workshops organised especially for them: creating postcards, a workshop on marking out the Baie de Somme, observing benthic fauna and the intertidal zone, beach sports and even sea-themed storytelling… The pupils also had the chance to present their work from the year to a large audience.

Nausicaà’s Team For Ocean festival also hosted the launch of the Académie de la Mer in the Hauts-de-France region, attended by the Regional Rector, Sophie Bejean. Seventy-six schools were awarded the Académie de la Mer label, including many AME classes!