Forest kindergartens and schools have a long history in Hungary and were very popular in the nineties when governmental support was provided for educational institutions for financing their participation in forest schools / kindergartens programs. Due to financial reasons, this support has decreased lately – despite a huge demand. A recent governmental call (ending in December 2009) financed the infrastructural background of certified forest schools and kindergartens. However, participation in forest schools/kindergarten programs was not supported and is nowadays mostly to be covered by parents and thus restricted to wealthier families.

The goal is to strengthen the environmental consciousness of children and pupils. For this purpose, environmental education with close-to-nature experiences is strengthened resulting in an increased awareness of Natura 2000 areas.

• Forest schools and kindergartens
  Educational institutions (kindergarten, schools)
• Children, pupils
• Parents, relatives

Forest schools and kindergartens receive professional assistance (e.g. workshops, consultancy services) to improve their educational programs. Public educational institutions and their pupils especially from disadvantaged areas are financially supported to participate in such nature conservation related programs. These activities are complemented by a nationwide awareness raising campaign on Natura 2000.

Achieved results:  

• Around 38'800 children increased their knowledge about Natura 2000 sites as consequence of the project
• 10’000 children/ pupils participated in the newly developed educational programs
• 860 institutions use the educational materials elaborated in the course of the project
• 10 workshops and trainings took place to integrate the Natura 2000 related education into the programme at forest kindergartens and schools

Phase 1 01.04.2012 - 31.12.2016   (Completed)