Els ocells a les escoles

Xavier Riera is responsible for the Outreach and Training Department at ICO (Institut Català d’Ornitologia). In practice, this involves managing a wide range of projects carried out in collaboration with both public and private organisations. He is also responsible for the citizen science projects Orenetes, Ocells dels jardins, Nius and BiObserva, and produces most of the news regularly published about them. Together with Marina Cuito, he coordinates all the field trips and courses organised by ICO throughout the year, with the aim of bringing the knowledge and enjoyment of birdwatching to the general public in different natural areas of Catalonia.

Pilar Vendrell is Head of the Plans and Projects Section, where she works in the fields of nature conservation, the environment and biodiversity. She participates in programmes such as Health and Nature and the land stewardship programme of the Government of Catalonia. She is the representative of the Government of Catalonia and the driving force behind the Escoles obertes a la natura project.

Adam Blundell is the teacher of the pioneering and innovative Ornithology programme at Farmington High School. When the school was built in 2018, it was designed with the ambition of becoming a leader in education. Both the school district and the school principal were very enthusiastic about launching an initiative that no one else was doing. In the first year the school opened, the programme had 50 students. The number of students quickly grew and now stands at 120, with many students on a waiting list hoping to join next year. Many of them are also members of the birding club, which organises trips to the natural wetlands in the area.

The class is now extremely popular and has become an example for future educational programmes both in the United States and around the world. The students have also built an aviary inside the school, which houses different species of exotic birds from around the world and is cared for by the students themselves as part of their classes.

Drawing on these three experiences, the discussion will explore how we can bring birds into the classroom while, at the same time, bringing the classroom out into nature. We will discuss different ways of incorporating ornithology into education, the observation and discovery of the natural environment, and how birds can become a powerful tool for sparking curiosity, knowledge and environmental awareness among younger generations.

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