Els ocells a l’escola

Xavier Riera is the Head of Outreach and Training at the ICO (Catalan Ornithological Institute). 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 writes most of the news articles regularly published about these projects. Together with Marina Cuito, he coordinates all the field trips and courses organised by the ICO throughout the year, with the aim of bringing the knowledge and enjoyment of birdwatching closer to the general public in different natural areas across Catalonia.

Adam Blundell is a teacher in 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 an educational reference. Both the school district and the school administration were very enthusiastic about promoting an initiative that no one else was developing at the time. In the school’s first year, the programme had 50 students. The number of students grew rapidly and currently stands at 120, with many students on a waiting list hoping to join next year. Many of them are also members of the ornithology club, which organises field trips to the natural wetlands in the surrounding area.

Laura Force is the Head of Citizen Science Projects at CREAF. She holds degrees in Biology and Philosophy and a Master’s degree in Terrestrial Ecology. Since 2016, she has been involved in a wide range of environmental citizen science projects, as well as research into lichen diversity. She has been an associate lecturer in the Botany and Mycology section of the Department of BEECA at the University of Barcelona since 2021, and has worked as a Citizen Science and Environmental Education officer at CREAF’s Research Office since 2022.

We will also be joined by a representative of the Jardins de Papallones (Butterfly Gardens) project at the Granollers Museum of Natural Sciences.

Roger Espluga is a biologist specialising in Ecology and Biodiversity, passionate about nature and with extensive experience in environmental education and teaching as a secondary school teacher. He currently works for the Environmental Education Service of the Department of Territory and is a member of the coordination team of the Green Schools Network. In this round table, he will act as moderator.

Drawing on the experiences of each speaker, the discussion will explore initiatives aimed at bringing ornithology and nature into the classroom, comparing examples from Catalonia, the Escoles obertes a la natura (Schools Open to Nature) initiative, and the United States. The conversation will explore how we can bring birds into the classroom while, at the same time, taking the classroom out into nature. We will discuss different ways of incorporating ornithology into education, observing and discovering 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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