This educational program aims to connect students, residents, and visitors of the Cycladic islands with the rich beauty of the local flora and fauna.
Much of this beauty—hidden along paths, dry-stone walls, and sand dunes—often goes unnoticed and is simultaneously under threat from uncontrolled development.
Developed in collaboration with the Environmental Education Center of Syros-Ermoupolis (KEPEA), this program has the following objectives:
To highlight the rich biodiversity of the Cycladic landscape
To underscore the importance of small and “unnoticed” inhabitants of the natural ecosystem and their link to island life
To empower students and schools across the Cyclades to become guardians of local biodiversity
To emphasize the role of protected areas in preserving ecosystems and combating the climate crisis
To build an active student community across the Cyclades united in a shared mission
To showcase models of sustainable tourism
To create an international community interested in the protection of Cycladic biodiversity
To demonstrate the power of new technological tools (e.g. geolocation apps) and promote digital literacy
Methodology
The program is designed for students in primary and secondary education across the Cyclades and is grounded in the principles of experiential learning, “learning by doing,” and the use of play as an educational tool. Our goal is the co-creation—together with participating schools—of a network of nature-based caches throughout the Cycladic islands, forming part of the global geocaching community.
Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated they live in Bookmarksgrove right at the coast of the Semantics, a large language ocean. A small river named Duden flows by their place and supplies it with the necessary regelialia. It is a paradisematic country, in which roasted parts of sentences fly into your mouth.