Looking to 2016

S E N S E S O F N A T U R E A S S O C I A T I O N

Danube Kids

Help build

nature citizenship

among young people

in Romania

The basic idea…

This is what children

are inheriting from us.

They need to know how to do something about it.

They’ve tried, and every year they clean up the plastic

waste in the Danube Delta. Then the following year it

comes back again... So a different approach is needed.

Our long-run solution is to build nature citizenship.

Danube Kids is approaching this by

creating a children-led movement for

cultural change.

DoingKnowledge

Values

Skills

Through these four elements of nature citizenship, we teach

children on the Danube to care and take responsibility for

their place, their community and the nature around them.

Outdoor learning is essential:

Simply, children learn better

when they learn outside and through practical

experience. It is also proven to be good for their

physical and mental health.

And then we are going

to get the kids from

the Danube Delta

villages to spread the

word to kids in towns

and villages upstream

about what they have

learnt…

What we have done so far…

In January 2015 we held a Swarm in Bucharest for 30 teachers,

representatives of ministries & local authorities, international

and Romanian experts in outdoor environmental education, project-

based learning, ecology, waste management and safety. We shared an

intensive weekend of creative collaboration to work out the

details of the programme and address the risks and challenges.

This year we have involved around 300 kids of 8 to 13 years from

Sulina, Sfintu Gheorghe and Crisan on the Danube Delta, plus

Orsova, Mures, Maramures and Snagov. The schools are either on

the Danube or tributaries. We ran 9 activities across the country

between March and July 2015.

Children have been out in nature

discovering the place around them.

They’ve learn about animals and plants

around them, and thought about their

connection to nature.

We are giving them awareness

and confidence to pay attention

to details in nature and

make connections, express

themselves and be creative

This year around 300

children were

involved in Danube

Kids activities

Danube Kids have made a poster

campaign which Navrom put on

their ferries.

Children in villages on the Danube

tributaries have learnt about their connection

to water, where it comes from and where it

goes to from their place.

In September 2015 we held training for 15 teachers from

the Delta and around Romania – where two experts in

outdoor nature learning from the UK came and passed on

their values and expertise.

Planning for next year…

In 2016 we will want build on the pilot and expand Danube

Kids to other towns and villages in Romania. We also want to

build a Danube Kids teachers network, train lots of teachers,

so they have the confidence to take initiatives themselves.

And we’d like to get outdoor learning onto the curriculum!

We need to raise funding – about €100,000 in total – to move from

concept to full-time operation: to run 40 activities for over 400

children, set up 5 local initiatives, build the Danube Kids

teachers network and hold 9 training sessions for 135 teachers.

The benefits of Danube Kids:

- Children gain in confidence, health, knowledge and skills

through outdoor learning

- Teachers learn new state-of-the-art skills and approaches

- Parents get involved in children’s learning

- Rebuilding community spirit and sense of belonging

- Longer term, people will take more care for nature and the

environment

For more information contact Alina Costea

(alina.costea@danubekids.com) or James Atkins

(james.atkins@vertis.com) at the Senses of Nature Association

Join the DANUBE KIDS initiative!