Respect for lived experience and mapping out the educational landscape helps identify priorities for collective action.
Helping young people in Galapagos appreciate the significance of the rich biodiversity on their doorstep is essential to secure the future of this unique island ecosystem. Research shows that people who connect with nature as children develop stronger sustainability values and are more likely to protect nature when they grow up. Although there have been many local short-term nature education initiatives on the islands, the lack of shared knowledge and impact data has meant there is little sustained funding to scale up effective nature education programmes.
The ‘Connecting with Nature’ project examined an extensive 12-year legacy of diverse outdoor educational programmes for young people aged 3 to 18 on the Galapagos Islands. It also compiled evaluation results and the evaluation resources used. The goal was to identify gaps and opportunities and to develop ‘best practice’ guides to help better capture and showcase intervention effectiveness. The project was delivered by the Galapagos Conservation Trust in collaboration with Fundación Naveducando (a local NGO); the Ministry of Education, community leaders and the Galapagos Education Network were also key contributors to the project. The project connected formal and informal education providers on the islands, helping develop shared values and purpose, and supporting the delivery of the Galapagos contextualised curriculum.
This project was funded as part of the 2022 Evolution Education Trust (EET) Challenge Fund. This Challenge Fund explored ways to improve appreciation of nature and biodiversity within communities facing economic or access challenges. EET collaborated with the British Science Association to deliver a wrap-around programme of support for all Challenge Fund project teams via a Community of Practice (CoP) model. Project leaders were brought together every three months to share insights, develop ideas and overcome common challenges. The CoP was also a platform for training in how to build, use and evaluate a Theory of Change. This helped the teams better communicate their goals, maximise learnings and set up their own impact measurement.
The value of peer-to-peer support
The open and welcoming nature of the CoP encouraged group discussions that offered valuable new perspectives on the project. Alongside learning from the practical past experience of individual CoP members, the workshop sessions on community engagement and educational evaluation provided actionable insights which were able to be effectively deployed in the project.
“Being part of a Community of Practice has been invaluable. It’s served as a sounding board for exploring ideas and has had a significant impact on our approach to stakeholder engagement, both within this project and across the wider organisation.”
Anna Lewis, Programmes Manager, Galapagos Conservation Trust
Lessons learned
The ‘Connecting with Nature’ project has showcased the power of educational network building to rally teachers and intervention providers around a common cause, has provided confidence that nature-based learning can enhance curriculum learning, and speaks to the importance of local advocacy in developing trust and sharing knowledge.
- The historical data suggests that hands-on, immersive experiences can significantly enhance student motivation and learning outcomes. Nature-based learning could serve as a powerful motivational ‘hook’ to help deliver national and contextualised curricula.
- Empowering teachers to become active contributors in delivering experiential learning fosters an environment where nature-based learning can thrive. Informal science educators should consider the provision of tools, training and support for teachers rather than just delivering interventions directly to young people.
- Teachers and community groups need additional support to evaluate educational interventions and embed recommendations into everyday practice. There is an opportunity for NGOs to step in and offer tailored support here.
- Direct, personal engagement is key to building effective networks. Obtaining comprehensive high-quality data from past educational interventions was difficult. Reaching out to participants using digital platforms proved to be patchy and self-selecting. Having Fundación Naveducando as a lead on-the-ground partner helped to build trust around this evaluative project. That, in turn, increased the willingness to share data and openness to discuss the good and bad of past experiences.
- The local network was key to interpreting the historical data, not just collecting it. Data analysis was challenging as the projects spanned across various types of intervention, age-range and duration. The analysis required an ongoing dialogue with stakeholders, and demonstration of deep respect for their existing knowledge. At all times it was important to remember that success was not measured just through data-driven conclusions, but rather through the establishment of collaborative partnerships built upon thorough research of existing best-practice.
- Being able to visualise the network helped local stakeholders refine their shared purpose and priorities. The project team used a visual tool, Kumu.io, to map the ‘Connecting with Nature’ ecosystem. This has proven particularly effective in rallying stakeholders around a common cause as it helped them navigate and improve their understanding of what has been a highly fractured market of nature-based education provision.
Where next?
The ‘Connecting with Nature’ project has created a proactive network of key stakeholders who continue to work toward common aims. The dissemination of the project’s findings through workshops and continuous engagement, with local educators and policy makers will be pivotal in realising further improvements and impacts in nature-based education offerings. The project team will focus on solidifying the existing networks and expanding experiential learning projects with local partners, working with partners to implement and test the evaluation recommendations and co-created guidelines – collectively working together to measure the impact into the future.
Short-term goals include improving understanding of good evaluation practices and fostering a more connected environmental education sector. The long-term goals involve enabling project leaders to advocate for outdoor learning, increasing sector-wide appreciation of its importance, and improving access and capability for teachers to integrate outdoor learning into their curricula.
Photo credit: Diana Pazmino / Galapagos Science Centre
