Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti
14 mins ago
The Ōtātara Outdoor Learning Centre (ŌOLC) on EIT’s Hawke’s Bay Campus is an important part of EIT’s sustainability strategy and welcomes community and school groups throughout the year.
EIT welcomes and acknowledges Outdoor Classroom Day today as it fits in with environmental work that is happening with local schools through EIT’s Learning in Nature (LIN) project and at the Ōtātara Outdoor Learning Centre (ŌOLC).
Outdoor Classroom Day (4 November 20210)( https://outdoorclassroomday.com) is part of a global movement to make time outdoors part of every child’s day. Teachers from around the world use the day to take their classroom into nature.
EIT’s Professor Natalie Waran, Executive Dean, Faculty of Education, Humanities and Health Science; and Professor (One Welfare), says EIT supports this concept and is proud of the work happening through LIN.
LIN is an innovative collaboration between EIT, Ngāti Pārau, the mana whenua hapū for Ōtātara and EIT, central and local government agencies (Te Papa Atawhai /Department of Conservation, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council), and local environmental groups that include Predator Free HB, and EnviroSchools.
“Learning in Nature has developed through research and regional engagement with educators and learners at EIT and through communities of practice.”
“It has advanced teacher ability to embed nature literacy and sustainability values within the region’s educational culture from early childhood to post-graduate level teaching,” says Professor Waran, who oversees EIT’s sustainability strategy.
The project has seen EIT named, for the second year in a row, as a finalist in the prestigious Green Gown Awards, run by the Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS).
One of only two New Zealand tertiary institutions to make it through to the final round of judging, EIT has been shortlisted in the Benefitting Society category for the LIN project. The awards are open to all Australasian tertiary institutions and recognises exceptional sustainability initiatives. The winners of the different categories will be announced at a virtual awards ceremony on the 18th of November this year. For a list of all finalists, see https://ggaa.acts.asn.au/2021awards/#org
The Ōtātara Outdoor Learning Centre (OOLC), which is located on EIT’s Hawke’s Bay campus in Taradale, is a nature based education space. Here, the cultural and creative connection to the land, sustainable use of resources and the restoration of ecology and biodiversity management can be taught through using the outdoor environment as a context for learning.
Two experienced environmental educators have recently joined the team leading EIT’s sustainability strategy connecting local communities and are enhancing the work undertaken through the OOLC.
Megan McBride and Robyn McCool, who were previously employed by Department of Conservation (DOC) to work on Predator Free Hawke’s Bay (PFHB) education projects, have transferred their knowledge, skills and contacts to EIT.
Many sustainability and conservation initiatives take place at The Ōtātara Outdoor Learning Centre (ŌOLC) on EIT’s Hawke’s Bay Campus. Here EIT’s Environment and Sustainability Manager Emma Passey (right) works with Environment Management students to plant native trees.
The two, who have been employed as Learning in Nature Education Facilitators within EIT’s Environment and Sustainability Team, will work alongside EIT staff and external schools to support and grow learning in nature initiatives across the region, the school curriculum and a range of EIT programmes.
Professor Waran says she is proud of the way LIN and the OOLC has developed.
“What started out as an environmental education initiative has extended to greater campus engagement through sustainability initiatives. We are also now working closely with the other Institutes of Technology and ITO’s together within the new Te Pūkenga network to lead an online Sustainability ‘Show and Tell’ .”
The Sustainability ‘Show and Tell’ is a series of online, informal and applied information sharing hui providing an opportunity to come together as a network to share information and drive sustainability.
Professor Waran says the first hui with EIT showcasing the work it does, took place yesterday.
EIT’s Environment and Sustainability Manager Emma Passey says Outdoor Education Day is something EIT encourages to occur every day.
“It is about normalising nature literacy and making teachers feel like it is an everyday thing that they can do rather than it being some big thing that they must do,” she said.
“It doesn’t have to be a big field trip that you take kids on. Instead, it is about how you can use your local environment and make it easily accessible.”
Learning and teaching resources for teachers have been developed and can be found at https://www.eit.ac.nz/campus/otatara-outdoor-learning-centre/.
Added to this, the second of four teacher professional development hui will be run at EIT on 30 November. The hui are free (funded by the Pan Pac Environmental Trust) and open to teachers from ECE through to tertiary level. There are limited spaces. If teachers and educators are keen to find out more about the hui and the Ōtātara Outdoor Learning Centre please contact Megan or Robyn at OOLC@eit.ac.nz.
