ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE EKOETXEA BIODIVERSITY INTERPRETIVE CENTER IN THE PROMOTION OF THE CONNECTEDNESS WITH NATURE

Activities carried out outside the school boost pupils’ motivation and promote concept learning. The Ekoetxea Biodiversity Interpretive Center is located in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve. There, students can learn about the fauna, flora, countryside and forests of the Urdaibai estuary in the Basque Country. The main goal of Ekoetxea is thus the promotion of the connectedness of its visitors, mainly students, with nature. Such connection has been acknowledged as necessary to enhance our quality of life and to counter today´s environmental problems.

However, the studies on the effectiveness of such activities carried out outside the school are scarce. Therefore, the objectives of this study are, first, the acquisition of information about the Basque youth´s attitude towards nature and; second, the assessment of the effectiveness in promoting interest in nature of visiting the Ekoetxea Interpretive Center. With such aims, 513 Primary Education and Secondary School students were surveyed prior to their trip to the Ekoetxea to assess their knowledge and interest about nature. They were asked on their attitude towards protection of nature and today´s environmental troubles, their interest in biodiversity and on animals and plants and finally, their expectations on the visit. After the visit, the students’ satisfaction with the visit was assessed through another survey. This final survey also included questions regarding topics such as their interest in nature, the actions they might take for its protection, their knowledge on today´s problems regarding nature that had been acknowledged in the first questionnaire.

The comparison between the initial and the final surveys reported positive results: students showed a major compromise for nature protection after the visit. In fact, the differences detected at the entrance of Ekoetxea between Primary and Secondary Education students, the first were more active in nature protection, faded when they leaved the Biodiversity Interpretive Center. Also, in general, their knowledge about today´s problems regarding nature increased after visiting Ekoetxea for the number of trouble mentioned in the second survey was larger.

Regarding their satisfaction, both Primary and Secondary Education students found the visit had met their expectations, which for most of them consisted of “having a nice day”, (66%), and for the least “actively taking part”, (20%).