NECC - Nature Education Community Center
work project: 2017 - 2024
NECC - Nature Education Community Center
work project: 2017 - 2024
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work project: 2017 - 2024
You can find the official project and NECC description here: https://necckolozsvar.wixsite.com/neccesek/mi-a-necc
The more subjective side of the story from my perspective is that a few of us thought we would join Kunigunda, our former teacher, and hold nature education sessions.
I joined because during my gap year I realised that I wanted to create some kind of forest school, and this was very close to what I had imagined. So when I came back, I immediately started getting involved.
What makes me really happy is that since then more and more organisations and nature educators have appeared on the scene, so maybe one day the old dream — that nature education will be included in the curriculum and teachers will be hired specifically for nature education positions — will come true.
Since then, NECC has continued on its own path, and I have taken a slightly different direction as well — that’s how the Chill Nature project came to be.
What experiences have I gained while holding these hundreds of sessions? I’ll highlight a few next to the photos (the source of the photos is the NECC Facebook page), and we can talk about the rest by email or in person.
Founding team, left to right, top to bottom: László Gál, Katalin Rés, Janka Pénzes, Kunigunda Macalik, Csilla Szabó.
Our first event, where we presented the Organisms of the Year 2018. Creating activities and games related to the Organisms of the Year accompanied us throughout several years of working together. You can read more about the Organisms of the Year concept in several places, for example here.
A snapshot from our Hungarian dog-breed activity, where everyone had a picture tied to their head and had to guess who they were. Here, I happened to be a Puli, while Katika was a short-haired Hungarian Vizsla. There are many well-known games that can be adapted into nature-study activities, and we often used this approach when creating various sessions and games.
I also consider walks in urban green areas important, as the experience shows that students increasingly have little idea of where their school is located and what species they can encounter in their immediate surroundings.
A bird-song activity where students had to match the birds’ sounds with their sonograms, their names, and their pictures.
Getting acquainted with plants — this is always much more difficult than presenting moving or flying animals. These organisms are often considered boring, but with repeated outings you can gradually change this perception.
In a city dear to me, Satu Mare, where I grew up, there is a project that is also very close to my heart: Darwin Day, which focuses on science popularisation. We documented our participation there together with the chemistry team.
Kindergarten activity — the truth is, during these sessions I could never be sure whether the kids remembered anything at all or forgot everything after five minutes. I believe that for them it is much more important to spend as much time outside as possible, so that they can attach feelings and memories to getting to know nature. So although here we see an indoor activity, for kindergarten groups I would rather recommend regular walks and trips.
We held a presentation for adults at the “Mentés Másként” pedagogy conference, and I would be happy to collaborate with them on future projects as well.
Tasty, right? Smelling fox scat — Laci provided lots of useful info for tracking mammal traces, but I still have plenty of room to improve; I know very little about the topic. So I’d happily do more fieldwork with mammal researchers if the opportunity arises.
Another volunteer project: in the Eastern Park in Cluj-Napoca, we set up three bird feeders, which we visited regularly for four years. Unfortunately, after three feeders were stolen and two dog attacks, we had to give up this project — maybe next time we’ll figure out a better way to do it.
A snapshot from our nature-study hiking camp for teenagers in Szenetei, on the way to the source of the Mureș River. We organized the camp three times during the summer, but then had to give it up due to lack of funds — maybe next time we’ll figure it out better.
And at some point we even bought a laser cutter, with which the plan was to create nature-study games — this was the WUD project. For now, this project has failed, because our costs were much higher than our income.
I also really enjoy birdwatching. I have some basic knowledge, but there’s still plenty to learn, so I never mind when a bird-related volunteer opportunity comes up and I have time to join. Here, we were observing a great crested grebe with teenagers — well, mostly me; I didn’t always manage to get them to use the binoculars. At least, when we were in the middle of an important discussion, by the time the bird flew away they’d notice.
This is one of those skills that requires going out multiple times: first, they just need to enjoy being in nature, and then the learning can come.
One of my favorite projects was organizing bike tours. This was on a warmer winter day, but even I didn’t expect we’d end up cycling on ice. This was a tour aimed at more experienced teenagers, with whom we regularly went on hikes.
Together with the Hungarian Environmental Education Association, we developed a Pollinator Mobile Nature Trail. The documentation can be viewed here and is available for free download in Hungarian.
My experience is that in many cases people don’t go hiking unless the weather is “short-sleeve friendly,” even though an autumn or winter walk can be really cool. That’s why we tried to organize hikes every month.
We organized the “Treasure Cluj Nature Explorer Competition,” which was very successful, but we didn’t properly calculate its costs, so financially it was a complete loss, like many other NECC projects. I really enjoyed the professional work, but there comes a point when you have to accept that volunteering won’t pay your bills.
I don’t think I need to talk about the campfire — anyone who has experienced it knows how wonderful it is to just sit and stare into the flames.
I think introducing common species is an important task; here I was talking about the European wild ginger (Asarum europaeum).
Mud-splashing bike tour — this also relates to the idea that nowadays we only go hiking in what we consider “perfect” weather. Of course, it’s important not to go out in a storm, for example when there’s lightning, but just because the forest is muddy, it’s perfectly fine to cycle a bit and, at the same time, enjoy that we’re not seeing huge cracks in the ground from drought.
The first 5 years in pictures.
For the more experienced teenagers, we also organized high-mountain hikes, which I really enjoyed, but due to the growing problem with shepherd dogs, it has become increasingly difficult to take responsibility for the students’ safety.
At the Egyeskő mountain hut with teenagers, during a camp organized with Csilla Emese Nádasdi, a drama educator.
One of the last trainings we attended in NECC colors with Janka: a self-awareness course by Outward Bound, which was really, really cool. I can only recommend their courses, and if I get the chance, I’ll definitely join another one of their trainings in the future.
Besides this, I have many more pictures, experiences, and memories in my mind, but for now, this is all I could fit here.
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