The “Biodiversity in the Venice Lagoon” project is coordinated by CNR-ISMAR within the Biodiversity Portal promoted by the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), the national center committed to studying and preserving ecosystems and biodiversity.
This project proposes an educational pathway to take place during the 2024/2025 school year in collaboration with the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia – Giancarlo Ligabue Museum of Natural History and the Sestante cooperative society of Venice.
It is aimed at primary (second cycle), junior high and senior secondary (two-year) schools.
The objective of the course is to introduce the concept of biodiversity into the cultural landscape of students by making them understand why it is important to preserve it, how it contributes to maintaining natural balances and how it is threatened. The Venice Lagoon represents a natural laboratory for studying changing biodiversity, as a mosaic of environments that are constantly changing due to both natural and anthropogenic forcings at different scales.
The course is divided into 3 phases that take place during the school year:
- Classroom meeting: in the period from October to December 2024.
This meeting lasts one hour and is conducted by Sextant educators in the classes that join the project. It aims to introduce the concept of biodiversity and prepare theoretically for subsequent meetings; - Workshop at the Museum of Natural History: in the period from December 2024 to February 2025.
The two-hour meeting will include observations and experiments with different modes and times according to age groups:
elementary school Cycle II: “The lagoon a puzzle of environments.”
secondary school I grade: “Together for the blue planet”; secondary school II grade: “Biodiversity: different but connected.” - Lagoon outing and workshop at the BSG: in the period from April to May 2025. This meeting will include an outing to the lagoon with the eco-friendly boat of the Venice Sextant. Observations and sampling will take place, which will then be analyzed at the Biodiversity Portal located at the headquarters of the CNR-ISMAR Institute in Venice. The embarkation and return point will be in Venice near the S. Lucia train station. The outing will take place from about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Educational content and workshops are differentiated for age groups; the use of the iNaturalist app will also be introduced to enable an active role in learning about the biodiversity around us.
When registering, priority will be given to 2 parallel classes or from the same plexus/institution since the boat trip will take place with two classes together.
Participation in the project is free, except for transfer costs to and from Venice, which are borne by the school. Classes will be selected in order of participation until places are available, after which a waiting list will be created.
Joining the project is MANDATORY and is done EXCLUSIVELY by filling out the form available at the following link that will be active starting September 02, 2024:
ENROLLMENT SOLD OUT
Membership implies participation in all three phases of the project and the necessary cooperation to ensure its success. The dates of the meetings will be agreed in the period between September and October, with the operators of the Venice Sextant, it being understood that the meetings will take place during the periods indicated. By joining the project you guarantee your collaboration with educators, museum staff and researchers in defining the logistics of the days.
We sincerely thank all those interested, you have responded in great numbers! You will be contacted soon either if you are on board or on the waiting list. For this year we have reached the maximum number of sign-ups, we hope to replicate the offer next year.
CNR-Institute of Marine Science
