Nationalpark Partnerschulen - Die Schule der Wildnis

Duration of project involvement. 2024 - present.

Cooperation partners. AT Gesäuse National Park; Private Pädagogische Hochschule Augustinum Graz (Dr. Christiana Glettler); University of Klagenfurt (Prof. Dr. Franz Rauch); Institute of Biology (Prof. Dr. Maria Müller), University of Graz; Digital Psychology Lab (Prof. Dr. Manuel Ninaus), University of Graz.

Funding. Federal Ministry Republic of Austria: Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management (application number: 7.6.1b-BMK-V10-86/22).

Abstract. National parks have many important societal tasks to fulfill. Among other things, they should inform the general public about the importance of preserving and protecting nature and wilderness and maintain a high level of nature awareness in society. One way of fulfilling this task is to hold regular events for local schools in order to reach children (and - to some extent - their parents) from the local population in the scope of biological and environmental education. One such program is the project “Nationalpark Partnerschulen - Die Schule der Wildnis”, carried out by the AT Gesäuse National Park, located in Upper Styria, Austria, and participating local schools. This project aims for informing and educating students from local schools about endangered inhabitants of the wilderness in the national park and, at the same time, raising awareness about how important it is to protect these species together with their special habitats. However, how and to what extent are programs like this one actually affecting the awareness about nature, wilderness and, generally, the environment in the participating children and indirectly also in the local population? Or, in other words: To what extent can national parks fulfill their supposed societal role through educational programs like these? Hence, in the scope of evaluating said project of the AT Gesäuse National Park, we use a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative methods to explore how participating school students are affected regarding their awareness and attitudes about nature, wilderness, and the environment. To do so, we develop specific questionnaires and structured interviews allowing to evaluate the national park for the intended purpose. Personally, I assist mainly in the development of questionnaires and quantitative data analysis in the scope of the project.