Intergenerational Learning For Nature Conservation Volunteers: Involen Project

INVOLEN (Intergenerational Learning for Nature Conservation Volunteers) is an innovative project funded in the framework of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union. The aim of the project is to develop and test a learning methodology and new tools to promote intergenerational learning, volunteering in nature conservation and use of innovative learning technologies like location based games in 5 European countries: Italy, Greece, France, Hungary and Slovenia. Intergenerational Learning (IL) deals with the way people of all ages can learn together and from each other. The aim of this work is to present the methodology of the project and its ongoing implementation in a real context in Livorno (Italy). Since April 2013, the methodology has been testing by a focus group composed by students and teachers of the secondary school I level Teseo Tesei of the Istituto Comprensivo Micali of Livorno, ICT experts, facilitators and elderly volunteers of the associations of the “Occhi sulle colline” project (partnership between local organizations and associations working for the protection and enhancement of Livorno Hills) and WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature). The pilot phase was carried out on the Livorno Hills Provincial Park, a hilly area few kilometers far from the coast of Livorno, a real treasure for its unique environmental characteristics and for the presence of the magnificent aqueduct built by the architect Pasquale Poccianti in the nineteenth century (Acquedotto leopoldino, better known as Acquedotto di Colognole). In the first meeting, facilitators, youngsters and elders meet each other and build a relationship, highlighting their own abilities and participating in the organization of the activities and the realization of the final products. In the next meeting youngsters interview elders about the life and use of the protected area in the past. Then a guided tour of the protected area is organized. During the visit, elders and experts describe the environmental and historical characteristics to the students. Meanwhile students collect pictures and videos that the focus group will elaborate to produce: informative panels promoting a respectful behavior of nature. The collected material is also used to create a location-based game for iPhones to be played in the protected area. All the products of this project will be published in the project website and made available to any organization that wants to apply this methodology.