Explore Nordics: Finland

In Finland, nature interpretation and environmental education are strongly connected. -A wide selection of study opportunities in the field of environmental education and nature interpretation. -Networks and examples. -GreenComp – a way to put it all. together

In Finland, nature interpretation and environmental education are strongly connected. -A wide selection of study opportunities in the field of environmental education and nature interpretation. -Networks and examples. -GreenComp – a way to put it all. together

In Finland, nature interpretation and environmental education are strongly connected. -A wide selection of study opportunities in the field of environmental education and nature interpretation. -Networks and examples. -GreenComp – a way to put it all. together

In Finland, nature interpretation and environmental education are strongly connected. -A wide selection of study opportunities in the field of environmental education and nature interpretation. -Networks and examples. -GreenComp – a way to put it all. together

In Finland, nature interpretation and environmental education are strongly connected. -A wide selection of study opportunities in the field of environmental education and nature interpretation. -Networks and examples. -GreenComp – a way to put it all. together

In Finland, nature interpretation and environmental education are strongly connected. -A wide selection of study opportunities in the field of environmental education and nature interpretation. -Networks and examples. -GreenComp – a way to put it all. together

In Finland, nature interpretation and environmental education are strongly connected. -A wide selection of study opportunities in the field of environmental education and nature interpretation. -Networks and examples. -GreenComp – a way to put it all. together

In Finland, nature interpretation and environmental education are strongly connected. -A wide selection of study opportunities in the field of environmental education and nature interpretation. -Networks and examples. -GreenComp – a way to put it all. together

In Finland, nature interpretation and environmental education are strongly connected. -A wide selection of study opportunities in the field of environmental education and nature interpretation. -Networks and examples. -GreenComp – a way to put it all. together

PhD Essi Aarnio-Linnanvuori, University Lecturer (environmental education and sustainable development), Tampere University In her presentation PhD Essi Aarnio-Linnanvuori represented Finnish school system, Environmental and sustainability education in Finland and opened its current state and future directions. She opened the current challenges in ESE (Environmental and Sustainability Education), presented a Model for holistic climate change education (so called “The Climate Education Bicycle Model”)

In her speech, Leena Honkasalo presented how nature interpretation and environmental education are organized at different educational levels in Finland, and she provided some examples of these trainings and courses.

Anna Haukka introduced SYKLI Environmental College as an institute and especially it’s Environmental and Sustainability Education Team and it’s courses, such as a Study Program for Environmental Educators, ongoing projects, for example Kutsu seikkailuun = An Invitation to an Adventure, Enemmän elämää = More Life / More Living. She also showed a diagram of the benefits of learning in a natural environment and presented SYKLI’s learning materials.

Sanna Saari-Vesterinen explained the activities of the LYKE network in her presentation. LYKE coordinates the nationwide LYKE-network, maintains the open MAPPA.fi service, organises the big outdoor educational event ULOS-UT-OUT, and operates between schools and researchers. Over 50 LYKE-centers offer environmental education services for schools and kindergartens on local level. MAPPA.fi offers tools for teaching – It’s a material bank, a search engine, a sharing platform and a multifunction tool. The next Ulos-Ut-Out will take place in the summer of 2026. It gathers hundreds of teachers, educators and instructors – but also policymakers, researchers, and students together.

Elina Pilke presented examples of different funding sources for nature interpretation projects in Finland, as well as one case example of a recent joint project where one of our project themes was well-being impacts of nature. Funds for projects can be granted by the Ministry of Environment, the Finnish National Agency for Education, various foundations and EU´s LIFE Programme. The project Towards an environmentally competent learning community was presented as an example of projects funded by the Finnish National Agency for Education. The project had 9 partners and was coordinated by WWF Finland. It aimed to enhance sustainable practices and environmental literacy in early childhood education, schools, high schools, and vocational institutions. Educators were empowered to integrate sustainability into their teaching practices, emphasizing current environmental knowledge, sustainable daily life, and the well-being benefits of nature. Within this project we arranged training courses and published teaching materials about the theme nature’s well-being impacts.

Maria Salin introduced the Finnish nature Centre Haltia and it´s services for visitors and educational groups, then presented a field game developed by Haltia´s nature school, called National Park Simulator. Maria described the game´s pedagogical principles, idea and goals, it’s elements, structure and outcomes.

Ulla Myllyniemi presented the workshop she conducted at the Out of the Box Erasmus course by Sykli Environmental College, which functionally explored the Earth’s boundaries and systemic nature, as well as the cycles of various elements in nature, and what happens when these cycles are broken into a linear chain. The exercise also considered the impact of a single component in the systemic network on the rest of the network and the different types of relationships people can have with nature. The workshop concluded with a functional exercise and a lever model of nature connection.

Sanna Saari-Vesterinen explained the background and functioning of the Nature Excursion Machine in her presentation. Biodiversity loss and climate change are hard to tackle, because they are caused by the way we are living and have built our society (with cheap fossil energy). The tentacles of problems are everywhere in the system. System-level understanding is needed to build a sustainable future. Let’s help teachers and students on the way to systemic thinking! The presentation shows an idea how to get from species observation to system-level understanding.

In her concluding remarks, Niina Mykrä explained what GreenComp: the European sustainability competence framework means and reviewed the webinar presentations by placing them within this GreenComp competence framework.

A short presentation on GreenComp and ECF4CLIM project