A Story of Adventure, Ecology, and Heritage Stewardship Horizons

Yay!!! The first part of our huge project Heritage Stewardship completed...in just 4 months in fruitful partnership with Escola da APEL we managed to .... attended a three-day training in Croatia, a master class for the students of the school dedicated to the natural heritage of Madeira ...and plus five great events....

Let's start with the idea...the aim of our project, in which 6 other partners from Romania, Spain and Croatia participate, is to create educational methods and tools for modern non-formal teaching of history and culture, to understand why it is necessary to know and protect cultural and natural heritage sports...How to learn the right digital archiving, photography and legend creation, how to be successful in the development of socially important projects...and much more

And today we are absolutely sure that our project creates great opportunities for youth workers and students themselves in Madeira.

So, how to interest today's digital generation in... visiting natural history museums ? Probably not an easy task for those who know "everything" about flora, fauna and geology through ...Minecraft.... oh no...We dared, the trip to Natural History Museum (Museu de Historia Natural do Funchal) was a resounding success. This was largely due to the genuine passion for science, biology and history of the tutors and teachers and the huge impact of the museum staff themselves, who have changed it enormously in just a few years. Installations devoted to global pollution of the ocean...and models of animals, birds, unique herbariums...there was no boredom, and the students, most of whom were for the first time in this museum, left with a suitcase of new knowledge.

Google this.... is probably one of the most popular phrases today if you have a question...you are conducting a research...but what is behind it, how not to drown in a world of information, how to structure questions to get the right answers.

We decided to dedicate one of our workshops to understanding how to conduct researches...So, let's start with a simple but at the same time complex task. To find 25 important natural heritage spots in Madeira.... where to start...list of UNESCO- Bingo, remember what our parents and grandparents admire - bingo, the most popular view spots in Madeira - got it again. ...and what's next...then we move on to selection, systematisation and description...who knows how to work with databases...it is unlikely that the CHATgpt is the only assistant in this...Ugh, as a result of a few hours the task was solved. 25 top spots of natural heritage found...what's next?

New challenge, photo and video shooting top 25... It turned out to be difficult. Madeira is, of course, a paradise, but the path to its best points is very difficult...

Climb the mountains, wait for a dolphin to jump out of the water, when that very rare bird agrees to pose for you, to find that same flower and walk along the levadas....it’s not easy and you have to be lucky for this, but most importantly, we need professional photos and video materials, the task is not easy. Where to begin ? We decided with a photo lesson. A great friend of our association and one of the most recognized international photographers, the stunning Malcolm Dare prepared us a lesson... in landscape photography...

Several hours passed like a couple of minutes... we learned and practiced how to find just the right shot, the right light, the right angle, proportions...and most importantly how to tell a story with your photos...probably our group looked very funny, trying to get behind the scaffolding and hanging for 15 minutes near a tub with a simple, but as it turned out, beautiful flower....the result... .soon those photos will appear on the map of our project...

Unexpectedly, friends came to us, the Swiss Maritime Academy A+ WORLD ACADEMY young sailors decided to spend their "holiday" in Madeira with benefit... we offered a completely unique experience.

An eco-art therapy lesson and a conversation about what worries any sailor and island resident about the health of the ocean. We listened to music and painted at the same time, using environmentally friendly paints. Our coach is the incomparable BRI with her unique technique synesthetic art (Liquid Sound ) as always she was on top...our friends drew, sang and danced at the same time...we shared the experience of life in Madeira and what we, its inhabitants know about oceanic animals and what ails the ocean , young sailors talked about what they saw during the long months of their wanderings... It was a real magic of therapy, art and storytelling, and many of the stories that we heard we decided to use as one of the tools of our project... the study of natural heritage through art and storytelling - why not, we did it.

What did we do next? We decided to teach a lesson on natural heritage and ecology through action...talking about ocean pollution is much more effective if this conversation takes place during the cleanup of one of the beaches...

We, together with Escola da APEL and our partners from Lobosonda ,Ocean Devotion , Greeneract and Poiomar gathered for a beach cleanup in Madalena do Mar, a very popular place in Madeira. Where both islanders and tourists often gather for a sunset....which, unfortunately, does not make the beach cleaner...

Eco bags and gloves, instructions on collecting and sorting waste, good company and a festive mood made our day...we collected a decent number of kilograms of garbage and even...we managed to leave some of the strangest garbage things for our next eco-installation, which we plan to create this summer together with the artists of our art association and the APEL school-Escola da APEL