Learnscapes
Encyclopedia
Learnscapes are defined as “places where a learning program has been designed to permit users to interact with the environment” . Their purpose is to promote and extend environmental awareness, by presenting biodiversity
as the basis for environmental conservation and ecologically sustainable development
. This is achieved through developing school based curricula that engage students interactively with their surrounding environment. Ideally, learnscapes incorporate educational, environmental and social outcomes that reflect the character of the community as well as the school site.
"A Learnscape feature, whether it be an outdoor classroom, worm farm, bush regeneration, recycling area, frog pond or herb garden, is not a Learnscape itself. It is the collaborative process within which the feature is created and plans for how it will be maintained and used for learning once it is created that make the feature a Learnscape" .
Founding member and Program Director of the School Learnscapes Trust, Helen Tyas Tunggal emphasises that "Essential to all learnscape development is the active involvement and contribution of students, teachers, parents and other groups within the school community during the planning, preparation and implementation of a design." Helen was awarded the Gold Banksia Environmental Award in 1999. Her efforts were described by the awards' organisers as depicting "the importance of empowering future generations to become competent and involved caretakers of the planet for the next millennium."
Learncape programs also have a “calming effect” on classes, by invoking deeper relationships between students and their teachers .
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
as the basis for environmental conservation and ecologically sustainable development
Ecologically sustainable development
Ecologically sustainable development is the environmental component of sustainable development. It can be achieved partially through the use of the precautionary principle, namely that if there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not...
. This is achieved through developing school based curricula that engage students interactively with their surrounding environment. Ideally, learnscapes incorporate educational, environmental and social outcomes that reflect the character of the community as well as the school site.
"A Learnscape feature, whether it be an outdoor classroom, worm farm, bush regeneration, recycling area, frog pond or herb garden, is not a Learnscape itself. It is the collaborative process within which the feature is created and plans for how it will be maintained and used for learning once it is created that make the feature a Learnscape" .
Founding member and Program Director of the School Learnscapes Trust, Helen Tyas Tunggal emphasises that "Essential to all learnscape development is the active involvement and contribution of students, teachers, parents and other groups within the school community during the planning, preparation and implementation of a design." Helen was awarded the Gold Banksia Environmental Award in 1999. Her efforts were described by the awards' organisers as depicting "the importance of empowering future generations to become competent and involved caretakers of the planet for the next millennium."
Learncape programs also have a “calming effect” on classes, by invoking deeper relationships between students and their teachers .