Centre of Excellence for Education for Sustainable Development in the City of Leverkusen

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NaturGut Ophoven is a Centre of Environmental Education in the City of Leverkusen. It was founded in 1984 and it provides extensive educational activities for all types of schools and age groups, kindergartens, and adults. Its aim is to implement the contents of Agenda 21. Apart from a 6-hectare nature area with adventure trails and various demonstration habitats the centre owns the Children und Youth museum “EnergyTown”. It is housed in historic rooms covering 1,200 square metres. Here, as well as in the area outside, NaturGut Ophoven offers an exciting, informatory experience programme dealing with nature and environment. In addition to the school programmes, the centre provides advanced trainings for teachers, courses about nature and environment for the public, educationally supervised children’s birthday parties, and several major events. For its activities the NaturGut Ophoven was awarded “Best-practice example of a sustainable NRW” and nominated as decentralised project of EXPO 2000 in Hanover and twice as an Offical German project of the UN Decade of ESD. The centre is currently involved in two EU projects. The aim of the two-year project “INSPIRE” is to present the topics of renewable energy and climate change more successfully to pupils. The cooperation partners are the State Higher Vocational School in Racibórz (Poland), the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany) and the University of Daugavpils (Latvia). The other EU project with Leverkusen’s French and Polish twin towns deals with the efficient use of energy in kindergartens.

Contact:
NaturGut Ophoven – Centre of Excellence for Education for
Sustainable Development in the City of Leverkusen
NaturGut Ophoven e.V. – Kompetenzzentrum der Bildung für
Nachhaltigkeit in der Stadt Leverkusen
Talstraße 4
51379 Leverkusen, Germany
phone + 49 2171 73499-0
fax + 49 2171 30944

Person to contact: Dr. Hans-Martin Kochanek
h.m.kochanek@naturgut-ophoven.de

http://www.naturgut-ophoven.de