Starting the new educational activities on the wolf

The new educational activities on the theme of the wolf organized by the Protected Areas of the Cottian Alps and aimed at schools of all levels are officially starting. After a long process of preparation, experimentation, and scientific validation, a presentation of the work took place in January for the entire group of Guides from the Cottian Alps Parks, who are now ready to welcome school groups.
Thanks to the funding from the Life WolfAlps Eu project, the Park Authority has renewed its entire set of equipment, content, and methodologies for its educational proposals dedicated to the large predator. There are 5 paths organized around a backpack, just like those used by park rangers and scientific personnel during field activities, which contains the educational kit aimed at children and young people from kindergarten to high school. The activities include a two-hour classroom lesson and a day in the environment within the territories of the Cottian Alps Parks, accompanied by the official Guides, and have been developed from the experience and expertise of the company Polvere di Stelle.
The goal of the planning work was to create a series of cross-disciplinary proposals for all the subjects commonly taught in schools, thanks to the wide variety of topics surrounding the theme of the wolf: biology and more strictly scientific aspects, myths, fairy tales, and legends developed around the carnivore throughout history, the environment as an element to be understood just like a predator in its hunting territory, up to aspects of civic education such as coexistence between humans and wild nature.

The activities, present in the catalog, are organized as follows:
A Wolf in a BackPack – A Day in the Forest School for Little Wolves. Aimed at children in kindergarten and elementary school (grades I and II).
A Wolf in a BackPack – A Journey Between Yesterday's and Today's Wolves with a Thought for Tomorrow. For elementary and middle schools.
A Wolf in a BackPack – Deities or Demons? Stories, Myths, and Folklore. For elementary and middle schools.
A Wolf in a BackPack – Reading and Interpreting the Territory to Reconnect with the Environment. For elementary and middle schools.
A Wolf in a BackPack – Teaching Earthly Identity for Possible Coexistence. For elementary and middle schools.

During the fall of 2024, the paths were tested on a large group of selected school groups. After some modifications and adjustments, scientific validation was carried out by the park rangers and technical staff of the Cottian Alps Protected Areas. Finally, the working group that developed the proposals presented them to the official Guides, who will start the classroom lessons and accompany the first school groups in the upcoming weeks.

Each activity requires reservation through the Educational Activity Reservation Form, which must be signed and sent via email: info.alpicozie@ruparpiemonte.it