Nature Park Schools

Nature education awakens enthusiasm

Our nature park has always attached great importance to the transfer of knowledge about the wonders of nature, especially for children. We want children to experience & feel nature, and thus gain an understanding of the connections between life and the environment. In a Nature Park School, nature-related content is incorporated into regular lessons so that children learn to experience the beauty and diversity of nature.

We write EDUCATION in capital letters 

Purkersdorf was one of the first nature parks in the province of Lower Austria to establish a dedicated Nature Park School. Currently we have a Nature Park School in Purkersdorf, and a "Nature Park Partner School" in the neighboring town of Gablitz, and also a cooperation with a local kindergarten.

Nature Park School Purkersdorf

The General Special School Purkersdorf has been an official and certified "Austrian Nature Park School" since February 14, 2013. Nature park-related topics are incorporated into regular lessons so that children learn about and appreciate the beauty, diversity and importance of the Wienerwald.

Curriculum content is adapted with a focus on nature and exciting projects are carried out to increase nature awareness: for example, pupils have filled and maintained a large "hotel" for beneficial insects, have designed clay pots, planted them with bee pastures and placed on the Purkersdorf Hauptplatz. They have also built nesting boxes, made forest music instruments or designed a specail school flag and on individual nature park days, the students get directly involved in the area. At least one annual all-day school excursion to a nature park in the region takes place.

Nature Park Partner School Gablitz

The elementary school Gablitz is a nature park partner school since September 2019. In our project "Lernraum Naturpark", the species-rich and stimulating natural and cultural landscape of the nature park has become an outdoor classroom. In this way, we offer the children a natural and informal approach to reading, writing, arithmetic, and science lessons. The forest provides a rich repertoire of structures and materials for learning (soil, water, plants, animals, stones) and thus makes knowledge "tangible".

Coming soon: Nature Park Kindergarten 

Preliminary work is currently underway to start a Nature Park Kindergarten with one of the public Purkersdorf kindergarten locations. Our goal is that children gain an emotional connection to nature by learning to feel, smell and taste nature.

You can find more information about "Nature Park School" on the website of the Association of Nature Parks of Austria (VNÖ).