On Saturday 28th of November members of the Education Advisory Group ran a successful education and training CPD day for all Leave No Trace trainers. The event was co-ordinated by Chairperson of the EAG, Darach Ó Murchú and supported by; Fergus Barrett, Pauline Jordan, Helen Lawless, Duncan Warner, Sinead Pollock, Aodhnait Carroll, Vincent McAlinden, Sophie Price, Kieran McKevitt and Alan Fairweather.
The event focused on ideas and techniques to support trainers who are delivering Leave No Trace training throughout the country. It was also an opportunity for trainers to reacquaint with the network. The event took place at the picturesque Slieve Aughty centre near Loughrea in east Galway with over 20 trainers attending. The morning kicked off at 9.30am with a range of discussions, the central theme that ran throughout was issues relating to litter.Topics on the litter theme were presented by guest speakers including, Anthony Purcell from the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce, Dr. Mary Jo Lavelle, Research from Trinity College Dublin and Ian Davies from Pure, Wicklow.
Anthony Purcell’s presentation focused on habit-changing initiatives including The Green Schools and Neat Streets programmes. Dr Mary Jo Lavelle focused on environmental sustainability and behavioural change in littering and Ian Davies from the Pure (Protecting Uplands and Rural Environment) Project discussed how channels such as; innovative outreach programmes, public awareness campaigns and community initiatives can be used to communicate environmental education.
In the afternoon Jackie Hunt, of Aniar Ecology, took the group outside and treated trainers to some hands-on tips on how to apply the principals of Leave No Trace through ecological studies in an natural forest setting. The objective was assist trainers delivering workshops on nature connection. The afternoon continued with two different group discussions including a refresher on delivering awareness courses as well as an additional workshop for Advanced Trainers on learning’s about tailoring training to different audiences. This was a trainer-led collaborative workshop. Finally the last session of the day was devoted to feedback on the overall event which also invited trainers to engage with the EAG on various projects.
Further information on the event including speakers presentations can be obtained by emailing Ciaran at [email protected].
