EAZA News 57-12 - European Association of Zoos and Aquaria
EAZA News 57-12 - European Association of Zoos and Aquaria
EAZA News 57-12 - European Association of Zoos and Aquaria
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eaza news <strong>57</strong><br />
2007<br />
education<br />
Meeting colleagues from all over the world<br />
Approximately <strong>12</strong>0 participants from over thirty countries representing<br />
all continents came together during the conference, which comprised<br />
46 speeches, four keynote speeches, eight workshops <strong>and</strong> a two-day<br />
‘open space activity’. A very special group <strong>of</strong> participants was the IZE<br />
gr<strong>and</strong> award winners. Thanks to donations made by many zoos, zoo<br />
organisations <strong>and</strong> IZE itself, 13 educators from developing countries were<br />
able to join the conference <strong>and</strong> had the unique opportunity to become<br />
part <strong>of</strong> a worldwide network <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essional colleagues.<br />
Global sustainability<br />
The IZE board had already decided three years ago to use the United<br />
Nations’ Decade <strong>of</strong> Education for Sustainable Development as the main<br />
theme for the IZE Conference 2006. During the conference, Bert de Boer,<br />
chair <strong>of</strong> <strong>EAZA</strong>, gave an excellent keynote speech; ‘The greatest challenge<br />
for zoos; effectively raising awareness on the urgent necessity to achieve<br />
global sustainability’. With this warning message he tried to challenge<br />
educators worldwide to better focus their efforts to realise a sustainable<br />
way <strong>of</strong> life between humans <strong>and</strong> nature. Outst<strong>and</strong>ing presentations from<br />
western conservation educators <strong>and</strong> conservation educators from developing<br />
countries showed the engagement in sustainable development<br />
practices, innovative programming <strong>and</strong> evaluation strategies.<br />
just another educator<br />
Stephanie Heinzelmann<br />
Goldau Zoo, Switzerl<strong>and</strong><br />
What is your personal goal as an educator?<br />
Though I have many different goals, my biggest goal is to give our zoo<br />
visitors a positive attitude towards nature. I would like them to have<br />
encouraging experiences, like for example direct encounters with our animals.<br />
What is the most difficult aspect <strong>of</strong> your work?<br />
To get done all the work I want to do! There are so many things I want to<br />
show or <strong>of</strong>fer to the visitors <strong>and</strong> so many things they wish to have. This is<br />
the most challenging aspect <strong>of</strong> our work, <strong>and</strong> you will never get bored.<br />
photo rob doolaard/izp<br />
The IZE Conference 2006; a huge success!<br />
Chris Peters, Past IZE president, Rotterdam Zoo, the Netherl<strong>and</strong>s<br />
Every two years, leading educators from zoos, aquaria <strong>and</strong> nature reserves worldwide, gather for the biennial<br />
conference <strong>of</strong> the International Zoo Educators (IZE). The 18 th IZE Conference took place from 9 to 14 October<br />
2006, <strong>and</strong> was kindly hosted by the National Zoological Gardens <strong>of</strong> South Africa. The South Africans were<br />
proud to have the IZE Conference on African soil for the first time!<br />
10<br />
photo w.g. peters-van vuren<br />
Open space activity<br />
A highlight <strong>of</strong> the conference was the dynamic ‘open space activity’. This<br />
was a new programme element, in which everybody could put forward<br />
one or more ideas on what activities would be important for IZE. It<br />
resulted in a list <strong>of</strong> 24 priority activities. The three top priorities for the<br />
coming years include evaluation, capacity building <strong>of</strong> environmental<br />
educators for sustainable development issues, <strong>and</strong> research on regional<br />
needs to provide appropriate services (e.g. workshops, sharing expertise).<br />
Thanks to the well-balanced <strong>and</strong> high-quality open space session, workshops,<br />
verbal <strong>and</strong> poster presentations, social activities <strong>and</strong> particularly<br />
to the perfect conference organisation team <strong>of</strong> the National Zoological<br />
Gardens <strong>of</strong> South Africa, the 18th IZE Conference was a great success.<br />
At the end <strong>of</strong> the conference Adelaide Zoo, Australia, gave a very promising<br />
preview <strong>of</strong> their capacity as the host <strong>of</strong> the IZE Conference in 2008. •<br />
What do you consider your biggest success?<br />
I think my biggest achievement is to find good staff <strong>and</strong> keep them enthusiastic<br />
about education. Currently, we have one full-time <strong>and</strong> three parttime<br />
educators <strong>and</strong> about 15 part-time staff members that provide guided<br />
tours, feeding talks, workshops <strong>and</strong> so on. Even though they only work<br />
part-time, they have a lot to do <strong>and</strong> the work is not always easy. As long as<br />
they love their job, they can inspire the visitors with their own enthusiasm.<br />
However, part <strong>of</strong> the team changes every year. I consider my job well done<br />
when the biggest part <strong>of</strong> my staff stays for more than one year <strong>and</strong> is keen<br />
to educate in all different ways. Of course it is not only my success, it is<br />
the success <strong>of</strong> our team!
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