We attended the conference “School ‘Eco’ Gardens in the Educational Environment for Achieving Climate Goals”

The Slovenian National Education Institute, together with partners, organised the first conference within the “School Eco-Gardens in the Educational Environment for Achieving Climate Goals” project, which took place on 11 March 2025 at the Grand Hotel Bernardin in Portorož. The conference featured two plenary lectures, including one by our curator, Mateja Ribarič, who gave a presentation entitled “Nature’s Classroom: School Gardens in the Past.”

Ribarič focused on interesting facts from the early days of establishing school gardens in Slovenia in the mid-19th century, when almost every school had its own school garden, i.e. its own classroom in nature. School gardens enabled experiential learning and observation of things and nature. Indirectly, the guiding principle was that learning about the economy and education was important for better farming. She presented the development of school gardens throughout history and showcased interesting teaching materials related to them.

The conference featured workshops on sustainable lifestyles as well as practical recommendations from experts on establishing school gardens, their educational value in the educational process, and how to inspire teachers to conduct outdoor lessons.

The project aims to introduce school gardens in kindergartens, primary schools, and secondary schools to achieve a holistic approach to education and learning in nature, strengthen environmental culture and sustainability competencies among students, and to promote a sustainable lifestyle. The project, which involves 122 schools, is led by Ms Barbara Klun from the Slovenian National Education Institute.