Presentation of the new manual and online game “EKO PATROLE” in Split.

On Friday, November 22, at the Faculty of Philosophy in Split, we presented and disseminated “Eco Patrols,” a handbook for informal youth education on environmental topics, along with the online game “Eco Patrols in 24 Zones,” which also aims to educate young people about the environment and ecology through informal methods.

The handbook and the game were created as part of the two-year project “Eco Patrols 4 Environmental Goals,” led by the Murter-based organization Argonauta. The idea for this project emerged from the experience of a similar project called “Blue Eco Patrol,” in which a similar program was implemented with younger students in 7 primary schools in the Šibenik-Knin County. This program also resulted in a handbook in 2020. Due to the success of the results achieved, Argonauta decided to take the environmental education story to an international level, gathering partners from Hungary, Italy, Serbia, and North Macedonia to collaboratively design the content of the new handbook for slightly older participants.

The modules included in the handbook are eco-literacy, biodiversity, climate change, waste management, energy and resources, water, sustainable agriculture, and environmental activism.

Each module was tested with around 20 young people in each partner country, with testing in Croatia conducted at the Antun Vrančić Gymnasium in Šibenik.

This project also introduced a digital dimension, leading to the development of an e-educational game, which serves as a teaser to encourage young people to engage in civic actions related to environmental and climate change challenges.

Teachers, professors, youth workers, and members of organizations and associations working with young people were invited to the dissemination event. They had the opportunity to participate in several activities from the handbook and play the online game, gaining inspiration for implementing their own activities with youth. The handbook (which they received at the end of the presentation) and the online game will certainly make preparation easier for them, as they will be able to quickly and easily prepare content and materials on various environmental topics.

For anyone else who would like to browse or download the handbook and online game, this can be done on the website https://eco-patrols.eu/ and at the following links: https://eco-patrols.eu/manual/#language-versions and https://eco-patrols.eu/e-game/.

The project “Eco Patrols 4 Environmental Goals” is funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ program, with a value of €250,000.00 and it runs until February 1, 2025.