The Eco-Patrol was designed as an extracurricular activity for children, or rather, students in upper elementary school, with the aim of raising environmental awareness and love for the homeland. Its implementation began as part of the project "Kornati - It's important to know about the sea" back in 2015.
The methodology used in the implementation of this program relies on informal learning methods such as: small group work, fieldwork, experiments, educational trips, interactive presentations, community actions and campaigns, treasure hunt games, games for creating group dynamics and increasing participants' concentration and motivation, etc.
Eco-patrol topics touch on: nature and society, ecology, biology (marine), geography, chemistry, history (homeland), etc., they do not follow the school curricula in the mentioned subjects, but ideally complement them.
We design the Eco-patrol program together within the association, using human resources from different professions and different professional experiences of our employees, external associates and volunteers. Depending on the annual plan, we use modules from the Blue Eco-patrol manual - Manual for implementing an extracurricular educational program for sustainable development or we design new ones.
A great contribution and international character to the Eco-patrol activities are made by volunteers from the European Voluntary Service. They participate equally in the creation and implementation of the program and each individual workshop, giving them their own personal touch, in accordance with their interests and skills.
The Eco-patrol is held during the school year, outside of school hours, on Saturday mornings, lasting 2 to 3 hours. The Eco-patrol members are students from the primary school that is included in the program. The Eco-patrol has 10 to 20 members, children/students aged 10 to 14.
The Eco-patrol program activities are carried out (designed, planned and implemented) by a leader with the help of two volunteers. The Eco-patrol educational program has a positive expert opinion from the Education and Training Agency, which confirms its quality and compliance with educational standards and recommends it as a valuable form of cooperation with schools and children. Note: This manual/program was developed with the support of public funds and is available for free use for educational and non-commercial purposes. The author prohibits commercial use of the material and it is not allowed to charge end users for participation in the program or use of the manual content.
For additional information, please contact the publisher of the Handbook by email: mail@argonauta.hr
