IFAUINSTITUTE FOR APPLIED ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING

HISTORY

The IFAU insti­tu­te has been  foun­ded in 1989 by com­mit­ted envi­ron­men­tal acti­vists with the goal to deve­lop sus­tainab­le deve­lo­p­ment and envi­ron­men­tal learning.

Over the cour­se of years nume­rous pro­jects in the fiel­ds of edu­ca­ti­on, land­s­cape-and play­ground-design, pro­tec­tion of natu­re and envi­ron­ment as well as leisu­re and tou­rism have been worked out and achieved.

Sin­ce 2001 the IFAU has been incre­a­singly focu­sing on the trans­fer of know­ledge for child­ren and ado­lescents. Around 2000 of them par­ti­ci­pa­te annu­al­ly in various events.
Natu­re-pedago­gi­cal approa­ches and inno­va­ti­ve trans­fer of know­ledge are amidst the focus of our actions.

ORGANISATION AND OFFICE

The IFAU is a non-pro­fit orga­ni­sa­ti­on with around 180 mem­bers. Head of the insti­tu­te is a sim­pli­fy­ing board of cur­r­ent­ly 8 mem­bers. Cur­r­ent­ly the IFAU pro­vi­des work for 5 full-time employees and pro­ject-rela­ted various free-lancers.

AREAS OF OPERATION

Educational events for children and adolescents

From 1992 to 2013 the IFAU star­ted to deve­lop so cal­led Pro­jekt­ta­ge espe­cial­ly for school-clas­ses (3rd-12th level of edu­ca­ti­on). An inten­si­ve 5 day alter­ca­ti­on with natu­re and envi­ron­ment seeks to pro­vi­de under­stan­ding for eco­lo­gic cycles and impro­ving of the school­class-com­mu­ni­ty. Around 30 events took place every year.

In 2004 the IFAU has begun to imple­ment the idea of a uni­ver­si­ty for child­ren which has been con­stant­ly impro­ved sin­ce then. In form of the trade­mark Kin­der­Uni a play­ful and inspi­ra­ti­ve approach to ’sub­jects of the world‘ is being pro­vi­ded. Sci­ence, rese­arch and crea­ti­vi­ty are being com­mu­ni­ca­ted by lec­tors from various sci­en­ti­fic fiel­ds and pra­xis for child­ren aging from 5 to 15 years.

Fur­ther­mo­re the IFAU pro­vi­ded edu­ca­ti­ons and advan­ced trai­ning in the the­ma­tic field of ‚lear­ning-space natu­re‘ (Lern­raum Natur).
The cour­se Out­door Edu­ca­ti­on pro­vi­ded a well-foun­ded edu­ca­ti­on for pedago­gi­cal work with child­ren and ado­lescents in six modu­les. The com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on of various disci­pli­nes such as nature‑, wilderness‑, adven­ture and game-pedago­gic were sub­ject to this edu­ca­ti­on. Semi­nars for pedago­gics, natu­re-com­mu­ni­ca­tors and/or natu­re-inte­res­ted peop­le com­ple­te the pro­gram of the IFAU.

Landscape and leisure-space design

Star­ting with 1994 until 2010 the IFAU orga­ni­zed an annu­al Sym­po­si­on for  land­s­cape and leisu­re-space design. Inno­va­ti­ve pro­jects (best-space) and cur­rent trends for a spe­ci­fic sub­ject of inte­rest were being pre­sen­ted and dis­cus­sed. This sym­po­si­on could be regar­ded as the only expert con­fe­rence to this sub­ject nationwide.

Over 150 play­grounds, kin­der­gar­dens and school alleys, adven­ture walks and park­ways have been achie­ved by the IFAU in coope­ra­ti­on with dif­fe­rent bure­aus for land­s­cape-plan­ning. The main focus lies wit­hin the eco-spa­ti­al plan­ning in coope­ra­ti­on with all invol­ved par­ties (child­ren, par­ents, tea­chers and neighbours).

Culture programs and ‑projects

The IFAU is also a cen­ter of com­pe­tence for inno­va­ti­ve cul­tu­re pro­grams and –pro­jects. It‘s being assi­gned by a wide spec­trum of cli­ents, its pro­gram is multi-faceted:

The exhi­bi­ti­on for kin­der­gar­dens Mini-For­scher-Umwelt has been desi­gned and rea­li­zed as well as an adven­ture-scape in the area of the Natio­nal­park Kalkalpen.

Along­side a geo­lo­gi­cal rese­arch-pro­ject so cal­led For­schend ler­nen in pri­ma­ry school-clas­ses has been accom­pa­nied over the peri­od of one year.

In 2010 the IFAU has been assi­gned by the federal sta­te of Upper Aus­tria in the cour­se of  the pro­ject NATURSCHAUSPIEL to design the­ma­tic tours in natu­re-reser­va­tes focu­sing on local and regio­nal pecu­lia­ri­ties (plants and animals).

CONTACT

IFAU – Insti­tut für Ange­wand­te Umweltbildung
Wie­ser­feld­platz 22
4400 Steyr
T 0043 – 7252 – 81199–0
F 0043 – 7252 – 81199–9
W www.ifau.at
M office@ifau.at