The Great Plant Hunt
This campaign is a joint initiative of Toyota Motor Europe and the Foundation for Environmental Education. It focused on biodiversity with a particular emphasis on plants and their associated species. Plants are an important part of many life cycles, they support insects, birds and mammals by providing food and habitats for nesting and shelter etc. The campaign was officially launched in November 2015. In Year 1, it was run in ten countries throughout Europe. In Year 2, which started in September 2016, the number of countries increased to 15. In Year 3, the project welcomed The Netherlands as its 16th participant. The campaign included educational aspects, based on FEE Educational Principles, and practical activities based on resources developed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew with funding from the Wellcome Trust.
The campaign aims to educate students about biodiversity, its importance and encourage them to take positive action. Click here to read project stories and see what participating countries did!
Objectives
Develop young people as advocates for conservation
Promotion of local biodiversity actions
Develop science based resources in line with the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) principles to allow teachers to promote biodiversity education activity
Promote critical thinking by “go and see” study approach (learn by doing)
Consistent with Convention on Biological Diversity/Green Corridor
Help meet EU/UN targets for biodiversity education
Eco-Schools Ireland
Who can participate?
The Great Plant Hunt ran in 14 countries throughout Europe.
Schools were selected by the National Operator in each of the participating countries:
Participating countries
Click on the countries above to see stories from participating schools on the national level.
THE GREAT PLANT HUNT RESOURCES
The campaign includes practical activities based on resources developed by Kew, with a particular emphasis on plants. See the resource list below. These resources have been translated from the original 'The Great Plant Hunt' into the country languages and shared with the participating schools. Translated resources are made available to particpating schools through their National Operator. Further practical activities based on resources developed by FEE, focus on biodiversity. Participating schools are encouraged to investigate and map the various habitats on their schools grounds and identify plant and animal species present.
The Great Plant Hunt at a Glance
The Great Plant Hunt Teachers Handbook
Darwin's Lookouts Teachers Handbook
Darwin's Discoverers Teachers Handbook
Other resources
partners
The Foundation for Environmental Education is a non-governmental, non-profit charity aimed at promoting sustainable development through environmental education. A global presence, more than 80 countries around the world are engaged in working with various FEE programmes. The organisation is recognised by UNESCO as a world-leader within the fields of Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development.
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Kew’s mission is to be the global resource for plant and fungal knowledge and the world’s leading botanic garden. The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health by supporting bright minds in science, the humanities and social sciences and public engagement.
'The Great Plant Hunt' was commissioned and funded by the Wellcome Trust to mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth. The Great Plant Hunt materials were developed and created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Toyota Motor Europe established the Toyota Fund for Europe to collaborate with non-profit organisations on community activities that support the environment, technical education and road safety. The projects supported by the Toyota Fund for Europe aim at raising awareness and creating positive change.
