At the kick-off event on 17 March, Climate and Environment Officer Heilig presented the new environmental education program "Open to all" and the accompanying brochure
. At the launch event on 17 March, Climate and Environment Officer Heilig presented the new event program for environmental education "Open to All" and the accompanying brochure with many exciting offers in Frankfurt's GreenBelt
"Open to All" ­- this is the motto of the city's education and event program "Discover, Explore and Learn in Frankfurt's GreenBelt". With more than 30 events at various locations, the diverse program invites you to discover, explore and learn a lot about the GreenBelt.
The special thing about the 2024 program is that the numerous offers take place at so many different well-known but also lesser-known locations in the GreenBelt. "With activities in the harbor park, on Monte Scherbelino or in the Schwanheim dunes, we get to know the entire natural area of Frankfurt's GreenBelt. That is unique. The fact that the NaturLotsinnen und -Lotsen are now also involved for the second year is an enrichment for our program", said Rosemarie Heilig, Head of Climate and Environment.
The 40 NaturLotsinnen und -Lotsen (short: "NaLos") trained last year want to get people excited about nature conservation in Frankfurt's GreenBelt and offer excursions and hands-on activities. "Especially now in spring, there is so much to discover and learn on their tours through nature," said Heilig, explaining: "The offspring of frogs, the gnawing tracks of a beaver or the fact that you can actually hear how a tree drinks."
At the first event of the year, the well-attended excursion into the urban wilderness at the old airfield, the two NaturLotsinnen, Sarah Cunze and Sybille Fuchs, showed how far spring has already progressed with the plants and how nature is reclaiming its habitat at the old airfield.
The new program has many more exciting events in store for 2024: for example, a walk leads to the Sossenheimer Unterfeld and deals with nature in the cultural landscape. The "After Work Nature" format invites working people to visit Frankfurt's Biegwald forest, for example. Another new format is "GrünGürtel in der Stadt". Here, the harbor park and the Sonic Vista sound artwork are presented.
If you want to find out more about insects, the action day at the StadtWaldHaus is the right place for you. Cycling enthusiasts can join an excursion through Frankfurt's city forest on the topic of "Forest management in times of climate change" or even cycle around the entire green belt on the FahrRad! day.
A curious highlight will certainly be the third Hessian Snail World Championship at the Old Airfield. Workshops on nature photography will be held for all camera enthusiasts, and an artistic nature excursion will focus on your own perception of nature. The walk in the newly designed Heinrich Kraft Park is also not to be missed. There are plenty of new things to discover at other NatureLotsen activity afternoons in Frankfurt's wilderness. And in the fall, there is also the popular wind festival or the important maintenance work such as in the Schwanheimer Düne. Every helping hand is welcome there.
The events for the urban education program "Discover, Explore and Learn 2023 - Open to All" in the GrünGürtel were put together by the GrünGürtel Education Space Coordination Group and the GrünGürtel project group.
The brochure with the events in GrünGürtel 2024 can be downloaded online under Events in GrünGürtel. Paper copies can be picked up at the Citizens' Advice Bureau, Hinter dem Lämmchen 6, in the New Old Town or ordered by calling the environmental hotline on 069/212-39100 or sending an email to umwelttelefon@stadt-frankfurt.de.
About Frankfurt's GreenBelt
In 1991, Frankfurt's city councillors unanimously decided to protect the GreenBelt as an open space, as set out in the GreenBelt Constitution. Since then, around 80 square kilometers - around a third of the city's area - have been protected from development. Three large landscape areas lie within it - the Niddatal, the Berger Rücken and the city forest. These provide space for species and biotope protection, for a pleasant climate, for agriculture and forestry, for recreation, sport and environmental education.
In the GreenBelt project group of the City of Frankfurt am Main, employees from the Environmental Agency, the Parks Department and the Urban Planning Department have been working together on the further development and maintenance of Frankfurt's GreenBelt since 1997.
About the GrünGürtel education area
The GrünGürtel education area was created on the initiative of committed teachers by the Environment and Education Department. The association Umweltlernen in Frankfurt developed the educational concept and implemented the urban education program "Discovering, Researching and Learning in the GreenBelt" for the first time in 2003 with cooperation partners. Today, the program for daycare centers and schools reaches over 6,000 children and young people every year, and over 10,000 learners of all ages take part in the open-to-all program.
The UNESCO and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research have awarded the GrünGürtel educational space several times as a place of learning for sustainable development.
Coordination group Bildungsraum GrünGürtel
The City of Frankfurt's "Bildungsraum GrünGürtel" coordination group works on behalf of the Departments of Education, Real Estate and New Construction and Climate, Environment and Women's Issues, and includes staff from the City Schools Department, the Environment and Green Spaces Department and Environmental Learning in Frankfurt.
NaturLotsinnen und -Lotsen - Botschafter für die Stadtnatur
The NaturLotsinnen und -Lotsen (NaLos for short) are out and about in nature-oriented areas of Frankfurt's GreenBelt and inspire enthusiasm for biodiversity and nature conservation.
Cooperation partners in this project are the Taunus Nature Park and the Rhine-Main Regional Park, which finances the NaLos' activities and offers.
