Our Story and Values
Establishment
The foundation was established in place of the popular nature hobby school in Tartu: The House of Young Naturalists (active since 1953). The new organisation was necessary because of the old one (The House of Young Naturalists) didn’t match into new system of non-formal education. The concept and expectations for new organisation were bigger than it could be possible within an old hobby school.
Tartu Environmental Education Centre is founded in 2002 by 8 organisations:
- Tartu City Government www.tartu.ee
- Estonian University of Life Sciences www.emu.ee
- Tartu Water Ltd www.tartuvesi.ee
and 5 NGOs:
- Estonian Fund for Nature www.elfond.ee
- Estonian Ornithological Society www.eoy.ee
- Tartu Student Nature Protection Circle www.ring.ee
- Estonian Green Movement-FoE www.roheline.ee
- Peipsi Centre for Transboundary Cooperation www.ctc.ee
Management of the Foundation
The Foundation is managed by Supervisory Board (Council) and Management Board.
The Council is comprised of 8 members. The Management Board has 1 member (Executive director).
Objectives and Goals
- nature and environmental training of children, young people and adults
- offering possibilities for nature and environmental hobbies
- dissemination of environmental information
- promotion of a sustainable lifestyle
We are diverse and open organization. We believe in sustainable development and promote environmentally friendly way of life in Estonia. We hope that people will notice and care of nature.
Structure
Our Centre consists of 4 parts (or activity packages):
- Tartu Nature School is a hobby school for children
- Environmental Information Centre promotes and disseminates environmental information in multiple ways for publicity
- Adult Training Centre offers training courses for families, educators and others
- Nature educational programs for school curriculum are very popular among school teachers. These programs perfectly complement our formal educational system with outdoor activities.