Community of Schools

Community of Schools of the Julian Alps Biosphere Area

The Community of Schools of the Julian Alps Biosphere Area brings together more than 7,000 pupils from 38 primary schools in the Julian Alps Biosphere Area.

Education about nature and about people and cultural heritage is a major part of the mission of national parks around the world. Throughout its history, TNP has been working with schools to organise a range of activities for pupils. In the past, our photographic poet of the Slovenian mountains, Jaka Čop, has shown children the Zlatorog Kingdom through photography. Today, we help pupils learn about our only national park through interactive, experiential and practical tools.

The more than 7,000 pupils who attend schools at the foot of the Julian Alps know that this is a special place and are proud of it, because not everyone has the opportunity to live in such an area. With the creation of the Community of Schools of the Julian Alps Biosphere Area, we have brought the 38 primary and branch schools even closer together and have forged special bonds of friendship over the years, with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of the area and helping each other to meet the challenges so that all of us, and future generations, can experience the Julian Alps area in all its beauty.

More about the IMPORTANCE of the Community of Schools of the Julian Alps Biosphere Area

The Community of Schools of the Julian Alps Biosphere Area (UNESCO MAB) represents the first such link between primary schools and a protected area manager on such a large scale - and in such an important area as the Triglav National Park and the Julian Alps Biosphere Area.

The 2018/2019 school year was the inaugural year for the 38 schools that became part of the Julian Alps Biosphere Community. Following the celebration events that took place at each of the member schools, we organised and ran various free workshops for pupils. The common thread that binds our joint cooperation has always been intertwined with biodiversity conservation, sustainable development and care for our exceptional area of the Julian Alps.

Developments within the Community

The Triglav National Park, with its unspoilt nature and its cultural landscape, the result of man's activity in the valleys and on the mountains, represents a unique, primitive and exciting part of our homeland for every nature lover. In addition to the mountainous areas interrupted by narrow and steep valleys, the Julian Alps Biosphere Area also includes nearby areas with large settlements, where 38 primary schools are located. Everything in nature is connected, from plants, animals, fungi to us humans. We are also connected to the pupils, teachers, head teachers and other staff in the schools and the Triglav National Park Public Institution in the Community of Schools of the Julian Alps Biosphere Area.

Natural history days, workshops, camps, expert excursions, the traditional Belar Days, the Triglav Treasury, a children's newspaper and a range of learning tools from a high beam to an interactive whiteboard and map. All with the aim of getting to know and preserving our paradise under the Triglav.

The essence of the Community of Schools is not only to be connected, but to move forward together, towards new goals and victories.