Welcome to Kpedu pollinators!

Nature supports the well-being, health and learning of young people and adults. In nature, you have the opportunity to relax, clarify your self-image, calm down and relieve stress symptoms. However, according to research, children’s and young people’s connection to nature in particular has continuously decreased, e.g. with the increase in the use of social media. Increasing the diversity of nature in the yard of educational institutions answers this challenge.

The grounds of the educational institutions of the Central Ostrobothnia Educational Association (Kpedu) are traditionally clean and, so to speak, easy-to-maintain grass areas, meaning they are poor in terms of living organisms and plants. Biodiversity is not visible in the yard of our educational institution, nor is it a message to students, staff or outside visitors about our desire to be pioneers in preserving biodiversity.

Leena Laine (lecturer) and Tanja Yli-Tokola (project worker) started environmental educator training at the Finnish environmental school SYKLI. From the education side, they plan and implement several development tasks for their workplace, of which establishing a flower meadow in two Kpedu campus areas is one project.

In the spring of 2023, there was already time to implement the first flower meadow at Kpedu’s Kannus location. At the beginning of the workshop day, there was a flower meadow lecture for the students and staff, which was led by Anu Ainasoja, landscape expert of the Women in Agriculture and Home Economics. Anu talked about the diversity of nature, establishing flower meadows and caring for them. Before the theory part, those who participated in the lecture filled out a questionnaire that surveyed their knowledge of flower meadows. The same survey was given to the participants at the end of the workshop day, so that it was possible to map whether the workshop participants had absorbed knowledge about biodiversity.

In the functional part of the workshop, the flower meadow area pre-prepared by the property’s staff was finished. Peat was mixed into the sandy bottom of the meadow located next to the old volleyball court and the surface was smoothed. After that, the flower seeds were mixed with lime and sown. As a final measure, in addition to watering the meadow, a sign made and painted by the students was erected in advance at the edge of the meadow.

The goal of the project is that the people participating in it learn to appreciate the diversity of nature when they get experiences, experiences and knowledge about nature. The goal is also to increase students’ and staff’s awareness of why we need insects to live through both factual information and action. The project also increases community spirit, social sustainability, the diversity and comfort of the educational institution’s grounds and, in addition, helps pollinators.