The Nordic group for nature interpretation was founded in 2008 and consists of people working in or connected to the following institutions: Swedish Centre for Nature Interpretation at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, The Norwegian Environmental Agency, Norland Nationalpark Center, Norwegian Parks Association/ Interpret Norway, The Sykli Environmental School of Finland, The Finnish Association of Nature and Environment schools (Lyke-network), Metsahallitus (Forststyrelsen), The Danish Rangers Association and the Islandic Department of Environment.
Nature interpretation networking and training program
Page reviewed:
30/01/2026
This project is a nature interpretation networking and training program. It was run by the Nordic group for nature interpretation.
The aim was to learn more about educational practices for nature interpretation and environmental education in the Nordic countries. By learning from each other we hope to enhance the quality of the education for nature interpreters in the Nordic countries.
The "Nordic interpretation group" consists of representatives from the leading organisations of nature interpretation and environmental education in Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
All the organisations in the group are working with educational programs themselves, or together with other educational institutions. The vision for this co-operation group is to promote “nature awareness, connectedness and environmental empowerment for everyone in the Nordic countries”. The mission is:
Through organizational co-operation, bringing together Nordic nature interpreters and environmental educators to increase the quality of nature interpretation and environmental education to fulfill the vision.
Knowledge on nature interpretation and environmental education is more actual than ever, in order to engage people in taking actions for climate, nature and biodiversity in the Nordic countries. One of the key aims of nature interpretation/ environmental education is to increase awareness of the severity of the climate and nature crisis, but also to share inspiration and methods to deal with this situation and to encourage faith in the future.
However, there is also an increasing interest and need for the social dimensions of nature interpretation/environmental education for instance nature-based activities connected to education for health and well-being, participation, integration, and accessibility. Cross-sectoral nature interpretation has a growing relevance to a socially sustainable and just future.
Through this project we wanted to take our work further by co-developing and delivering knowledge about the novel interpretive methods and offers in the Nordic countries.
What happened in the project?
The project run for two years, 2023-2025.
Each participating country hosted a webinar with focus on giving an overview on what courses and other educational activities are offered for nature interpreters / environmental educators in their country.
In March 2025 there was held a Nordic seminar in Sweden where new insights and key findings was compiled and strategies developed for how the participating organisations can apply new knowledge to their educational programs. You can see documentation from the seminar on this page.
On the project website you find:
- Documentation from and information about the webinars
- Information about the Nordic seminar in Uppsala 19-21 March 2025.
Contact
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SLU Swedish Centre for Nature Interpretation (SCNI)