- The Park Volunteering Forge (Parkowa Kuźnia Wolontariatu) - the main purpose of the project is to build an intergenerational voluntary service in the Silesia Park, mobilize both youth and senior citizens, and take care of the “Lungs of Silesia”. As part of the project:
- We organise workshops on air pollution, the nature of the Silesia Park, the concept of volunteering, and the history of the Park.
- The workshop participants can then work as eco-volunteers of the Silesia Park.
- The volunteers will participate in weekly eco-patrols which will be taking care of the natural world in the Silesia Park.
The workshops are organised in the form of lectures, walks and meetings for the citizens of Chorzów, Katowice, Siemianowice Śląskie and the neighbouring cities, aged from 15 to 60 and more who wish to participate in environmental volunteering in the Silesia Park.
- Youth Environment Protection Forum in the Silesia Park - the project is intended for youth citizens of 4 voivodships: Lower Silesia, Opolskie, Lesser Poland and Silesian. Its purpose is to engage the youth in the dialogue concerning the formulation of the regional environment protection strategy in the Silesia Park, and to instil pro-environmental attitudes by engaging the young people in the development of the local environment protection policies. The overall objective is to make the Silesia Park a biodiverse and youth-friendly place.
The project includes a series of meetings, workshops and debates with decision-makers (mayors or their representatives) from Chorzów, Katowice and Siemianowice Śląskie (as the Silesia Park is located within the boundaries of those cities), the Marshal Office of the Silesian Voivodship (owner of the Silesia Park), the management of the Silesia Park, and the organisations and institutions operating on the premises of the Park. The participants will take part in environmental workshops and open debates during which they will work out a joint position on the environmental issues and the “Local Environment Protection Strategy”.
- Academy of Biodiversity – the main purpose of the project is to provide the local children, youth, senior citizens and other community members the opportunity for reliable and proactive environmental education. Insufficient contact with nature is becoming an increasingly frequent problem for children and youth. The Academy of Biodiversity encourages young people to spend more time outside through workshops and field trips, as well as various outdoor games.
In the post-COVID-19 pandemic world, the project’s main objective is to provide environmental education using the resources of the Silesia Park, as well as to mobilise and encourage communities to spend free time enjoying fresh air.
As part of the project:
- we organize environmental, birdwatching, gardening and dendrology workshops,
- we conduct workshops using microscopes and laboratory equipment,
- we conduct workshops on the physical phenomena in the natural world,
- we conduct workshops in robotics using renewable energy sources,
- we develop educational materials and prepare exhibitions on the biodiversity in the Silesia Park,
- we celebrate various environmental occasions through environmental workshops, talks, lectures and presentations given by environmental scientists, filmmakers and authors, university students and NGOs (environmental leaders),
- we are developing a permanent scientific team of environmentalists, educators and environmental organisations to conduct green education in the Silesia Park.
- we organise scientific conferences.
- Plant 1% of your taxes in the Silesia Park - support non-government organisations with 1% of your personal income tax. The Silesia Park Foundation is a Public Benefit Institution, actively campaigning to convince the taxpayers to donate 1% of their personal income tax for its statutory activities, and also to other NGOs which raise funds through the Foundation.
In 2018, the Silesia Park Foundation donated a life-sized model of rhino which was installed in the Silesian Zoo, opposite the new pavilion for the family of white rhinoceroses living in the Zoo. The model, which serves as an educational prop, was funded, among others, from the 1% of the personal income tax donated to the Foundation, which also funds educational activities in the Silesian Zoo.
Furthermore, in 2020, the Silesia Park Foundation rebuilt and rearranged the terrarium for the alligator snapping turtle in the elephants’ house. The works were partially funded by the 1% of the personal income tax for 2019 donated to the Silesian Zoo via the Silesia Park Foundation.
We plan to use the funds to:
- Purchase new microscopes to the Silesia Park Biodiversity Laboratory
- Purchase an electric Park taxi for elderly visitors
- Create new discovery paths in the Silesia Park
- Organise environmental education for children and youth
- Plant new trees and shrubbery
