Education becomes an experience

Knowledge arouses enthusiasm for nature

We make the connections between nature and society understandable for our visitors. To do this, we use traditional information materials as well as new interactive means of experiencing nature. We enable school classes to learn with joy in nature from nature.

The Purkersdorf Nature Park has always attached great importance to imparting knowledge, especially for children.

Education becomes an experience

Since 2001 we offer a constantly growing range of educational opportunities. In recent years we have about 60 guided hikes per year. The guided hikes for kindergarten and school groups from Vienna and the surrounding area by our certified guides have been particularly successful. Special topics are forests, plants, water, bees etc.). In addition, we also offer guided specially tailored children's birthday events with nature themes.

Summer and learning camps are held in the nature park with external partners.

Nature park as a classroom - learning becomes an adventure

In association with the Association of Austrian Nature Parks (VNÖ) we have developed a concept for the use of nature parks as learning locations. Since autumn 2019 we have been implementing a pilot project for elementary education with our partner school "Volksschule Gablitz". In our concept the nature park serves as a classroom for all elementary lessons. Thus, children learn arithmetic, reading, writing and art in nature and with nature. And of course, they also learn about nature.

Schools from Vienna and the Wienerwald region can spend an exciting day in the nature park own their own - or with our trained guides - to experience the richness of nature up close "with all the senses".

Educational infrastructure

  • Nature trail with thematic information boards
  • Children's adventure trail with water research stations, accompanied by our mascot "Sawi" (a European green woodpecker)
  • "Blind date" experience trail for people with impaired vision (that serves those with full vision to experience all their senses)
  • "Holzlabor" with wooden sound bars and information about the wood as a raw material
  • "Generationenwald-Plattform" with native forest trees
  • Bee platform with special information and an observation posts in the immediate vicinity of the beehives
  • Wild boar, roe deer and stag enclosures with information about significance and life of the animals
  • Animal enclosure with traditional farm animals (sheep, goats, donkeys)
  • Exploration information stations about soil structure, life on trees and woodpeckers
  • Interactive “open your eyes” monitoring program with a treasure map
  • Self-service-museum about the daily life of small farmers in the Wienerwald in the 19th century

Cooperation with higher education institutions

Our educational infrastructure has been developed in cooperation with educational and research institutions such as the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), the Federal Research and Training Center for Forests (BFW) and the Agricultural and Environmental Education University (HAUP).

We offer students the opportunity to carry out supervised specialist internships and project work.