wolf awareness in dutch rural communities · 2015-05-20 · wolf awareness in dutch rural...

Making the first step towards preventing humanwolf conflicts

Nikie van Dorst

Daniëlle Koster

Judith Santegoets

7 June 2010

Wolf awareness in Dutch rural communities

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Wolf awareness in Dutch rural communities

Making the first step towards preventing humanwolf conflicts

Wageningen, the Netherlands, 7 June 2010

Nikie van Dorst, Daniëlle Koster and Judith Santegoets

Wolf awareness in Dutch rural communities Page i

Contents 1. Introduction............................................................................................................................................... 1

2. Stakeholder analysis .................................................................................................................................. 3

2.1. Key stakeholders .......................................................................................................................... 3 2.2. Key players ................................................................................................................................... 4 2.3. Barriers and incentives................................................................................................................. 5

3. Application of the strategy ........................................................................................................................ 6

3.1. Key design principles.................................................................................................................... 6 3.2. Strategy design............................................................................................................................. 7 3.2.1. First phase: Project week for elementary school children ....................................................... 8 3.2.2. Second phase: Grand finale ................................................................................................... 10 3.2.3. Follow up of the designed strategy........................................................................................ 11

4. Justification of the designed strategy...................................................................................................... 12

4.1. Justification of the first phase: Project week for elementary school children .......................... 12 4.1.1. Learning outcomes................................................................................................................. 13 4.2. Justification of the second phase: Grand finale......................................................................... 13

5. Strengths and weaknesses of the designed strategy .............................................................................. 15

5.1. Strengths of the designed strategy............................................................................................ 15 5.2. Weaknesses of the designed strategy ....................................................................................... 15

6. Monitoring and evaluation...................................................................................................................... 17

7. Concluding remarks................................................................................................................................. 19

References................................................................................................................................................... 20

Wolf awareness in Dutch rural communities Page 1

1. Introduction Our selected issue is "preparing the Netherlands for the return of the wolf". The wolf is spotted at only

four days away from the Dutch border and most certainly it will return to the Netherlands. The wolf's

return however brings forth problems relating to fear and misunderstanding (ARK, FREE Nature &

Zoogdier Vereniging, May 2010). A great deal of this fear and misunderstanding is deeply rooted into our

minds and is largely based on fairytales (e.g. Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs), legends

(e.g. werewolves) and myths (e.g. the wolf being a man‐eater) (BUSCH, 2007).

Recently, several parliamentary questions have been raised regarding the return of the wolf (LNV, May

2010). Although some people believe the wolf will enrich Dutch nature, others are afraid to let their

children play outside and farmers fear their livestock will be attacked (Linnartz, 2009). In order for the

wolf to be able to live here in the Netherlands, the country will need to be prepared, not only for its

arrival, but also for actually living with the wolf. An agreement will have to be reached between rural

communities, nature conservation organisations and even the government in order to prevent and work

towards solving possible problems the return of the wolf might bring about.

It is believed that the wolf will be able to survive in the provinces of Gelderland, Drenthe, Noord‐Brabant

and Limburg (ARK, FREE Nature & Zoogdier Vereniging, May 2010). We expect that the "wolf‐issue" is

most prominent and lively in rural communities in those provinces, partially because in these

communities the topic "wolves" is rather sensitive, but also because the farmers’ livestock and thus their

income is "at stake", which increases their fear and dislike of the wolf's return. The wolf has a protected

status in Europe, meaning that it is not allowed to hunt these animals. If they prey upon the farmers’

livestock and the farmers are not prepared and informed of possible options, we expect the farmers to

take matters into their own hands. They may set out traps and shoot the wolves.

The chosen strategy is education and consists out of two phases. The first phase will be an educational

program for children, as we expect children to be more open to new ideas about wolves. In the second

phase children will provide an entrance to reach the other members of the community, making this a

community‐based learning project. We believe that by trying to have a joined learning experience for a

whole community the reframing of the wolf‐image might be more lasting.

Our main goal is to prevent human‐wolf conflicts if the wolf returns to the Netherlands. The goal of this

specific strategy is to prepare the rural parts of the Netherlands where the wolf is expected for its arrival.

If these areas are not prepared, the wolf may be hunted down and not be able to find a suitable territory

here. This will take away the opportunity to restore a native species to our country.


Sub goals that will help achieve this main goal are:

Decreasing fear of wolves and solving misunderstandings about wolves in all members of rural

communities

Fear and misunderstandings are two main reasons for the current dislike of wolves. Decreasing or even

solving these issues might be the first step towards acceptance and solutions. When people no longer

fear the animal as much and when they understand the animal and its ways, they will be more open and

better able to work towards solutions.

Making the wolf‐topic approachable in rural communities

Currently the wolf‐topic is rather sensitive, farming communities simply do not want the wolf to return

and that is the end of it. If the topic remains unapproachable, then we cannot even begin to work

towards solutions. We need to create a certain open mindedness to get people to discuss their feelings,

their issues and fears so that together we can work towards finding suitable solutions.

Preventing problems to arise in rural communities when the wolf returns

Nature conservation organisations and rural communities have to work together to find the actual

problems and work towards solutions. Of course the government would also have to be involved in this

at some point, but starting out with just the two opposing forces would be a good start. Currently the

nature conservation organisations want to approach their counterparty, but they do not seem to know

how they can do this without raising conflict. We wish to bring the two together via neutral grounds to

get the problem‐solving process started.


2. Stakeholder analysis In this chapter we list the different key stakeholders, i.e. the “interested parties” of our change

challenge. We will describe their anticipated role and interests. We also analyse the key players, these

are actors engaged in the educational program but not the main target group of the change challenge.

The key players are essential for the implementation of the educational program. Finally, we will explain

some incentives and barriers for stakeholders to get involved in the activities.

2.1. Key stakeholders Rural communities in Drenthe, Gelderland, Brabant and Limburg (the Netherlands)

This group of stakeholders particularly involves elementary school children aged 9 to 13 and livestock

farmers. An interactive educational program will be designed for elementary school children. The

program can help to enjoy their outside environment without any fear of wolves. The program will also

develop their knowledge about nature by creating an understanding of a specific animal. There will be a

final presentation of their work to which the whole community is to be invited, followed by a discussion

in which worries and questions regarding the wolf's return can be raised. The project created by the

children of the community is meant to subtly help reduce the misunderstandings and fear the adults

might have about wolves so that they as well can feel save in their natural environment. To farmers in

particular the program will be of importance since they have big concerns about their livestock being

attacked.

Stakeholders outside of the rural communities

The second group of stakeholders are those outside the community, including nature conservation

organisations, agricultural organisations, such as LTO, CLM, NAJK and the NBvP, and the Dutch Ministry

of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV). The program will be of great benefit to these two parties

as it might prevent upcoming conflicts when wolves return to the Netherlands. It is in the interest of the

nature conservation organisations to protect the wolf, an originally native species that became extinct,

when it inhabits Dutch nature areas again. These organisations believe that the return of this top

predator has numerous ecological consequences beneficial to Dutch nature (Linnartz 2009). For instance,

the remains of their eaten prey can be a food source for various scavengers. Therefore the return of the

wolf will not only stimulate populations of scavengers already inhabiting Dutch nature areas, but also

attract species that no longer inhabit Dutch nature areas. Furthermore, they expect that the wolf’s

presence could help limiting population growth of species such as deer and geese in a natural way, which

might reduce their damage to agriculture (Linnartz 2009).

The agricultural organisations on the other hand promote the farmers interests. The LTO (an

entrepreneurial and employers’ organisation) for instance, has its own consultants and specialists who

provide advice for individual farmers and growers and help them make important decisions (LTO Noord

Communication Department, 2008). As it is believed that farmers are more open to ‐ and best informed

by their colleagues, it will be useful to actively involve these organisations.


The nature conservation organisations and agricultural organisations can support the development of

the educational program. In order to be able to create an informative but neutral program both counter

parties need to be involved. Nature conservation organisations can provide the necessary information

regarding the (return of) the wolf, whereas agricultural organisations can help adjust the program to the

needs and ideas of farmers. The Dutch Ministry is not yet important for the program at this point, but it

needs to be involved during the problem solving stage.

2.2. Key players Elementary school staff

The elementary school staff play an important role during the project week. Teachers have to run the

activities and guide the discussion and the children’s work. The program will be an added value to their

teaching experience. It is in their interest to be able to educate a complex environmental/social problem

through an interactive project.

Experts, including Germans from conflict areas where wolves are already present, a “wolf‐expert” from

a nature conservation organisation and a representative of an agricultural organisation

A short video presentation of an interview with Germans from conflict areas can be shown at the

beginning of the discussion. Farmers are likely to be easier informed by their colleagues than by

outsiders (Linnartz 2009), and a foreign farmer can give them insights in living with wolves from his or

her own experience. It is therefore also of importance that a representative of an agricultural

organisation is present during the grand finale and takes part in the discussion. The “wolf‐expert” can

help to clear misconceptions about the wolf. Both representatives can provide answers to raised

questions and concerns about damage to livestock, but they can also provide information about policy

related information and measures that people can take to prevent attacks.

The IVN (Association for Environmental Education), possibly in cooperation with NME‐centres in the

selected provinces

The IVN association is actively involved with environmental education and communication. They act as

initiator or organizer of various environmental projects en campaigns and they frequently work together

with provincial NME‐centres (centres for environmental education) (IVN, May 2010). In our case, the IVN

could be the provider of the developed program. This stakeholder should make visits to schools to

promote the designed project week with teachers and elementary school directors. This way they cannot

only promote the program, but also monitor how the project is received and adjust it if necessary. In

addition they can act as facilitator during the project week and the grand finale.


2.3. Barriers and incentives In this chapter we list the assumed barriers and incentives for stakeholders to get involved in the

activities. It is essential to be aware of the barriers in the developing phase of the program, so that they

can still be reduced or diminished and do not turn into real weaknesses. Incentives on the other side can

be used to promote the educational program to various stakeholders.

Barriers

• Costs: The project may simply be too expensive for an organisation to get involved.

• Farmers who do not have children in the upper levels of elementary school may not be reached

despite inviting every member of the community to come to the final event.

• Farmers might be so opposed to the return of the wolf that they might not be open to discuss the

subject with nature conservation organisations.

• School might not want to apply for the program, for instance because they have trouble fitting the

program into their standard curriculum.

Incentives

• The program could help to create an understanding of wolves and reduce fear of wolves, thus

making the topic more approachable for discussion.

• The final event can be used to find out what really creates the aversion to the wolf’s return in

farmers; what are their opposing factors and their real fears.

• The final event can be used to create awareness of the available options for farmers should their

livestock be attacked as a result of wolves.

• The final event will be a way for the two opposing parties to find a common ground and can be a first

step towards finding possible solutions.


3. Application of the strategy The strategy’s design and its application is discussed in this chapter. An overview of the key design

principles is provided first as they are the basis for the communication and education strategy. The

design principles are mostly concerned with the desired way in which learning will take place in the

strategy. The strategy has been designed to make these types of learning possible. After the key design

principles the design and application of the strategy is discussed.

3.1. Key design principles Most of the key design principles for our strategy apply to both the educational part (first phase) as the

part in which the whole community is involved (second phase). Although some might be more

applicable to one of these phases.

Intergenerational learning

The main design principle is intergenerational learning, which can be described as:

"Intergenerational learning arises from activities which purposely involve two or more generations with the aim of generating additional or different benefits to those arising from single generation activities. It generates learning outcomes, but these may or may not be the primary focus of the activity. It involves different generations learning from each other and/or learning together with a tutor or facilitator. Depending on the aims of the activity, it may or may not involve members of the same family" (Thomas, 2009).

Learning from other generations is usually limited to children learning from adults. This is an almost

natural process. However, in order to turn things around, specific arrangements need to be created.

Therefore, both youth and (grand)parents will be explicitly involved in this strategy, as we believe that

all generations have things to offer to each other.

Udaga & Maser (2003) are an inspiration for this key design principle. They described a process in

California in which different generations were brought together to create a new vision for their

community. During this process the adults realized that they had never really listened to children

before. However, this time the children felt safe to share and they were taken seriously.

Peer‐to‐peer learning

Learning from each other, and more specifically from each other's experiences will be a part of the

program, because this can stimulate learning processes which are similar among the participants. This

type of learning will be complementary to the principle of intergenerational learning.

Community based learning

By trying to have a joined learning experience for the whole community the reframing of the wolf‐

image might be more lasting. Therefore, everybody will be included.


Learning from dissonance

When one is exposed to alternative perspectives through confrontation, space will be created to

become aware of one’s own perspective and to challenge this. This is essential for meaningful learning

to take place (Wals, 2006).

Interactive learning

Learning will be hands‐on, creating room for multiple learning styles to be served.

Constructivism: Understanding and building upon prior knowledge, ideas and experiences

The project will start from the perspectives of the children or the other members of the community in

their relation to wolves. Thereby creating a sound match between what they need and what the

program can give.

Immersion

The design will be based on the head‐heart‐hand approach, in which a multi‐sensory learning

environment will be created. When one is immersed in the learning experience, it becomes more

fundamental and is thought to have a more lasting impact (Wals, 2006). Learning through immersion is

related to the flow learning theory.

Creativity

Creativity will be stimulated, as it is a way to help to resolve inner conflicts and to express and cope

with fears and concerns (Boeckel, unpublished).

Active participation

Through active participation learners can create a sense of ownership over the process, making them

more than just passive receivers of the information. This will enhance gaining competences to deal with

the return of the wolf.

Meaningful involvement

In order to create positivity regarding the return of the wolf, people need to feel that their input will be

taken seriously. In this case, meaningful refers to this feeling of being taken seriously. Therefore,

feedback on people’s input will be a relevant part of the concept.

3.2. Strategy design The strategy is based upon the following formula: Education of children combined with a presentation

evening to bring the community together for discussion of the topic leads to making the first step

towards further preparation.

In the first phase the project will start at an elementary school with a program aimed at children aged

9‐13. It will focus on passing on knowledge about wolves by providing opportunities to get familiar with

the way wolves live. It will also focus on familiarizing children with conflicts in which social, ecological

and economical interests are combined. In order to do so, the program will be a mixture of

instrumental and emancipatory education.


In the second phase the children will present their new found expertise in one way or another to their

parents and other interested members of the community. This will broaden the learning experience.

Other activities, aimed at an adult level, will focus on social learning between a rural community and

the nature conservation organizations about their perspectives on the return of the wolf. The goal is to

build trust between these often opposing parties and to give the community competences and

knowledge that will help them to deal with wolves in a sustainable way.

3.2.1. First phase: Project week for elementary school children The program will be set up as a project week, which can be build in the standard curriculum. We believe

that such an intensive week will have a longer lasting effect than working on this project once a week

for about half an hour for the duration of a year. Executing the project in one week also allows for more

time consuming activities such as a visit to a zoological park. The first phase of the project is loosely

based on the principle of Flow Learning (Sharing Nature, May 2010). The activities of the first two days

are meant to introduce the children to the subject and stimulate their enthusiasm. Children that can

visit a zoological park will also have a more direct experience. During the third day the children will dive

into the problem, thus getting them more involved and focussing their attention. The last two days are

meant for the children to share their experiences and inspirations. Below is an example of our idea for

this educational part of the strategy. Due to time constraints we can only indicate some ideas.

Monday: Introduction activities

During these introduction activities children get to explore their own and their classmates' associations

with wolves. They will also try to place themselves into the mind of a wolf and explore the animal 'from

within'.

Examples: Let children note their associations with wolves and compare ideas in a group discussion.

Making connections: present children with a sheet of images that they have to cut out and paste

onto one of two new sheets of paper, one for images that can be connected to the wolf and one for

images that cannot readily be connected with wolves. This could be done using various habitats (is

the wolf likely to live here?) or using various types of food (what would the wolf eat?) for example

(Margadant‐van Arcken and van den Berg, 2000).

Interview a wolf: Let one child be the wolf and the other the interviewer. The interviewer will ask

the wolf questions (how old are you?, where do you live?, do you live alone? what do you eat? how

do you find your food? are there animals you have to be careful of?), the wolf will have to answer

the questions, thus attempting to place the child in the wolf's mind (Cornell, J. and A.M. van Harten

– Sharing Nature Card Set). The idea here is to let the children playfully think about the wolf and its

behaviours. Afterwards there will be a discussion to provide the children with feedback on their

answers.


Tuesday: Experiencing the animal

This day in particular is meant to stimulate enthusiasm and to provide children with a bit more hands

on experience. During these activities, the children get to see and/or experience the wolf. The activities

are also meant to create a better understanding of the animal itself.

Examples: If possible the school could visit a zoological park to see the wolves there. A caretaker could tell

them about wolves and they can see the animals for themselves. Several assignments and games

can be performed in the park. For example: locating possible prey animals in the park, finding other

suitable exhibits in the park, letting children think of things to add to the wolves' current exhibit.

If it is not possible to visit a zoological park children can play a variety of games to experience the

wolf. One such experience is the computer game WolfQuest (http://www.wolfquest.org, May

2010). In this game the children become wolves, they will have to hunt, find a mate, find a suitable

den‐site and raise their pups. This allows them to immerse themselves in the lives of wolves. Other

options are for example: setting out a trail that will lead to a prey animal, one child will be the prey,

the others will form a wolf pack and they will have to find the prey by following the trail. This could

also be done without a trail, making it a variation on hide‐and‐seek, the wolves will have to stay

together as a pack though. Tag could also be added to the experience: some of the children can

become hunters, while the pack looks for its prey, the hunters have to tag them.

Wednesday: Creating an in depth experience

When diving into the problem, the children will become more involved and their attention will be

focused on the problem at hand. Children get the opportunity to formulate their own ideas and share

and discuss them with their classmates.

Examples: Let children discuss the issue of the wolf's return: first let the children formulate their own idea

(what is their opinion and why?) on paper. Then start with a round where everyone can say

something about the matter. The next step is to divide the children into smaller groups and appoint

one chairman. The chairman will guide the discussion, making sure everyone can say something and

that the discussion does not take too long. Each group discusses the issue and then reports on their

discussion to the rest of the class. Afterwards let the children formulate their own views again (has

it changed?) (Margadant‐van Arcken and van den Berg, 2000).

Let children discuss matters pertaining to wolves. Ask them if they think wolves are useful, where

they think wolves should live, how they feel about wolves living in zoological parks, what they feel

about humans hunting wolves? and what they would do if there were too many wolves? (IVN

Vereniging voor Natuur‐ en Milieueducatie).


Thursday: Expressing ones experiences During this day, the children will be able to express their experiences and inspirations through art

(Boeckel, unpublished). The children's own ideas will be the focus of this activity and their works will be

presented during the 'grand finale'.

Examples: Have children transform existing fairy tales, such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Wolf and the seven

Goats or The Wolf and the three Piglets, and let them perform this transformation in a play during

the 'grand finale'. All these fairytales are based on fear and have helped creating a dreadful image

of the wolf in our youth (ARK, FREE Nature & Zoogdier Vereniging, May 2010). When transforming

an existing fairytale (in which the wolf plays a negative part) into a more positive story, the wolf can

become the ‘hero’. By creating this play, children will be able to express their newly formed ideas

about wolves. The children are stimulated to use their own creativity but are guided in the process

by their teachers.

Let children express their experiences using various forms of art (drawings, paintings, poems,

stories, paper marcher, clay, etcetera). The children can present their work in an exhibition during

the 'grand finale'.

Friday: Expressing ones experiences (finishing up) followed by the grand finale

Friday morning the children will begin with a small evaluation. The children will also be given the

opportunity to look back on and discuss their experiences of the past week. During the rest of the day

the children will have the chance to complete the artwork they started on Thursday. In the evening a

'grand finale' will be held where they can present their work to the community.

Examples: One of the activities for the evaluation can be a repeat of the wolf interview, but this time the

children that were previously wolves will now become the interviewers and vice versa.

3.2.2. Second phase: Grand finale The intensive learning experiences will be concluded with a 'grand finale'. This 'grand finale' will be an

evening of about two and a half hours and will take place the Friday that the children finish their

projects. The evening will start with the presentation of the children's work. The artworks will be

presented in the form of an exhibition, which will be open to public the entire evening. It is

recommended that the school (or other chosen public building) opens its doors half an hour prior to the

start of the event, so that visitors can view the art work. The rest of the evening will start with a play

that some of the children have prepared and if they so choose, some of the children can hold a little

presentation about what they learned as well. After this introduction the children can go to a separate

room to relax and enjoy a non‐educational movie starring wolves (e.g. White Fang, Dances With

Wolves, Never Cry Wolf), while the parents 'do the work'.

The adults (and adolescents) will be presented with a short movie of about 10 minutes introducing the

topic and the current situation in Germany. In this movie, Germans from conflict areas will discuss how

they felt about the return of the wolf, prior to its actual return, how things were handled by the various

parties involved (government, farmers, nature conservation organisations) and how they feel about the


wolf's return now that it is actually there. After this movie a discussion will be held where people can

raise their concerns and ask questions. A facilitator, a member of a nature conservation organisation

and a member of a farmers organisation such as LTO will be present during this discussion.

It is not our intention to find solutions during this evening, but to make the topic approachable and to

form the first step towards bringing the various parties together and having them work on solutions.

We do however want the community to feel that they are being taken seriously and that this discussion

is meaningful, therefore the members will be supplied with the option to request feedback. A report of

the discussion will be made so that it can be used in further preparation programs. Those who

requested feedback will receive this report and any further information regarding the return of the

wolf. When farmers are interested in further meetings, as this evening alone is probably not enough to

capture this issue in its entirety, they will be invited for a regional meeting with nature conservation

organisations in which they can discuss problem solving more in depth. Thus, the grand finale is meant

as an appetizer for further involvement in the wolf issue.

We have to make sure the grand finale is sufficiently promoted, so that it not solely attracts the family

of the performing children. The provider of the program could work together with the municipality,

which is able to send invitation letters to every household in the community. In addition, it might be

helpful to attach posters and distribute flyers in supermarkets or other public places. A good

communication strategy should be developed, including local newspapers and other forms of media. By

using the media, multiple layers in the community can be reached.

3.2.3. Follow up of the designed strategy To have a more lasting effect on children, this program could be followed up by another program about

wolves that will be implemented on secondary schools. This program, that would have to be developed,

could focus even more on the issue of bringing economic, social and ecological interests together,

because children at that age are capable of handling abstract ideas.

Another idea would be to add a small program that would last longer, in which the children are invited

to spot the first wolf in the Netherlands. This could reframe its arrival into something desired. However,

at this moment it could take years before the wolf returns, making this element a guaranteed

disappointment. It would be more feasible to add this when the wolves are closer to the Dutch borders

and they could be seen in the Netherlands within a very short period of time.

As is argued before, this program will just be the first step towards a problem solving oriented process

in which the members of the rural community and nature conservation organisations can work together

on solutions. One evening alone will probably not be enough to capture this issue in its entirety.

Therefore, members of the community who are interested in further meetings will be explicitly invited

to these.

This could start with a regional meeting with nature conservation organisations in which agenda setting

and representation issues need to be addressed. In order to do this, a facilitator needs to be brought in

again. Afterwards, the representatives can discuss problem solving more in depth. The government will

be invited to these meetings as well, to make sure that solutions can be implemented.


4. Justification of the designed strategy To justify our educational program we have turned to Margadant‐Van Arcken (1990). She is a

pedagogue who conducted research on nature education in the Netherlands. Her observations and

theories are mostly practice orientated, making it a good starting point for a quick dive into didactic

design principles. Besides these principles, we have also aimed at creating a program that would be

suitable to be implemented in the curriculum of an elementary school.

The grand finale is justified with several theories, ranging from influencing behaviour, participation and

vision building. They are all combined in the program for adults, thus providing a well considered

initiative.

4.1. Justification of the first phase: Project week for elementary school children As Margadant‐Van Arcken (1990) argues, children in the upper levels of elementary school are not yet

capable of reasoning in the abstract and the detached view that is needed to talk about ecology. Many

environmental education programs have the tendency to overestimate this ability of children. Animal

categories, like insects or mammals are not yet tangible enough, as they do not correspond to

children’s visualisation of animals. Therefore, Margadant‐Van Arcken (1990) advises to focus on specific

species. With this specific specie as a starting point, all kinds of ecological and more abstract notions

can be brought in, as they now have a situational, narrative and therefore more solid context.

In this design this specific specie is the wolf, which makes the educational program tangible and

concrete enough for children in this age group. Moreover, mammals, such as the wolf, correspond best

to children's visualisations of animals (Margadant‐Van Arcken, 1990). This way the program will be

build upon the prior knowledge and ideas that children have about animals.

Children in the age class of 9‐13 have a personalistic‐animistic perspective on nature (Margadant‐Van

Arcken, 1990). This means that they act as if things and animals are personalities and living matter. It is

not to say that they think like that. However in their language they express this perspective. The result

of this is that to match children's interests, the animal should be the centre of the educational program.

Children are very curious about animals, and can raise enormous amounts of questions about them.

However, these questions are again from the point of view that an animal is a personality. So, they are

mostly interested in how animals live, gather food, have contact with congeners, how they raise their

young and what their physical capacities are. To fulfil these interests there will be a solid introduction of

the wolf and its behaviour.

The visit to the zoological park or an educational movie about wolves can be used to provide a living

image of the subject. This can provide a connection between what is discussed and what the children

can experience for themselves.

Margadant‐Van Arcken (1990) argues that starting from these interest from children, an educational

program can foster feelings of care, tenderness, amazement and admiration. These feelings can be the

starting point for reframing wolves.


4.1.1. Learning outcomes This educational program addresses more than just the (return of) the wolf in the Netherlands. With its

learning outcomes aimed at more than just this rather specific topic it can be implemented in the

school curriculum as nature education. These learning outcomes are listed below.

Knowledge and insight

Children know what habitats wolves prefer and how these habitats are threatened.

Children are aware of the wolf's presence in countries surrounding the Netherlands.

Children know that wolves have vanished due to a variety of causes, including loss of habitat and

human intolerance.

Children are aware of what wolves need to survive.

Children understand that wolves are predatory animals.

Children learn how management can help animals.

Children learn that wolves are generally afraid of people and avoid contact with them.

Skills

Children can demonstrate their knowledge of animals in the environment by talking.

Children can formulate and discuss their opinions regarding wolves.

Children can formulate and discuss their opinions regarding dilemma's.

Children can work together.

Children can formulate associations.

Attitude and behaviour

Children grain respect for animals.

Children enjoy observing animals.

Children respect animals.

Children are aware of their feelings regarding wolves.

Children can formulate their feelings and opinions regarding the conservation of the wolf.

Children increase their involvement in nature.

Children think about the use and necessity of nature and animals and formulate an opinion about it.

4.2. Justification of the second phase: Grand finale The grand finale is aimed at community‐based learning. It will be the first step toward a process of

building trust and problem solving of the rural community and the nature conservation organisations.

We have decided to include the whole community as a whole, because the theory of reasoned

behaviour (Fishbein and Azjen, 1980) shows that subjective norms play a role in the behaviour of

people. What a person thinks that his or her environment thinks of a subject, in other words the social

norm to behave in a specific way, should therefore not be overlooked in the design of a communication

strategy.


One of the main concerns about participation is about inclusiveness. People would often lack interest or

the courage to speak up, leading to situations in which certain people are not heard (Mayer et al.,

2005). This would hamper the acceptance of the wolf. To prevent this, the start of the process of

bringing the rural community and nature conservation organisations together is set in a building that

the community is already familiar with (the school building, or another building in their community).

Furthermore, by starting the evening with children’s art, a positive atmosphere will be enhanced. We

expect parents and other interested adults to be triggered enough by the various art presentations of

the children to have an incentive to come to the grand finale.

In intractable conflicts people often lack an idea of what a future without this conflict might look like

(Dugan, 2003). Therefore, the short movie with the German situation will be shown, as it is quite similar

to the future Dutch situation. With this, an attempt is made to open up existing perspectives and to

free people from their idea of what is likely to happen.


5. Strengths and weaknesses of the designed strategy In this chapter we discuss what we believe to be the strengths and weaknesses of our strategy.

Strengths of the strategy are those aspects which provide a unique character to the program or the

features expected to turn it into a success. We will also go into more detail on the weaknesses, or as

you might better call them, challenges. It is important to consider these challenges because those are

the points we still have to focus and improve on.

5.1. Strengths of the designed strategy Because the program is structured around a project week and a final event for the whole community,

multiple strengths can be found in the design. During the project week the children will acquire

concrete experiences through the various planned activities. These activities, the experience games,

excursion, discussions and the production of a play or work of art all have a greater “experience value”

than words in a book or spoken by a teacher and will lead to a greater involvement of the children with

nature and in particular the wolf (Frijters 1997). On the other side, the grand finale will be a framework

for bringing various interest groups together to help them understand each other's core values and

concerns through a discussion. They will also be able to learn from the experiences of other people –

through the video‐ by providing an example of how the return of the wolf has worked out in other

areas. The greatest strength of our educational program however, is the way in which it applies

intergenerational learning. Through the designed program, we cannot only educate the children on an

environmental/social problem and reduce possible fears concerning wolves, but also reach the whole

community through their work and ideas.

The project week and especially the grand finale bring together multiple generations, and involve the

whole community. Although it is often the case that children learn from an older generation, in this

program, the children will share their feelings, thoughts and experiences with the adults which could

stimulate their learning about the wolf. In addition, it can strengthen the community itself and make all

members feel that they can contribute to prevention and problem solving regarding the wolfs return.

5.2. Weaknesses of the designed strategy The first weakness of our design is that schools might not be willing to apply for the program. Is the

program attractive and flexible enough to integrate in the standard curriculum? The link of the program

to nature education and how it benefits the teachers should be made sufficiently clear. There should

not only be preparatory visits to elementary schools in order to discuss the project and find ways on

how to improve it, but the program should also be sufficiently promoted once finished.


Secondly there is the question of whether or not the whole community can be reached with this

program and not just the parents and family of children in the upper levels of elementary school. In

smaller communities the interconnectedness and feeling of solidarity is more intense than in larger

villages, where it might be more difficult to involve the whole community. In this case, the strength of

this project – intergenerational learning and reaching the whole community with an educational

program– can turn into a weakness if the grand finale does not attract all the stakeholders in the

community. For this reason, the PR of the grand finale is crucial.

Another flaw in our design might be the timeframe in which we try to achieve our goal: preparing the

Netherlands for the return of the wolf. It is questionable if one week is enough for the children to

change their view off wolves. Do the games the children play really reduce their fear of wolves? Maybe

fear can only be reduced when possible measures to protect oneself for the wolf are offered. When the

whole community does come to the grand finale, it is also essential that the community believes that

they are heard and feel involved. A flaw in our design could be that the community would consider an

hour of discussion pointless when they believe that no further steps will be taken. We do assume

however, that there will be a follow up plan.

A final remark regards the insecurity of when exactly the wolf will return to the Netherlands. Because

scientists are not certain, we do not know if the program will be applied too early or maybe even too

late. Working on a concrete problem would create a larger feeling of necessity than in our case, where

there is not yet a problem, but there might be one in the near future.


6. Monitoring and evaluation The designed strategy will be evaluated to determine if it reached the goals as described in the

introduction. It will be a mixture of result‐oriented and participatory evaluation and will focus on both

the output and the outcome. The impact will not be evaluated, because this is not measurable until the

wolf actually returns, which might take years. Even when wolves do return, it would be very hard to

measure the impact of this specific strategy as there will be many other factors influencing the results.

The output of the total program will be directly measured and will include questions such as:

What is the number of children participating?

What is the percentage of inhabitants of the community coming to the grand finale?

How many people who are not directly linked to the children involved in the educational program

attend the grand finale?

These questions can be measured by asking the schools about the number of children that were

involved and by for instance letting the visitors of the grand finale fill in a form on which they have to

provide information about whether they have a child taking part in the project. The form can also be

attached to the invitation, which they can hand‐over upon arrival.

The outcome of the educational program will be evaluated to determine if the way children think about

wolves has changed (has it become richer? do they express less fear?) and whether it works well as an

educational program.

The first component will be monitored by the repeated interview activity (in which one child has to

interview another child who plays the role of a wolf) on Monday and Friday: what do children think

about the wolf at the start of the project and what in the end? The teacher can execute this monitoring.

The second component will be evaluated with feedback from the teachers in an interview or with a

questionnaire on how the different activities contribute to the children’s learning process and how the

project fits in with the general curriculum. The teacher can also provide tips for improvement.

The outcome of the ‘grand finale’ is harder to measure as this evening is intended to be the first step

towards a new process. It is not likely that the outcome that we want to achieve, including solving

misunderstandings and reducing fear, will be reached by just one evening. However, the community

can feel more open to discuss the topic and feel comfortable in working together with nature

conservation organisations on the problem solving process. These type of questions can be asked of the

participants when the whole problem solving process will be evaluated. We recommend a participatory

evaluation with interviews in which people are asked about their most significant change in this

process.


The evaluation will be run by the NME, although the evaluation of the whole problem solving process

might be more suitable for implementation by an outsider. The NME will also use the results to learn

from them and to improve both the educational program as its link with the ‘grand finale’. The results

of the change in the attitude of children towards wolves and information on whether this program

actually reaches live stock farmers might also be of interest for nature conservation organisations who

work pro‐actively on this topic. The results can have implications for their further strategies.

As it is not likely that all participating schools run the project at the same time, evaluation can be done

on the first couple of projects and adjustments can be made if necessary. An employee of NME will

have to do this evaluation periodically. However, evaluation will be conducted most frequently when

the program is in its early years.


7. Concluding remarks Due to the short time available for this course it was unfortunately not possible to design and create a complete program. We were only able to create a general design and give some examples of how this program could be set up. Further steps are to investigate the attainability of this project, ensure full compatibility with school curriculums and write a practical version of the report, including a manual or guide for the teachers. Factors that are of importance regarding the attainability of our project are the amount of time necessary to implement the program, the ease with which teachers can implement the program, the level to which the program fits the current school curriculums and the costs and benefits. For this last factor, a cost/benefit analysis should be performed. An investigation of possible subsidies or funds should be performed to find out if the program can be funded by an outside body and to find out if schools have enough funds to visit a zoological park. Possible costs for the development of the program are:

Work hours involved in developing and implementing this program; PR for promotion of the project; Film material.

Possible costs for the participating schools and NMEs are:

Materials used by schools such as paper, pencils, crayons; Visit to a zoological park; PR for promotion of the grand finale.

To get an idea of how our design may be looked upon by its stakeholders, we talked with mister Vermeulen (Project leader “Wolven in Nederland”) of Free Nature, who believes our program to be very ambitious. He believes that our design will be able to reach the children in a positive way, but wonders how well we can reach community members that are not directly related our linked to the children participating in the program. Vermeulen also confirmed our idea that children are unbiased and more open to wolves. He believes they are adventurous and curious. Adults however are more biased and their ideas are dependent on the region they live in. Those living in cities have a romanticized image of the wolf’s presence in the Netherlands, but those living in rural areas see a potential danger to their incomes. Free nature, amongst other organisations, is already working on several strategies to prepare the

Netherlands for the return of the wolf. A website is released, media items (both aimed at adults and

children) have been created and several lectures have been held so far. Mister Vermeulen thinks our

strategy fits in their activities and that it can be used to scale up the strategy they use for children.


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