Tag Archives: Sweden

Conservation, experience, Qualification, Training & Development

International Expertise

After 10 years of ZooStephen this year has been marked by further international engagement and travel. After a holiday visiting renaissance Italy (Florence & Pisa) in March, I travelled to Denmark & Sweden in April to deliver a training workshop and then at the end of May was part of a team visiting India delivering training as part of the pilot of the Indian Zookeeper Competency Framework for Life Science Education Trust [LSeT].

I was invited as a guest speaker / workshop leader to the Swedish Zoo Association – Svenska Djurparksföreningen – education meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden in April. It was great to facilitate a 4 hour session involving a diversity of communication skills and challenges to education conservation messages. The delegates came from zoos across the country and thankfully for me spoke excellent English.

The workshop was held in the historical open museum however, the local zoo, Tropikariet, hosted a visit and dinner. An interesting small tropical collection primarily featuring aquarium and reptiles, with some other species. During my trip to the region I took the opportunity to revisit the historic Copenhagen Zoo – first visited back in 1996.

The Asiatic lion is found wild in the Gir Forest, Gujurat, India. Sadly I had to pass up the chance of seeing them in the wild, due to logistics (distance & time) and cost, however, I was delighted to visit Gujurat in late May – although one of the hottest weeks of the year (40+ degrees).

Sardar Patel Zoological Park, Ekta Nagar, was chosen to pilot the Indian Professional Competency Framework for Zoos & Wildlife Care developed by Daniel O’Loughlin and Life Science Education Trust LSeT. It was an honour to be part of an international team [UK, Ireland (via Netherlands), Czech Republic, Mexico (via UAE)] spending a week at the site delivering training sessions and supporting the zoo in its drive to high standards.

SPZP is a new zoo, inaugurated in 2020 as ‘Jungle Safari’. The zoo has some excellent habitats for a diversity of species from lion to Indian rhino and crocodiles to cobras. Although the aviaries are also of particular note. The staff team are dedicated and committed to good standards of animal care and improvement. So the competency framework provides a good model for standardisation and recognition.

Our work involved mornings out on site with review of the different sections and delivery of training / support with ideas to the keeper team and afternoons working with the ‘supervisor’ team and managers on specific focused topics including safety, training, communications.

The work with SPZP continues and a follow up visit (Daniel with one or two others) to assess the progress against the standards will be made later in the year. The Competency Framework will then hopefully be used by LSeT in other Indian zoos.

Near the zoo is the world’s largest statue at 182m tall – the Statue of Unity commemorates Vallabhbhai Patel (1875-1950) an independence activist, friend and contemporary of Gandhi, who served as India’s first deputy prime minister.

The statue is truly impressive and you can go up by elevator to ‘chest height’ for a good view of the surroundings including the hydo-electric dam on the Narmada River. As westerners we were actually an ‘added attraction’ with several requests for photos.

Uncategorized, Workshop

An Englishman Abroad – EAZA, Sweden

Every two years the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria [EAZA] have an education conference, and this March it was hosted by Skansen, Stockholm, Sweden.

nearly 200 delegates from 34 countries, EAZA Education Conference, Skansen, Stockholm

I have used the EAZA Education Standards in my work with Chimelong Group, in China, as a way of benchmarking and auditing their work, as well as in further developing their already good educational activities to an internationally recognised standard.

It was great to be able to attend the EAZA Education Conference and to both give a presentation upon my work in China, and a poster highlighting the use of ‘animal shows/performances’ as an educational tool. It was also good to challenge pre-conceived ideas some have about China, and to indicate how important it is that we engage and work to develop conservation education in China.

Skansen in Stockholm is a zoo – primarily for nordic animals, but also some tropical species and a new Baltic Sea Science Center – opening very soon. However, Skansen is also a historical museum, featuring many houses from across Sweden, showing different cultures and styles over the years.

The conference was attended by nearly 200 delegates from 34 countries – and it was great to meet up with old friends and make some new ones too. The networking of ‘educators’ is quite a loud occasion – we all like to talk 🙂 and also a very cooperative and supportive one. We learn from each other and share ideas and thoughts, and with the EAZA standards, which will be adapted to be world standards, we also have a mechanism for developing a professional and strong conservation education programme that is of merit and significance. I am hopeful that Chimelong zoos will lead the way on developing and implementing such standards in China.