Key terms of day 1

The first full day of our Polish-German exchange project in Białowieża was packed with activities and information. In the morning we visited the Strict Reserve of Białowieża National Park with a guide, followed by a lecture about environmental education in the department for education of the National Park. In the afternoon there was a second lecture on the topic of cultural highlights and heritage of Białowieża, the Puszcza (forest) and its surroundings.

At the end of day 1, we summed up the contents working in small groups in order to identify and describe five key terms.

Gabriela, Manuela and Justyna working hard...

As a result, the following list of terms evolved, with some entries named by more than one group:

• primeval forest (pl.: Puszcza, dt.: Urwald)
• 'Bartnictwo', a traditional way of honey-making with wild bees in the forest (dt.: Zeidlerei)
• dead wood (pl.: martwe drzewo, dt.: Totholz)
• Jagiello's oak (in the strict reserve of Bialowieza National Park)
• tree mushroom (pl.: huba, dt.: Baumpilz)
• cultural landscape (pl.: krajobraz kulturowy, dt.: Kulturlandschaft)
• wet meadow (pl.: łaka, dt.: Feuchtwiese), extensively used meadow
• Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina, pl.: orlik krzykliwy, dt.: Schreiadler)
• heritage (comprising cultural and natural heritage) (pl. dziedzictwo kulturowe i przyrodnicze, dt.: Kultur- und Naturerbe)
• sustainable development (pl.: zrównoważony rozwój, dt.: nachhaltige Entwicklung)
• environmental / ecological education (pl.: edukacja przyrodnicza, dt.: Natur- und Umweltbildung)
• integration (of the seminar group) (pl.: integracja, dt.: Integration)

Puszcza Białowieska, the primeval forest of Białowieża, was evidently the number one topic of the day.  This is reflected in the fact that at least one third of the terms relate directly to this topic. Another category of terms are those which hint at human influence on natural processes, e.g. cultural landscape. During the discussion after the presentation of each group it became clear that there is more human intervention than we are usually aware of. Maybe the term 'nature' makes no sense at all? Perhaps it is all culture in the end?

The last three entries on the above list were mentioned only once. However, they were generally deemed as crucial for our seminar as a whole. Especially the last word, integration, was highlighted as essential, for it expresses the quality of our relationship with each other within the group of participants, as well as with the issues we want to engage in.

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Die Begegnung "Treffpunkt Białowieża - ein Ort für Mensch und Natur" wird ermöglicht durch die finanzielle Unterstützung des Deutsch-Polnischen Jugendwerks im Rahmen des Wettbewerbs "Treffpunkt übermorgen - Spotkajmy się pojutrze" sowie der Stiftung für deutsch-polnische Zusammenarbeit.