SICONA Sud-Ouest/ SICONA-Centre

As inter-municipal associations working in the field of nature protection, our primary objective is to raise awareness of this theme among the citizens and schoolchildren of our region.
This in a local, national and global context. The first step is to raise awareness of the natural wealth present in our region, which is still largely lacking, to present the links between organisms and their habitats, and to understand the impact of man on nature. It's also about making people realize that phenomena
Global issues such as climate change also have local consequences for us, and we need to act together to maintain our environment and that of other organisms.

Syndicat intercommunal pour la conservation
de la nature - nature conservation projects
and educational activities and projects with
children and teenagers, 6-12 years and 12-.
16 years old.
Our mission:
Raising awareness and informing children and young people
on nature, natural habitats and organizing
educational activities in nature
to be in direct contact and learn
to love nature and respect it, so that we can be
motivated to protect it.

- Activities for the general public (accessible to all): excursions and workshops on various nature-related themes, annual calendar of activities.
- After-school and school activities (only open to schoolchildren from our member communities): a program of activities in all member communities on a wide variety of themes.
- Management of school gardens in the communes of Bertrange, Mamer and Mersch

--+/- 500 activities/year for children from
6-12 years, 4 projects for teenagers
12-16 years

SNJ, EEDD Platform, MNHN

For adults :
Be aware of the natural riches present, but also of their fragility; see the regional, national and global context, which threatens our natural resources and consider strategies (personal and political) to enable long-term survival of a healthy natural environment as a living place for man, but also for his co-organisms (animals and plants).

For children:
Move around in nature and enjoy group experiences in the open air, face new situations together, lose your fear of unknown animals, the forest etc., discover the fascination of wild animals and their way of life, natural habitats and their complexity and interaction, learn the link between nature and our food, understand the influence of man and his actions on nature, understand that one's own actions have an impact and can change things, foster respect for others and group work with other young people from different backgrounds and cultures.

For school gardens:
The plant from germ to harvest, the garden through the seasons, learning different garden tasks, improving children's fine motor skills, facing problems and losses together, but also experiencing successes together, seeing the links between plants and human food, experiencing the richness of natural tastes and aromas (different culinary herbs), ecological aspects: plants/insects, compost/decomposing organisms etc.

The environmental and sustainable development education offered by SICONA is focused on extracurricular activities (over 300 per year), while our presence during school hours is much more limited (around 100 per year). Moreover, the latter is only done at the request of teachers. With this offer, we aim to give young people interested in environmental issues a chance to develop their knowledge and meet other young people with similar interests. In the long term, we dare to hope that a generation sensitive to sustainable development in the broadest sense will take over from us.

The priority themes are

• Our region's natural riches
• Fauna and flora
• Ecology
• Protecting nature
• Sustainable development in the broadest sense (e.g. common agrarian policy, fair trade and environmentally-friendly food)