Strategy workshop talks future of trilateral Wadden Sea education

This year, the International Wadden Sea School (IWSS) looks back at 20 years of cooperation and networking among education multipliers as well as a multitude of educational products developed for a trilateral perspective in visitor information and World Heritage interpretation. Prolonged for another fours years by the Wadden Sea Board after a comprehensive evaluation in 2022 showed a high degree of satisfaction, IWSS has now been the focus of a strategic workshop. To jointly further enhance the trilateral offers and services, the IWSS Strategy Workshop on 1-2 February brought together members of the Network Group Education (NG-E) and further key stakeholders of Wadden Sea education and World Heritage promotion.

The overall aim of the workshop was to co-create input for the Trilateral Education Work Programme and – taking into consideration the outcomes of the IWSS evaluation as well as national education concepts and demands – to jointly concretise the future trilateral activities from 2023-2026. In various sessions, both group work and plenary discussions, the 16 participants took a critical look at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the IWSS, identified which and how trilateral offers and services can add value to the national or regional education activities, which trilateral activities are most interesting for all regions and whether and how these can be realised in the coming years.

The IWSS is the implementing body of the Trilateral Work Programme on Environmental Education, jointly coordinated by WWF Germany and CWSS. Based on the input of the strategy workshop, the Work Programme will be updated for 2023-2026. The next regular IWSS networking workshop will take place from 8-10 November 2023 on the island of Norderney.