Education Programmes & Presentations
Is your school or community group looking for a single session or multi-week project, featuring one of Scotland's most charismatic mammals?
Are you a charity, organisation or local group who'd be interested in an otter related presentation?
We can offer both, and we'd love to hear from you!
We have extensive experience of working with schools and community groups of all ages and abilities, both in the classroom and outdoors, and in delivering a whole variety of otter, river and coastal themed events and presentations. Our Otter Projects Officer is a member of PVG Scotland and qualified Outdoor First Aider. We work collaboratively with a range of different conservation organisations and projects, and where activities would benefit from it, we are keen to involve other specialists to make sure your session gives you the most value possible. We are also more than happy to signpost you to a fellow organisation or project if we feel they can better meet your needs.
A selection of what we currently provide is listed below, however you have another idea you think we might be able to work with, we're open to all suggestions.
Bespoke Workshops
Maybe your school or group is doing a project on native Scottish mammals, or wetlands, or maybe the biodiversity of your local area? Maybe it's something else? However you feel otters could fit in to your project, or even if a session on otters is enough just on it's own, we'd be eager to work with you on it! Our standalone sessions are completely bespoke, so we'll develop a session specific to the age range you're working with, the topic or angle you wish to approach it from and how we deliver it - whether in the classroom or outdoors. If it's something outdoors you're looking for, we aim to deliver all activities in your area, in walking distance wherever possible, so we can help connect you, your pupils or members with their local environment. Please contact us to discuss your needs and we'll go from there...
Four-Week Education Packages
If it's something more structured you're looking for, we're now trialling a four-week block of activities - delivering one session of 1-2 hours per week - split between the classroom and your local river or coastline. The main topics are:
Week 1 - Introduction to Otters (classroom-based)
Week 2 - Food Webs & Ecosystems (outdoors, inclusive of a Riverfly or rockpool survey)
Week 3 - River / Coastal Biodiversity Walk and Mini Otter Survey (outdoors)
Week 4 - Conservation Task i.e. Beach Clean / Riverbank Litter Pick (outdoors)
Though the structure of the block is fairly linear, we can adjust any part of it to meet your needs and interests. Get in touch if you'd like to explore this option with us.
Talks, Presentations & Events
We are able to offer bespoke otter-related talks and presentations tailored to a wide range of groups and audiences, and if you'd like us to be a stallholder at your event, we can do that too! We have delivered presentations on various topics related to otter ecology, biology, behaviour, conservation, local populations, specific parts of our work - such as our carcass collections work and surveying - and more. Otters are a versatile subject, and we can tailor presentations to events focusing on river or coastal conservation, climate, native mammals, the mustelid family, or maybe even something we haven't though of yet. If your group or organisation would be interested in a presentation from us, please get in touch.