The project “Natur real! Egal?”, funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism, and initiated by Young Naturefriends, Naturschutzjugend and the Youth sector of the Alpine Association, aimed to raise young people’s awareness of biodiversity. In several workshops, experts and youth instructors assisted in the development of educational methods that are easy to put into practice; they aim to awaken young people’s enthusiasm about nature and enable them to experience the diversity of species and their habitats with all five senses. The results of these workshops were summarised in a little manual “Biodiversität Erlebbar machen” (“Enabling biodiversity experiences”), which contains interesting facts about the environment and a plethora of ideas for educational activities with children and adolescents. The contents of the manual are easy to put into practice for everyone who plans group activities in and around forests, meadows, mountains and rivers with kids and adolescents. 

During the video contest, young participants entered 30 short video clips that visualise biodiversity in a creative or humorous manner or have a powerful effect on the audience. The winners were invited to attend a project presentation and an award ceremony by the Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism.