Casa Archilei

Casa Archilei is the  environmental centre which hosts Green English. It is located in Fano, Italy  and has been an active educational centre since 1992. Below you will find information about the activities carried out within the centre.

Using the space available (about 1,3 ha)  typical local natural and semi-natural environments have been reproduced.

Casa Archilei  organises teachers’ training courses on nature-related issues.

In particular, it  promotes activities which aim at improving the knowledge of the territory as a learning medium as well as experimenting a methodology that can be easily transferred to teaching practice.

It also organises public meetings and lectures on various topics related to environmental education , scientific issues and knowledge of our region.

In particular we have reproduced:

• a meadow

• a woods area

• a bushy area

• a hedge
• a pond
• a rock garden
• a dry-stone wall

In 1997 we created an on-going digital Database which contains all the naturalistic and anthropographic aspects of the Metauro river basin, including: geology, geography, flora, fauna, history, archaeology, architecture, itineraries, etc.

This very complex project has been supported by public and private organisations, environmental associations, scholars, experts and enthusiasts who have built an easily-accessed and user-friendly tool, for information on, and evaluation of, the territory.

The Database is currently being updated .

The old version is at www.fondazionecarifano.it/metauro/

Since 1992-93, research in the following categories have been developed, elaborated and tested by experienced teachers, specialised in the field of environmental education:

• guided tour and games: "Let’s explore the green footpath";
• the food chain in the meadow;
• animals that live in a pond;
• discover nature through touching and smelling;
• how to recognise trees and shrubs;
• how to plant trees and shrubs;
• simulation game on waste recycling.
• Green English: environmental education in English

In order to satisfy all requests from secondary schools, since 1997 we have been organising the following scientific experiences, which can be adapted for primary schools:

• photosynthesis;

• osmosis;

• the study of the soil;

• experiences of bacteriology;

• cytology and histology;

• animal and vegetable anatomy;

• enzymes and physiology;

• haematology;

• inorganic chemistry;

• water analyses;

• freshwater micro-organisms.

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

Injured or weak wild animals can receive a first-aid assistance before being transferred to specialised centres.

ARTIFICIAL TROUGHS AND NESTS

Several artificial troughs and nests have been installed in the area. Their function is not only to provide food and shelter to wild animals, mainly birds, but also to encourage a different way of enjoying their presence: it is nice to love animals, but what they most need is to be respected, not to become prisoners in a cage for the rest of their life!

These activities aim at demonstrating that on a standard family scale it is possible to obtain excellent results avoiding the use of chemicals and recycling all the products of a society based on consumerism.

For example, vegetables are fertilised with natural products such as manure or home-made compost; for cultural reasons, in the plant nursery only indigenous species are grown.

It is a collection of old daily-life tools, typical of the area, such as ploughs, wine casks, wool-winders, household furnishings, joiners' and masons' tools, etc.