Down by the river

With the “Down by the River” project we wanted to promote an active knowledge of our territory both educationally and to enhance the resources of active and sustainable tourism.
The descent of the entire course of the Tagliamento river (178 km) represented a considerable challenge for children who were unaccustomed to being outdoors. The boys had to deal with various activities, both physically (trekking, rafting and cycling), and reading the context geographically and historically.
For this reason the preparation phase was very important:

• devise the route together with the children and which sections to do by bike, on foot or by packraft;
• cycle workshop laboratory to be able to independently manage small breakdowns
• preparation day trips (preparation for fatigue, group harmony, individual ability to stay out of the comfort zone)

The activities lasted throughout the school year and had positive repercussions both during the exam and during the summer. The main experience (the descent of the Tagliamento in 5 days) absolutely did not satisfy the desire to be together in the open air and discover new landscapes, in fact during the summer other activities followed succesfully: SUP, snorkeling, trekking, climbing and camping in particular.
Also educationally we had good results. During the exam interview, all the students were asked something about the trip and some even made it the center of their final paper.
Particular emphasis has been given to the historical events that took place on the Tagliamento river. Helped by Francesco Zardini (a historic cartoonist), the students reworked what they saw and learned by inventing short comic stories: the river, the mountain and the war as protagonists.

You don’t just learn from books: there’s a great school out there!