Last year was a pivotal one for the TEAM#UP project. We launched a platform featuring educational materials on ecological restoration, which are currently undergoing revisions. Feedback on the Czech materials consistently highlighted the need for better methodological guidance for teachers, particularly regarding practical activities. That is why, this year, in collaboration with external colleagues, we have further refined the materials to make them easier to use in the classroom.
To verify their readiness and clarity, we pilot-tested them in collaboration with the Waldorf Lyceum in České Budějovice. The first lesson focused on promoting biodiversity in cities and cost-benefit analysis, while the second focused on the restoration of species-rich meadows. Both lessons will also be used in classes at the VOŠ and SZeŠ Benešov during the Greening Week course in mid-June.
Thanks to the feedback, we received a number of insightful comments that will help us further improve the materials. Our goal is to create comprehensive teaching lessons with variations for different group sizes and time allocations, ready to use in the classroom without extensive preparation.
We would like to thank Anna Šlechtová (Scout Institute), Eva Bínová (Waldorf Lyceum), and all the students who participated in piloting the lessons.
#TeamUp2Restore
Last week, we took part in a very short but intense and fruitful meeting with colleagues from the Agricultural University of Iceland. The aim of the meeting was to establish long-term cooperation between the universities and find common topics for this cooperation. We therefore presented the key areas of our research and our ongoing projects. Some of these topics have been or are currently being addressed by our colleagues, and we were able to discuss them briefly, including MOOCs, wetland restoration, heathland restoration using regionally harvested seeds, green roofs, and the development of vegetation in various disturbed habitats. The faculty garden also inspired our colleagues to explore the potential of an area near their university as a demonstration site for ecological restoration.
The Nature Restoration Regulation has been in place since 2024, but how are we doing with the preparation of the National Nature Restoration Plan, which the Czech Republic must submit in the fall? And what should we focus on? Are we overlooking anything? Anthropogenic biotopes, especially those covering large areas, are key to restoration at the landscape level and can complement existing networks of protected areas. What's more, even in areas where minerals have been extracted, natural processes or assisted restoration can create rare biotopes that are disappearing from our landscape. Klára Řehounková focused on this topic in her contribution to the conference "Diversity of Approaches in Landscape Ecology: Natural and Social Sciences, Restoration Ecology and Landscape Planning" organized by the Czech Society for Landscape Ecology, which took place on February 12 in České Budějovice. The subsequent discussion pointed out that we are still at the starting line with landscape-level restoration planning and that we will not reach our goal without restoring anthropogenic habitats. One of the aids on the road to successful restoration could be the DERTO platform, which is being created as part of the TEAM#UP project and offers a summary of educational and teaching materials across Europe.
At the beginning of February, we participated in the conference Two Days with Biology Didactics to gain inspiration and, in particular, present and promote the TEAM#UP project and the DERTO platform. The aim was to raise awareness of the existence of the project and the platform, and promote the possibility of using its teaching resources among secondary school teachers. This was our third time participating in the conference, which is organized annually by the Faculty of Education, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. This time, we let our two students take the lead. In his 45-minute workshop, Šimon first summarized the possibilities of using virtual tours in teaching and then guided the participants step by step through the creation of their own virtual tour. Later on, in front of a full auditorium of teachers, Janča presented the TEAM#UP project, the DERTO platform, its resources, and their use in teaching. As an example, she used a worksheet on finding the differences in the species richness of invertebrates on intensively and extensively mown urban grasslands. Both presentations were a success, and we would like to thank Šimon and Janča for their efforts.
At the beginning of February, we accepted a kind invitation from the Church Primary and Secondary School in Pilsen to give a lecture on restoration ecology to their third- and fourth-year students.
It is kind of a tradition to look back at the year that just ended when a new one begins. We also would like to take a moment to remember all the experiences, the new skills we acquired, and the adrenaline that came with spending last year out on the Šumava springs. The year 2025 brought us tons of adventures out there as well as a few minor obstacles. But we proved to ourselves that neither bad weather nor the need to head into the field at five a.m. with a flashlight in hand can stop us from getting to know this habitat better.
The traditional conference of the Czech Botanical Society took place during the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of November. This year's theme was research abroad. As you may already know from our webpage, we are active not only in the Czech Republic but also conduct sampling in various other countries.
In June, together with the students of our partner school in Benešov, we collected seed biomass and seeds of herbs from a species-rich donor meadow in Konopiště (