Het Groene Wiel (The Green Circle) was given its name because the word 'Wiel' has different meanings in Dutch.

1. As a carriage-wheel with a cross on the upper spoke, it's the main symbol in the city-arm of Wageningen.

2. 'Wiel' is also the name of circular lakes that are the remnants of old dike-bursts. In their present beauty and historical background they symbolise the dynamical balance between man and environment.

3. A 'Wiel' is also a circle. Circular processes are the basis of a sustainable society and therefore awareness of these processes and their implications is an important object of our environmental education.

Our organisation The Green Circle is the Environmental Education Centre of Wageningen. It was founded in 1980 by the town council, primary schools and NGO-volunteers. Teachers were not satisfied with teaching biology only from books and they were unable (due to lack of time) to organise lessons with concrete materials, living plants or animals or excursions.

Preparing this kind of activities and making them available and useful for all teachers was and is our objective. We're still a volunteer-organisation, nowadays with a small professional staff. Activity-basics Giving children the knowledge, abilities and motivation for a sustainable way of living is our main objective. In primary-school age (in Holland: 4 -12 yr.), the emphasis lies on learning 'environmental language', understanding some basic ecological concepts, regarding the environment as valuable and awareness of the complexity of environmental issues. Learning takes place with concrete materials or in concrete situations. Objectives, means and organisation must be clear and easy to use for teachers and students. A variety of learning activities make the programs attractive for students with different learning capabilities and interests.