Educational mission

Boy with fossil

Together, we discover the richness of nature. Whatever you know or feel, there's always more to be enthusiastic about, more to be learned and more to investigate.

Six core
values

Our points of departure are six core values

  1. Wondering
    We use wonderment as the natural starting point of the learning process. Wonderment expresses itself as questions, which can lead to curiosity and "the desire to understand".
     
  2. Real
    We focus on real objects and real situations taken from nature, on real research examples and even on real researchers. Our objects make abstract educational concepts (such as evolution) easier to understand.
     
  3. Relevant
    We do our very best to show the richness of nature in terms of its relevance. This is because people are more likely to want to know more about a topic if it is relevant to them, but also because the relevance of nature is no longer self-evident.
     
  4. Inquisitive
    You learn most about nature by doing your own research. That is why learning through research forms the backbone of our educational vision. Wherever possible, we encourage visitors to find out more for themselves.
     
  5. Science-positive
    We believe it is important for our visitors to gain an insight into how scientific knowledge is acquired. Our aim is to encourage a science-positive attitude, stimulating our visitors to do as real scientists do: question the world around them, search for answers and appreciate their true value.
     
  6. Activating
    Under the pressure of what we see happening to the earth, we are driven by curiosity and a sense of responsibility. By learning to look differently and making use of our natural inclination to do things (recognizing action possibilities), we stimulate changes in our attitude and behavior towards nature.