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Only in Wageningen: lesson in making fire and tracking

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June 14, 2021

For the new course 'Anthropology of Basic Nature Skills', university lecturer Koen Arts takes you outside. He lets his students track, make fire and navigate, but without Google maps. Why? Because he believes that you learn better when you use your body and heart in addition to your mind.

Climbing trees fits in perfectly with the university's study of Forestry and Nature Management.
Ester, student at Wageningen University & Research

Theory from a book, experienced in practical lessons

By teaching skills such as tracking, stalking prey and making fire, Arts wants to reconnect his students with nature. "I combine practical lessons in the forest with theory. For example, the students read about the San Bushmen from the Kalahari Desert in Africa. Then they try to see if they can sneak up on a fellow student just like the San, walking barefoot in the forest without him hearing them."

Early Birds went to take a look at the lesson. Listen to the radiofragment.

Instead of just diving into books, people learn much better when they also get the knowledge through other ways
Koen Arts, lecturer at Wageningen University & Research