New multi-million euro education centre opens at Fota Wildlife Park in Cork

FROM the humblest of beginnings, Fota Wild Life Park’s education programme sprung to life in 1995, with no classroom facilities and one zoologist assigned the mammoth task of its creation.

This month, they host the official opening of a €5.5 million state-of-the-art Education, Conservation and Research Centre (ECRC), to accommodate the growing number of learners attending this award-winning educational facility.

The programme was the brainchild of current Director of Fota Wildlife Park, Sean McKeown, and executed with excellence by its Head of Education, Lynda McSweeney.

Their vision has been consistent from the very beginning, creating a quality educational experience with a focus on promoting a greater respect for the natural world.

Fota Education; The Beginning

Fota’s educational programme has achieved a great deal over nearly 30 years. Lynda, Zoologist and Head of Education, has been instrumental in its success and ongoing development since she took on the project back in 1995.

“Sean asked me to set up some education programmes, and it just went from there,” said Lynda.

When she first arrived, her training facilities comprised of the generous lend of the library at Fota House to host her training events, along with a walking tour of Fota itself. Fast forward almost 30 years, and she is now leading a team of up to 14 during peak season in the new ECRC.

Along the way, the quality of learning at Fota has been recognised at the highest level with the Sandford Awards. This accolade is a trusted certification mark for high-quality education provision, which is acknowledged by schools and other educational institutions in Ireland and the UK.

In November 2023, Fota Wildlife Park was awarded the fourth consecutive Sandford Award for Heritage Education. As one of only three institutions in Ireland that have been awarded this prestigious award, It sets Fota apart as a centre of excellence for natural heritage education.

Why Build?

Until the opening of the new build, Lynda and her team were teaching hundreds of thousands of students between two classrooms, but they reached their upper limit at peak times, limiting their potential for further growth.

We had begun to exceed the carrying capacity of the area. 

"We were having to turn away schools at certain times of the year because of the demand for the services,” said Lynda.

Thanks to this investment, the team are now well positioned not only to meet current and future demand but also diversify their offering at Fota ECRC to generate much-needed revenue to support the park’s ongoing conservation projects.

“We’ve gone from a capacity on site for formal engagement programmes of what would have been a maximum of about 120 to seat at any one, to over 500, excluding the atrium area,” explained Lynda.

The New Building

The ECRC features state-of-the-art classroom facilities, a lecture theatre that can accommodate up to 260 persons, which can be subdivided into two classrooms to facilitate a total on site educational capacity of 500, a high ceiling atrium, changing facilities for people with additional needs, a café, and an open-air plaza with fixed canvas canopy to allow outdoor seating for school lunches etc. Upstairs includes office space and, in time, a laboratory space for research, too. Outside, a sensory garden is underway.

The whole idea of the garden is that it will offer a series of quiet areas you can go into. It’ll have a sensory element to it. There’ll be a little pond that’s being developed.

“All the plants that will be going there will be native, and the idea is that it will facilitate a haven for wildlife and for people to get away to if they have sensory issues, for example. It’ll be a major educational tool.”

The building of the new ECRC reflects the ethos of Fota, with sustainability at the heart of the centre’s design. Sustainable materials are incorporated throughout the centre, including a beautiful parquet floor in the auditorium made of recycled Jameson Distillery whiskey barrels.

Passive design elements include the use of solar panels, reducing the centre’s energy usage to close to net zero, and rainwater collected from the roof, which is stored and used to flush toilets.

Nature-friendly solutions include the use of bat-friendly lights, bird-friendly glass with visual markers of birds of prey to deter window strikes of other birds, external living walls - a space for invertebrates to reside beneath the striking Robinia external cladding - and landscaping with 40 species of native plants that will provide food and shelter for native wildlife.

The team took a nature-first approach to existing habitats, building around a mature horse chestnut tree. To minimise the risk of damage to the root systems of the yew trees that squirrels occupy, they cantilevered part of the building.

The existing classrooms were incorporated into the new build, a decision made for both economic and environmental reasons.

“Because these structures were sound, we didn’t see the point of wasting money and contributing to further environmental degradation by knocking them, so we’ve retrofitted them in many ways-installing air conditioning, and adding windows.”

The building is painted to reflect its surroundings, with natural tones throughout, creating an aesthetically pleasing oasis of calm.

The project was managed by MMD Construction, whom Lynda is quick to praise.

“They were an absolute pleasure to work with. They really took into account what our vision actually was. 

It’s exactly what it was drawn out to be, down to the finest of details.

She is also grateful for the Office of Public Works’ support of this build, transforming hopes and dreams into a reality that will benefit Fota, its research team, and the thousands of learners who will visit the centre.

“It cost in excess of €5.5 million to build, and It came in on time and within budge A substantial donation was granted to us from the Office of Public Works, which facilitated the completion of the building itself. I think that without their assistance, it would have been a pipe dream.”

It is evident that every feature that went into the design of the building was given careful expert consideration and the building itself is a lesson in sustainability and respect for nature.

The idea was bringing nature in, and that learning begins at arrival…Everything in the centre is designed to be a learning tool. 

The team

While the team began with Lynda, now, during peak times, there can be up to 14 on staff. Despite the expanding team members, Lynda continues to share her expertise with visitors to the centre.

“I teach almost every day. The idea is it’s all hands on deck. Regardless of your position here, it’s quality across the board. I’m very lucky and extremely enthusiastic about my very dedicated team; almost all are zoology graduates. I think I’m very fortunate that I work with a great team of people that are not only colleagues but also really good friends.”

The offering

There is something for everyone on offer at the ECRC, including primary, secondary and third-level modules. Their Leaving Certificate Practical Field Ecology Module is the most popular, and it is easy to see why.

“The advantage to participating in it is quite simply down to the fact that we cover the vast majority of the theory to Leaving Certificate level. They also have a further three hours of practical field work associated with it.

“The general feedback that we get from both schools and students is that it was well worth their while,” said Lynda.

Importantly, all of the education opportunities offered are at a very competitive price point, helping to ensure all can access their offering in line with their inclusion policies.

The last thing that I would ever want is to offer services that financially inhibit participation.

“We sponsor quite a few programmes, even through the C PLUS programme for DEIS schools, where they come on site, and we provide complimentary tours to them.”

At a fundamental level, Lynda has two core messages for learners to take away from their experience at the ECRC.

“First of all, they recognise that biodiversity is facing a crisis, and also that they recognise how dependent we are on biodiversity for our quality of life.”

The future

With this new and substantial investment in place, the future looks brighter than ever for Fota’s ECRC, and opportunities abound. Lynda is already seeing an impact on numbers and the potential for diversifying the centre’s offering.

“I think numbers will increase substantially. That would be the first thing we’re already seeing. 

We’re ahead 20% of last year alone to the end of June in terms of our demand for our primary and secondary school services.

“Corporate events are becoming very, very well established; word is getting out there. We’re very fortunate; quite a lot of companies have availed of what we’re doing here and on site and have promoted us. We’re just about to officially launch the centre on June 28, so we’ll have quite a significant amount of exposure there.

“I would say that it will be a fine balancing act between our providing high-quality educational services and also accommodating corporate requests at the same time. I think the great thing is that the corporates that we’ve had here so far share our commitment to sustainability and environmental protection.

“The aim here long term would be to host, apart from conferences, corporate events, public engagement weekends, which we’re obviously doing this summer during the months of July and August, is that we would like to venture into the likes of concerts, family-based or otherwise.

We’re getting a lot of diverse requests from corporate groups, from people seeking to host weddings here, having receptions here for the launch of events or the launch of a product, for example.

We have one or two things in the pipeline that we’re looking at, at the moment, that I’m hoping will come to fruition that are in line with what we do here.

“We’ll still promote sustainability and education and conservation and will have to effectively generate essential funding for projects, not just for the critically endangered exotics that we have in the park, but for the indigenous wildlife, that are ongoing projects with us here as well. There’s so much going on behind the scenes here at the moment!”

With a multifunctional, inclusive and inviting space at the new ECRC for the team to deliver their award-winning programme and host a new and diverse range of clientele, it is clear from humble beginnings come great things.

For more see https://www.fotawildlife.ie/