No rest for awareness campaigns

School is out, but the Park's mission to educate the local area continues. This year again, many young people are benefiting from out-of-school awareness activities, coordinated and funded by the Regional Natural Park.

Reaching young people away from the classroom

The Park has always been committed to engaging with a broad audience, particularly within the framework of its long-standing mission of "educating people about the region." Since 2019, the Park's awareness-raising activities have included a component specifically tailored to leisure centers and facilities that welcome families (community centers, family spaces, etc.). Through the " PARCoureurs " program, the Park offers extracurricular activities for children and teenagers attending these facilities. More playful, with more varied approaches, and free from the constraints of the school curriculum, the PARCoureurs programs allow for a wider range of activities than those organized in primary, middle, or high schools.

Each year, the Park proposes one or more themes, which leisure centers and family spaces can then use to develop a project. The selected projects are funded by the Park , which also mobilizes qualified facilitators to carry out the planned activities: naturalist associations, local artists, etc. Furthermore, the Park can support the development of these projects in many ways, whether by suggesting activities, sharing knowledge about local resources, or identifying points of interest near the facility.

On a single theme, the PARCoureurs' projects can take many forms, depending on the educational project of the organization. While the primary objective remains the discovery and understanding of the territory and its challenges, experimentation and civic engagement are also encouraged so that everyone can feel like an active participant in their environment.

In 2026, two themes were proposed: water and biodiversity.

Following the flow of the water, to the rhythm of the bees

In the Dordogne region, 70 children from the Dronne-Belle inter-municipal community 's after-school programs have been exploring the world of water since this spring. Through fun and age-appropriate activities about the water cycle, these children, aged 3 to 11, have become true ambassadors for water in all its forms. In Mareuil-en-Périgord , after studying the major water cycle and the domestic water cycle, the children will soon be exploring the flora and fauna of the streams. In Brantôme-en-Périgord , the "Little Wolves" group discovered water in the landscape through a presentation using the Park's educational watershed model. Three field trips complemented this initiative: a visit to the Vendoire peat bogs, a biodiversity scavenger hunt at the pond, and an inventory of the aquatic wildlife of the Dronne River.

In the Haute-Vienne department, the leisure centers of the Ouest-Limousin and Pays de Nexon – Monts de Châlus inter-municipal communities showcased the "buzzing" gardens currently being developed in their respective areas. In addition to school and public events organized in these gardens , 22 activities were conducted in the spring and summer specifically for the leisure centers. Nearly 130 children and teenagers, aged 3 to 17, explored these gardens, which are ideal habitats for wild bees. In Maisonnais-sur-Tardoire , the youngsters embarked on a magical adventure, accompanied by Capucine the elf, who introduced them to the secrets of pollinating insects. After successfully completing a series of challenges, the participants were awarded the title of "Guardian of the Buzzing Garden." To continue this adventure, the children will share their experience at the Park's stand during the Maisons-sur-Tardoire Honey Festival on September 20th.

In total, 200 children benefited from the out-of-school activities, carried out by the facilitators of the Park's territorial education network : La Forêt d'Emerveille, L'ExuVie, La Soupape Sauvage, Ce que l'on sème, Mathieu Bassard and Aurélien Malric.