Environmental Activism and Youth Education

• In Event: Social Activism in Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia

Abstract

This paper explores nature education in Moscow of the late Stalin and Khrushchev era, and the local grassroots environmental activism it inspired. Dedicated to teaching the next generation to study nature, environmental pedagogues developed a multi-faceted program. Looking back on their time in the nature youth movement, former members dwell on the love and respect for the flora and fauna their teachers instilled in them, and the remarkable spirit of independence that characterized their movement. While making headlines only in specialized journals, the work of nature pedagogues inspired local grassroots activism, directed especially against poachers, and was the beginning of many a career dedicated to science and nature protection.

Author

• Mirjam Voerkelius, U of Maryland, Baltimore County