Vidzeme Creates “Sensory Bags” for Exploring Nature
The Vidzeme Planning Region has produced three “Sensory Bags” for exploring nature through different senses, as part of an Estonia–Latvia cross-border project. They are available in Sigulda, Alūksne and Salacgrīva.
The Vidzeme Planning Region has created three “Sensory Bags” for creative nature discovery under the Interreg Estonia–Latvia programme project “Development of Accessible Tourism Routes” (Access Routes). The bags are meant to let anyone get to know nature through sight, hearing, touch and other senses. They are issued at the Gauja National Park nature centre in Sigulda, the Alūksne Tourist Information Centre and the North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve nature centre in Salacgrīva.
Designer Guna Akona is the author and implementer of the concept. The bags were developed in cooperation with nature experts and representatives of design and tourism, drawing also on the experience of the Interreg Europe project “CIBioGo”. Before wider use, they were tested with primary-school-age children.
A shared theme: the habitat of the edge
All the bags share the theme of “edge habitats”, places where several ecosystems meet. Kits have been made for exploring a riverside, a lakeside and a seashore. They allow visitors to explore the shore of Lake Alūksne, the seashore at Salacgrīva and the banks of the Gauja along the Līgatne nature trails near the Gūdu Cliffs. Local birds accompany the hike: the crested grebe, the herring gull and the sand martin.
The bags contain descriptions and samples, worksheets, practical tools and materials. Tasks invite users to observe, touch, feel, smell and even taste. Some materials must be returned to the bag after the tasks, while others may be taken along as inspiration for further study.
The bags are intended for a small group or family on a short self-guided hike. Afterwards they must be returned to the pick-up point so others can use them. Organisers advise checking opening hours in advance.
Ilze Liepa, project manager at the Vidzeme Planning Region, says the bags help people notice and understand places where different ecosystems meet, and make learning about nature accessible to everyone.
The bags were created within the Estonia–Latvia cross-border cooperation programme 2021–2027 project (EE-LV00043).
