VISIT TO LAKE KERKINI
Lake Kerkini is one of the most important wetlands in Greece and among the most visited wetlands globally. It is protected under the Ramsar Convention and is part of the Natura 2000 European network. The visit to lake Kerkini aims to serve as a case study for the graduate students of the MA Animal Welfare, Ethics and the Law. The students are likely to gain several benefits from this visit: they will form a cognitive and experiential connection with the problems faced by the animals within their own ecosystems, they will experience first-hand the human-animal relationship in the natural environment and gain an understanding of the ethical rules that should govern it, and they will formulate an aesthetic stance towards animals and their ecosystems by experiencing and viewing their presence.
In order to achieve the aforementioned goals, the graduate students will:
1a. Carry out a presentation on the history and importance of the lake Kerkini wetland.
1b. Carry out a presentation on the threats faced by Greek fauna, owing to climate change.
1c. Converse with local stakeholders regarding the problems associated with lake Kerkini.
2. Visit the lakeside area of the wetland and the riparian forest by boat.
3. Compile short reports after this visit and upload them to the website of the MA Animal Welfare, Ethics and the Law.
The lake Kerkini visit is optional. The travel and accommodation expenses will be fully covered by the MA.
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS
The graduate students are encouraged to participate in wildlife photography workshops.
The aim of these workshops that will take place in Greek wetlands (e.g. lake Kerkini, Antonis Tritsis park, etc.) is to allow students to experience the human-animal relationship in the natural environment and the ethical rules that should govern it, as well as to formulate an aesthetic stance towards animals and their ecosystems by photographing them. Every workshop will entail a group meeting with the workshop leader in a University facility, in order to discuss the technical and aesthetic aspects of the pictures that will be taken during the workshop.
Selected pictures that will have been taken in the context of the workshops will be uploaded to the website of the MA Animal Welfare, Ethics and the Law at the end of the second semester. These could be included in a photographic exhibition and printed into a photo album.
Workshop organiser: wildlife photographer and MA Animal Welfare, Ethics and the Law lecturer, Professor Dimitris Lamprellis.