RZSS Highland Wildlife Park - Learning Hive

Educational equipment

The Gordon & Ena Baxter Foundation was delighted to play a part in funding new equipment for a dedicated centre for innovative STEM learning at Highland Wildlife Park.

Situated at the entrance to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) Kincraig attraction, The Learning Hive has been purpose-designed for visits from local schools as well as community groups. The spectacular building - overlooking the Inch Marshes and Glen Feshie - has been created using climate change reduction techniques and has all the accessibility features needed to engage people of all ages and abilities.

Its uses are diverse from a Summer School programme to conservation lectures and a growing outreach programme, led by the RZSS Discovery and Learning Team. It is all aimed at inspiring visitors to protect nature and Scotland’s native wildlife through immersive and impactful learning experiences.

The Foundation’s £15,000 award helped kit-out the classroom areas of the £1.5 million centre, which forms part of a wider multi-million investment in the park. That includes a visitor centre with a café and shop, an interactive exhibition and a hilltop den which showcases the conservation work that RZSS and its partners are working on to save threatened species.

This is the second time that the Foundation has supported the RZSS’s work at Kincraig, with a 2015 award enabling the creation of a wildlife garden. It lies close to the Learning Hive and is used by the Discovery and Learning team as part of their educational activities.  

Highland Wildlife Park
A woman stands and smiles in front of a modern wooden building with large windows. She is wearing a navy blue polo shirt with the RZSS logo and dark jeans. The area is paved with stone tiles and has picnic tables. The weather is sunny with a blue sky and light cloud.

"It is more important than ever to engage and inspire people to create a world where nature is protected, valued and loved.

"The Gordon and Ena Baxter Foundation are helping RZSS do exactly that – transforming awareness about the wildlife and landscapes of the Cairngorms National Park and inspiring positive actions by visitors and local communities."

 

RZSS