The Centre of the Earth is a purpose-built environmental education centre in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, run by the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country.

Location

It is 1.5 km away from

City Centre and was opened in 1993, and is claimed to be the first such purpose built centre in an

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

setting in Europe. The centre is set in landscaped grounds (originally a council yard), providing a resource for learning and play. The Soho Loop of the BCN Main Line Canal is adjacent, and the centre has its own wharf, which has been recently restored.

Building

The architect for the timber-framed building, which demonstrates the sustainable use of natural resources, was David Lea. Keith Hall, a founding member of the Association for Environment Conscious Building, built the centre. The building and its grounds are easily accessible to people with limited mobility.

Activities

The centre is used as a base for a range of educational activities including: * Activities for Primary and Secondary schools. *

Training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

for

teachers A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. wh ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

, youth and play workers *

Workshops Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the onl ...

for students in higher education and teacher training. * Afterschool activities and study support for children of different ages. * Demonstrations of habitat creation in small urban spaces. * A venue for meetings, workshops and training days * A place to enjoy and study

urban wildlife Urban wildlife is wildlife that can live or thrive in urban/suburban environments or around densely populated human settlements such as townships. Some urban wildlife, such as house mice, are synanthropic, ecologically associated with and ev ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Centre Of The Earth Museums in Birmingham, West Midlands Nature centres in England