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

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

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 The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country is a wildlife trust covering Birmingham and the Black Country in the West Midlands of England. It covers five of the seven districts of the West Midlands county: Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell ...

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 setting in Europe. The centre is set in landscaped grounds (originally a

council yard A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

), providing a resource for learning and play. The

Soho Loop The Soho Loop is a section of the eighteenth-century Old BCN Main Line canal in Birmingham, England, about west of the city centre, which opened to traffic on 6 November 1769, and was bypassed in September 1827 by a straight section of the ...

of the

BCN Main Line The BCN Main Line, or Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line is the evolving route of the Birmingham Canal between Birmingham and Wolverhampton in England. The name ''Main Line'' was used to distinguish the main Birmingham to Wolverhampton rout ...

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 The Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB) is the leading network for sustainable building professionals in the United Kingdom. Membership of the AECB includes local authorities, housing associations, builders, architects, design ...

, 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 A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. * Training 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. whe ...

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, tow ...

youth and play workers Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Yout ...

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 only ...

for students in higher education and teacher training. *

Afterschool activities ''Afterschool'' is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Antonio Campos and stars Ezra Miller in their film debut. Filmed at the Pomfret School in Pomfret, Connecticut, ''Afterschool'' premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in th ...

and study support for children of different ages. *

Demonstrations Demonstration may refer to: * Demonstration (acting), part of the Brechtian approach to acting * Demonstration (military), an attack or show of force on a front where a decision is not sought * Demonstration (political), a political rally or prote ...

habitat creation In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

in small urban spaces. * A venue for meetings, workshops and

training days 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. It ...

* 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 even ...

References

External links

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