Swedish Naturalists Visit Three Rivers Park District

A delegation of Swedish outdoor educators is spending a week with Three Rivers Park District. The five representatives from Uppsala are here to learn how Three Rivers and Minneapolis Parks operate. The tour will see them checking out a restored prairie at Crow-Hassan Park Reserve and biking on Nine Mile Creek trail. They’ll even paddle around the Chain of Lakes.

The education flows both ways. The Swedish crew will give a talk to Three Rivers about how they approach the job back home. Three Rivers representatives say it’s all part of the pursuit of best practices. “It’s a great way that we can learn more and do more to engage people,” says Karl Huemiller of Three Rivers. “See how other people are doing things.”

His visitors agree. Biologist Emil Nilsson of Uppsala’s Biotopia says teaching people to appreciate life on Earth is especially important in the era of climate change. “I don’t know what you had for breakfast,” he says. “But I had cereals and perhaps I ate 10, 15 different species of plants. And also some animal products – butter. So we are fully dependent on the living world and we really need to realize that.”

Three Rivers hopes to reciprocate by sending their own delegation to Sweden in the coming years.

Maple Grove