Archduk :: Scientific life :: Ecological education of children

“In his book Loose Sheets from Abbazia (1886), Ludwig Salvator writes: ‘If this book reaches parents who are making an effort to instil in their children, from a young age, this love of nature and this joy in insignificant things... Teach them to appreciate the minute details of how a leaf rustles in a midday breeze, how a wave breaks on a beach, how a butterfly flies, and how a bee buzzes... If you do that, you will have taught your progeny the best means of finding happiness on earth.’

The Archduke intended for this environmentalist education to be dynamic. It is important to learn to observe and enjoy nature. One cannot imagine the pleasure experienced by a person who learns, from infancy, to pay attention to the miraculous world of the sea. As his knowledge of nature grows, so does his happiness... Self-perfection can be sought through admiration of and identification with nature.”

Trias Mercant, S., L’Arxiduc Lluís Salvador, una història de vida, Cort, 1994.