I am Troodia Theodorou, I am 28 years old and I am from Limassol. At the moment, I collaborate with the Forest School in Cyprus, a school in which knowledge comes naturally, experientially and in a humanistic way to both, children and facilitators.
The main reason why I am part of the school is because I believe that we need to understand life better, as well as relationships and feelings within ourselves, others and the planet. For this, I believe that the more effective way to do so, is to (re)turn inwards to our nature which is not other than being in nature with empathy, care and love.
In 2015, I graduated from the Pedagogical Department – Primary Education of the University of Cyprus. While studying to become a teacher, I did a six-month Erasmus program at the University of Eastern Finland, where I completed part of my teaching practice in a Finnish primary school. Also, I did a three-month Erasmus program in the Netherlands where I was working as a journalist helping students with video editing programs in their educational projects. In 2016, I entered the Science Education Pedagogical Research team of the University of Cyprus conducting European research for STEM Education. In 2018 I obtained my master’s degree from the University of Edinburgh in Outdoor Environmental and Sustainability Education. During my studies, I worked as a facilitator in forest school programs at Athalassa’s National Park in Cyprus, forest school assistant in Portsmouth and as a primary teacher in Scottish public schools
In 2019-2021 I worked for the Ministry of Education and Culture, both in public primary schools and in an environmental center under the National Environmental Education Network of Cyprus. During summer 2021, I moved to Greece and delivered outdoor and environmental programs for children. I participated in various seminars and conferences in Cyprus and abroad for Environmental Education, Sustainability, Environmental Psychology and Outdoor and Adventurous Learning.
At the moment, I write my first journal publication in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh raising the subject “empathy and humanistic education in developing environmental awareness”. I completed the beginner’s rock climbing course and the Hiking leader course delivered by Cyprus Mountaineering Climbing & Orienteering Federation.