A report on two case studies (part of a wider PhD) showing how painting a mural using Natural History Illustration techniques can:
engage students with their local environment,
meet some Australian Curriculum objectives and NSW syllabus outcomes;
create a beautiful artwork for the school and students to be proud of, and all to enjoy; plus,
demonstrate a process that can be repeated in other locations.
Thus, at a time of environmental crisis, it opens a pathway to the fostering of a positive psychoterratic state: endemophilia, (the love of local and regional environments by people of the area), changing the focus for students from what has been lost, to what they love. This is particularly important as people are more likely to protect what they love.
