Bealtaine is a project of the Luxemburg Guide and Scout Movement (LGS) and the Forest Management, supported by among others Archeosite d'Aubechies in Belgium. It is chiefly about learning children (7 – 23 years old) to appreciate the need to protect the environment.
The main focus for the Scouting Centre in Neihaischen has always been environmental education. A direct comparison is made between the exposure to nature of present day aboriginal people of Oceania or Native Americans on the one side and our ancestors the Celts on the other side.
Conveying knowledge about the environment and our connection to it via stories, games and hands-on activities enables the children to experience the environment we live in and allows them to understand nature in a global context. The basic method is about “learning by doing”; the activities around the farm are a means to actively involve the children in Celtic culture to pass down an understanding of how man and the environment are connected to each other. Social and historic elements are included in the topical modules, like rites et cetera. The Celtic house is a first step which will later be followed by building a 'native' village with elements like Indian tipis or African round huts.
The construction of the village infrastructure requires a lot of hands-on work. Manual labour makes oneself more aware of being self sufficient in harmony with nature.
The Scouting organises camps and workshops, themed with for example making stone sculptures, cookery, ceramics (making pottery and making & firing kilns), forging iron, iron smelting, making shields, casting bronze and weaving & spinning. The yearly International Celtic Festival at the end of May holds more than 30 different kinds of workshops, demonstrations, music, shows, sales booths from Belgium, Netherland, Germany, Scotland, France, Sweden and Luxemburg.
