The environment talks to and teaches us, but only if we know which questions to ask, and to do this we have to consult books and visit sites in order find out about trees, flowers and the various ecosystems. In Italy, the Modena local authorities have been amongst the pioneers in promoting educational natural history visits for schoolchildren, and the Associazione Itineroteca Emilia Romagna based at the G. Ferraris middle school has its own classroom with a library to encourage students to organise visits to nearby places of interest where pleasure and education are combined.