«Patriotism begins with a love for our land, our aul, city, region, with love for a small motherland», said Nursultan Nazarbayev in the program article «Looking to the Future: Modernizing Public Consciousness» [1]. - A small  motherland is the place where you were born and  grow up and at times  you lived your whole life. There are mountains, rivers, stories about their origin, names of people left in the memory of the people. All this is important. The special attitude to the native land, its culture, customs, traditions is the most important feature of patriotism. Ecological and region studying activity is significant from the standpoint of the child's personal development - correctly organized, systematically implemented in educational institutions under the guidance of people with ecological culture, it has an intense influence on his mind, feelings, will.

There are many different effective forms of environmental and region studying work: KVNs, courts, actions, processions, subbotniks, hikes, research and design works, clubs, etc.

In educational activities to share experience in this area there is participation in scientific and practical conferences, flash mobs, quests, forums of various levels. Let's more details on the forum.

The forum is a grouping of people for solving and discussing any common issues. The international forum which was held under the theme "Regional studies as a factor in the education of the spiritual foundations of patriotism in the space of a small  motherland ", held on October 12, 2017 in Kostanay, was organized with the purpose to share experience in educating the younger generation of spiritual patriotism in a small space Homeland with the involvement of the scientific community on the conceptual basis of the program "Rukhani zhangyru".

Scientists of Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Great Britain  in the framework of the plenary and sectional sessions  exchanged experience on the formation of the spiritual foundations of patriotism by the regional history forces.

The doors were hospitably opened for the forum by the school of children's creativity of the Akimat of Kostanay, the art gallery, the local history museum, the regional library for children and youth named after Ibrai Altynsarin, the state archive of the Kostanay region, the regional memorial museum of Ibrai Altynsarin, the regional universal scientific library named after Leo Tolstoy and the regional educational and methodological center for additional education.

Before the plenary session there was an exhibition of educational organizations and local history museums  organized in the following directions: «The pride of the nation is an example for the upbringing of patriotism», «A successful family is the basis for the education of a future successful state», «History is the source of patriotism», «Geography of sacred places» (Where the homeland begins), «Literature is the depth of the people's soul», «The Museum is a complex of preservation and development of the culture of the people», «To love nature means to love the Motherland» (ecological education).

In the formation of spiritual and moral education the careful attitude to the nature of the native land is equally important  as the education of each student's correct ecological thinking and  ecological culture.

 CSI «Secondary School № 11» of the Akimat of Rudny town presented the exhibition «Native Nature Is The Reflection of Our Souls» at the forum reflecting in it the ecology and local  lore activities of students and teaching staff: a photo exhibition of contests, actions, extra-curricular activities of different levels; collections on the results of the annual city festival-competition «The Cranes Are Flying», published in three languages (Russian, Kazakh, English) a collection of didactic games on the development of the ecological culture of preschool children and junior schoolchildren «Benefits and harm to nature from the work of people in different seasons» (authors N.L. Glazyrina and A. Zh. Zhusupbekova), collections of articles by teachers on environmental education; children's creativity (crafts from various materials and made in various techniques); scientific works of students (Telegina O., Koshurnikova L., Bikbulatova A. and others) of ecological and  region studying  direction, etc.

Participating in the forum we became convinced once again that the value of environmental and local history work is that it allows students to create a complete system of knowledge on the natural wealth of their native land, expand the cognitive sphere, develop research skills and creativity, develop skills of self-education  that is an important means of spiritual and moral education.