The article deals with the use of active forms of learning in the work of an environmental summer school. The experience of using active teaching methods in higher education has been studied; examples of summer environmental schools in world and Russian practice are given. The work of the summer school “Monitoring of delta ecosystems”, which took place at Astrakhan State University and the Astrakhan Reserve, is considered. The technology of conducting a summer school is described, starting from the organization of competitive selection of participants and ending with the defense of mini-projects. The criteria for competitive selection are listed taking into account their importance. The summer school program is presented. Using specific examples, the application of active teaching methods in lectures and workshops is examined in detail. Summing up the work of the summer scientific school has shown the high efficiency of using active teaching methods to form the research competencies of its participants and their further professional activities.