Education Nature Park (Activities for Academies & Schools)

Go on a journey to get to know your outdoor space and use creative decision-making to improve your grounds for both people and nature. These free programmes provide all educators with the resources, support and guidance to embed climate and nature into learning in a way that suits your setting and learners.  

www.educationnaturepark.org.uk

Partners for nature

The National Education Nature Park and Climate Action Awards are being developed by a partnership led by the Natural History Museum with the Royal Horticultural Society, supported by the Royal Society, Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), Manchester Metropolitan University, Learning Through Landscapes, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the National Biodiversity Network Trust. The partnership is working with geospatial partner Esri UK who are providing the digital mapping platform for the Nature Park programme.

Collectively we are the UK’s leading institutions within our fields, with world-class expertise across schools and Higher Education, science research, and public engagement with nature. Responding to the urgency of the planetary emergency and the Department for Education's Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the way we teach climate education and support young people to act and increase biodiversity across England. 

The National Education Nature Park programme's five-step process can help you to structure your thinking about improving your outdoor areas for nature. Guidance for the first set of improvements - grey to green - can be found here. Use our Nature Park resources with your children and young people to help them to understand their site and to identify what improvements would be best to make. If you're starting with a grey site, read our tips on changing grey areas to green spaces here.

Make sure that you continue to involve children and young people when it comes to making the changes. Keeping them engaged deepens their connection with nature and gives them a sense of ownership over the changes being made.

For some tasks, such as removing hard standing, digging a pond or building raised beds, you may need to bring in an external contractor or seek professional advice. There's also a vast network of local nature enthusiasts and growers who can advise you or help support your activities. This page provides some considerations to think about when finding help as well as some useful organisations. Find out more about how you can fund the improvements you want to make for nature on our Finding funding page.