Learning outdoors: the Forest School approach
This paper outlines the role that Forest School can play in children's development. With over 100 Forest Schools in England, 20 in Scotland and 20 in Wales, this concept is growing across Britain. Forest School involves children having regular contact with woodland over an extended period of time; it allows them to become familiar, and have contact, with the natural environment. The recent Learning outside the classroom manifesto highlights the importance of children and young people gaining experience of the world beyond the classroom. Twenty-four children from seven schools in Oxfordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire were observed over an eight-month period as they attended Forest School. Improvements in the children's confidence, motivation and concentration, language and communication and physical skills were recorded by teachers and Forest School leaders. Changes took time to occur, highlighting the need for repeated and regular contact with the natural environment, especially for children who do n...
Background ::: Smallholders have begun to take advantage of a growing pool of investment in climate change mitigation. Meanwhile, early movers in this area are working to develop innovative models that will allow projects to be financially sustainable and scalable while benefiting local actors. This study focuses on two of these projects in East Africa, managed by Vi Agroforestry in Kenya and ECOTRUST in Uganda. They engaged in a participatory action research process to identify ways that local actors could take on expanded roles within the projects.