Interview with environmental educator Catia about her work with EcoActive.
EcoActive is a charity based in East London which runs workshops with schools and community groups. Their work with schools is usually long-term projects which focus on developing connections with nature or empowering students to take action on environmental issues.
Projects usually begin with a session exploring an issue like waste or climate change. Subsequent sessions will explore different aspects of the problem and generate ideas for ways students can address the issue in their own lives or in the school environment. Sessions will look at developing and implementing an action plan, with EcoActive supporting students and the school.
More information about EcoActive at: https://www.ecoactive.org.uk
Tackling food waste
- Survey foods which students like and don’t like.
- Work with school catering to adjust menu to reduce food waste.
- Talk about what happens to uneaten food.
- Learn about composting and worms.
Solutions focus and Action Planning
- Look at actions which are being taken by other people or organizations
- Break down the problem into small achievable steps
- Refocus big, global problems on action which can be taken in students own lives and local environments.
- Identify aspects of the problem: Obstacles, Actions, People to speak to
Forest School sessions
- Effective for developing emotional connection with nature, building up ‘soft skills’, and developing emotional intelligence
- Needs to be long-term consistent experience
- Facilitators introduce a few resources, being safe, and physical boundaries
- Participants are free to choose what they do with their time in the space
- Facilitators wrap up the session celebrating what participants did and finding out what participants want and like to do
