How Outdoor Learning/ Education with Young People contributes to Environmental education & sustainability:

A Welsh Assesmbly Government Policy Perspective

Jane Hutt AM (Minister for Children Education and Life Long Learning).

Good afternoon everyone, what a pleasure it is to be with you at this truly international gathering, to discuss such an important field.

Fi’n hapus iawn i fod gydach, ac i siarad ‘da chi ar y testyn pwysig hwn.

Yours - ours - is a great mission.  It is to connect young people with the natural world; help them understand the living, breathing earth they live upon. The concept of sustainability can only have meaning to them when that understanding is gained, when that connection has been made.

But as we know, the context is ironic: just at a time when we need sustainability ingrained in our young people, lifestyles often see them insulated from the natural world.  This is something we have to challenge, because their generation, more than any other before, will need environmental awareness, a willingness to embody sustainable development, and an enthusiasm for active citizenship.

I’m pleased to say that in Wales, we start with an advantage: Sustainable Development is a core principle within the Government of Wales Act 1998, the legislation that founded our Assembly. And we are proud to be one of the few administrations in the world to have this distinctive statutory duty. It means that Sustainable Development is at the heart of decision-making across the government portfolio.

Enhancing the natural environment and respecting its limits is one of the core principles that underpin our approach to sustainable development in Wales.  But we realise that real change will only happen with the commitment and active empowerment of people and communities. Because pursuing sustainable development means that people of all ages will have to make changes to their lives, adjusting personal consumption to save our shared environment. Government has to give a lead here, and that is what we are doing.

The role of my department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills is to make sure young people not only learn about and value the natural environment, understanding the concepts of carrying capacity and the impact of their decisions, but that they form a relationship with the natural world that makes them want to cherish it and protect it.

So in September 2006, we published our ESDGC  - our Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship - Action Plan. This ambitious plan contains actions for every education sector and developed thinking beyond the classroom context, to wider actions through leadership, through partnership, and through institutional management.

And yes – it makes clear how vital it is for young people to gain first-hand experience of the natural world, so they develop a sense of responsibility and respect for the environment. Although in another ironic twist we see this need in an era when many parents are unwilling to let their offspring ‘go off to explore’. Sometimes it seems we’re fighting two battles: against the physical lethargy of the MSN generation, and the concerns of ‘keep them at home’ parents.

All the greater need then for the natural environment to be a mainstay of education for the ESDGC agenda. If we are to encourage young people to live their lives sustainably and with global awareness, we have to take them out of the classroom.

This is backed up by research into ‘significant life experiences’ that influence our attitudes towards the environment. It reveals that ‘first-hand’ experience has the greatest impact. So outdoor learning is a ‘must’ for a generation that is likely to face the toughest environmental challenges yet to be experienced by mankind, in terms of climate change and pressure on natural resources.

So we have embedded natural environment as one of the 7 core aspects of ESDGC along with Climate Change, Wealth and Poverty, Choices and Decisions, and others. And our schools are starting to look at how to develop innovative ways of building it into their teaching and learning, but also into their school management and their partnerships.

I’d like to describe some examples of how this is happening.

Pembroke Primary School in Chepstow has been using the natural environment with both parents and children for language activities and games. They have used local free amenities such as nature reserves. One of the spin offs is that the parents have been reintroduced to the natural environment and shown how to use the area to enjoy and enhance learning with their children.

Forest Schools are also being used to involve youngsters with natural spaces, with children of all ages exploring biodiversity and environmental protection in a fun and imaginative way.

And to encourage more teachers to bring first hand experience of the natural world into their teaching, my Department has included it within initial teacher training and given schools an ‘out of classroom learning’ booklet to help. We have also featured the outdoors heavily in our ground-breaking educational initiative for 3 - 7 year olds - the Foundation Phase.

The Foundation Phase is our vision for transforming the life chances of our youngest children and is a huge package of change requiring investment and commitment from stakeholders and partners.  At heart, it is about giving our 3-7 year olds the best educational start in life and ironing out social inequality.  It is about equipping them with the life skills to achieve. Central to it, is the promotion of discovery and independence, and a greater emphasis on using the outdoors as a learning resource.

In its ‘knowledge and understanding of the world’ section it focuses on children experiencing the familiar world through enquiry and investigation. It creates experiences that increase their curiosity about the world around them. It helps them understand people and places, living things and the work people do. Through this the children will learn to care, be responsible, and respect the environment.

Of course this early involvement with the natural world must continue as they move through formal education and we must find opportunities for them to do so through non-formal routes as well. I’m sure you’ll have heard some interesting examples of that already in this conference.

You’ll also have heard about my Department’s Strategy for the Youth Sector from Dr John Rose, but I do want to endorse the value of partnership in this area – in sectors that enhance or in some cases supplant formal education.

The work of the Urdd movement, the Scouts and Guides, Princes Trust Cymru and others, is very valuable. The example of the ‘Down to Earth’ project in Swansea is particularly interesting: it specialises in work with ‘hard to reach’ young people.  They have found that using the outdoors combined with practical, vocational skills is the best way to engage ‘disaffected’ young people in ESDGC.  They use outdoor activities including traditional and natural building, as well as adventurous activities and animal husbandry. The approach has been highly successful with young people and the project has had wide recognition for its work.

I hope that what you’ve heard so far tells you that we are enthusiastically taking up the challenge of making ESDGC a central part of our most important educational programmes. I hope it also tells you that our momentum will grow: we’re doing further work with schools and sectoral projects.

New developments on the horizon for older groups include the publication by the sector skills council Lifelong Learning UK of new standards for trainers and tutors in the lifelong learning sector – catering for those aged 16 plus. These are specific to Wales and include references to ESDGC, a positive move which will increase its prominence in the training of leaders and educators in the field.

Ladies and gentlemen I started by saying how important I feel this agenda is to the future of all of us, not just for Wales. I can only re-emphasise that point now, and thank you for your work – because it will have an important and potentially life changing impact on the young people that you work with.

I hope this conference enables you to share, and take away, insights that further energise your work in this field, and in whichever country you do it.

Diolch yn fawr i bawb am clywed i mi heddiw

Thank you very much.