Malmo School of Nature

Malmö School of Nature trains educators in Malmö in outdoor education linked to nature areas in and around the city and how to develope and use the schoolyards, to increase children's learning, health and development. School of Nature cooperates with several schools, organizations and departments in Malmö. We are 7 employed and my main role is to improve schoolyards and the use of schoolyards all over Malmö.
We have an inspirational garden/life-lab in the city fringe of Malmö where classes are welcome. There is for example educational beehives, a forest garden, a fire pit, two small ponds with frogs and other biological life to explore, and a small house with thatched roof for wood-craft activities and honeymaking. The garden has been developed through projects with classes and as part of the courses for educators. Classes can also follow the activity at the bird feeding place through a web-camera.
Malmö School of Nature has founded and developed methods for the Green School Ground-project (www.gronaskolgardar.se), which is promoting outdoor education and participation combined with green investments in the schoolyards. Twenty Five schools and preschools have taken part since the start 2010.
In the troubled suburb of Rosengård the organisation “House of Dreams” runs a project called “A Year in the Garden”. A permacultural garden is being developed with an outdoor kitchen. During 2013 “School of Nature” and “House of Dreams” hold courses together in the garden for educators for children age 3-10 years. They learn how to cook and garden as a pedagogical tool. On the Malmö City Pedagogical Web-page (Pedagog Malmö) School of Nature do follow-ups to inspire more educators to use the outdoors as a learning environment.