What do we mean by ‘local built environment’?

The local built environment is simply the streets, buildings, parks and other man made structures found in your local community.  It can include local monuments, places of worship, kirkyards and cemeteries, ruins and functioning buildings, a row of shops and the streets we live in.

We can use the built environment to teach and learn across all aspects of the curriculum.  We can use a walking route through the community as the basis for  Maths Trails.  A visit to a local monument might take us into a Social Studies investigation or can be used as the stimulus for Expressive Arts work.

Local heritage and the built environment can be the stimulus for work  towards a Heritage Heroes award.  Read the Crosshouse Primary Heritage Heroes case study to find out how the award might engage learners in your setting.  Explore Your Neighbourhood will help you get started on your own local heritage learning.

The Arch Scotland Heritage Resources Portal supports learning from Early Level upward in local spaces and further afiedl.

The Scottish National Library – Digital Resources webpages allow you to search for local images and maps from the past.

In Ayrshire the  Coalfield Communities Landscape Partnership is working on a number of projects which may be of interest to local schools.  Visit the webpage (which includes projects being run by the East Ayrshire Coalfields Environment Initiative) to find out about local projects  from plans to improve the local natural environment to local heritage conservation.  For latest news https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/news/article/coalfield-communities-landscape-partnership-has-been-launched