More than 6,000 young people in some of the most disadvantaged areas of Scotland have benefited from a project to encourage learning outdoors.
The Learning in Local Greenspace project has supported 115 schools across 12 local authorities to use nearby green spaces, such as parks and woodlands, for outdoor learning.
Led by NatureScot, this collaborative project worked with more than 20 partner organisations with the aim of embedding outdoor learning in schools, with more than 500 teachers taking part.
Learning outdoors has been shown to improve the health and wellbeing of pupils, and can also have a positive impact on behaviour and engagement, in turn leading to better attainment.
An evaluation report found that, as a result of the project, the percentage of teachers taking learning outdoors in their local greenspace regularly rose from 28% to 49%, while teacher confidence in doing so increased from 54% to 85%.
Following the project more than a third (37%) felt that their pupils had a good connection to nature, compared to just 19% previously. The percentage of teachers who believed their pupils’ engagement in learning outdoors was good or excellent also increased from 56% to 79%.
The project also developed a range of free resources for outdoor learning that are available to all via the Learning in local greenspace project webpages.
