Environmental Education is “our way to the future”

Direct experience of nature promotes sustainable lifestyles

“…empowering individuals to restore and maintain the Earth’s natural systems, it also supports the well-being of future generations by promoting sustainable lifestyles.” John Aquilina

The most sustainable lifestyle is to live completely with the land, an integrated part of this wild system we call nature. But we can’t all run off and live in the woods (as much as I’d like to!). To save the world, we need to save ourselves first. And to save ourselves – we need to get outside and play.

 

Bushcrafting: The Spiritual Connection

Awakening the senses to feel the energy and power of nature is not a prerequisite of the Natural Pathways Bushcraft courses, but quite often it’s an inevitable result.

 

Bushcraft For Business

Our ancestors had to work in strong teams to ensure the survival of individuals and the community. Without this abiding sense of teamwork, early modern humans may not have survived. Wilderness and survival situations provide a perfect opportunity to nurture a team’s spirit.

 

Family Bushcraft Weekend – July 09

The Family Bushcraft Weekend at Natural Pathways has been designed to give a taste of survival living while increasing your connection to nature. And that’s exactly what it did for 15 Bushcrafters in July. It seems every part of the weekend was enjoyed by the six adults and nine children – everything that is except the toilet!

 

Why Adults Need Bushcraft

Locked into our work and family routines can take up so much time that little is left for connecting with nature. Living in the frenzy of the modern world means it’s often easy to forget our natural connection. When was the last time you went leaf catching? Or cloud watching? Or walked barefoot in dew-soaked grass?

 

Why Children Need Bushcraft

As a child I spent most of my time outdoors. In the days just before the IT explosion, playing out was the most necessary extra-curricular activity. We roamed streets and fields, woods and streams, explorers or scientists trekking through the suburban jungle; stalking beasts’ footprints in the sand each summer at the beach; searching for crabs and other exotic creatures in the rock pools.

A large school field at the back became our ‘everything’; our football pitch, pirate ship, scientific expedition. It was as full during the summer holidays as it was through term-time. We convinced ourselves we’d found clusters of 4 leaf-clover and spent weeks staring at the soil and tiny plants and the minute creatures that live in our earth. But children and young people play differently to 30 years ago.