Eliya Lavine had noticed an ever-increasing divide between people and nature. Using her background in sustainable food systems, horticulture and teaching, she aims to bridge that gap between young people and our outdoor world, giving them not only a deeper understanding of how our ecosystems work but a greater appreciation for nature.

After moving to Ireland in 2018, she completed forest school training, which gave her a better understanding of Ireland’s ecosystem. Then through Social Entrepreneurs Ireland’s The Ideas Academy, she was able to get Seed Scholars up and running in early 2020.

“I finally started Seed Scholars once I felt I had community support and more understanding under my belt of all the plants and animals, weather systems, all of those things operating here to try to continue to bring people closer to nature.”

Eliya has so far been able to work with between four to eight schools a week using the core Seed Scholar programme, which runs for a minimum of six consecutive weeks (most of them run for 10 or more weeks), in which Eliya meets with the student every week for one or two hours.

“The idea is that they are returning to the same place on the school grounds or directly next to their schools’ grounds, easily accessible, outdoor space as consistently as possible, minimum of once a week…and noticing what happens across that time and developing a relationship with each other, themselves and that space,” she says.

Seed Scholars can also be tailored to the school’s needs or wants. Eliya says there are generally two paths to choose from.

“First option is more gardening, a cultivated plants focus and there is also a forest school route.”

Eliya teaching young kids to reconnect with nature

She adds “The garden one focuses on growing the plants and eating what is grown and of course testing the biodiversity of the ecosystem that is part of the plants growing and with forest school, it is a little different…

There needs to be a least two adults as there is more risky play involved which means we are encouraging children to find their edges, so climbing trees, working with fire, doing things like widdling, foraging and making rafts.”

Seed Scholars hopes to make nature-based learning available to you no matter the context, offering a variety of workshops, lessons and activities.

To learn more visit www.seedscholars.com