London Environmental Educators' Forum LEEF

The end of day 3 and so many nature observations being made, across the uk as part of the global challenge. Join in tomorrow! https://www.citynaturechallenge.org

Day 2 of The 7th international City Nature Challenge. People across the world are looking at nature and wildlife around them. 🌿

Simply download the iNaturalist app, take a photo of the nature you find, upload and share.

See how your region is doing here https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2024-uk-leaderboard

City Nature Challenge 2024: UK Leaderboard Find out which UK cities are taking part in City Nature Challenge 2024! You can support them by making local wildlife records using iNaturalist from Friday 26th April to Monday 29th of April. City Nature Challenge is back. Join residents of 500+ cities across the world in an epic, global mission: to...

Great evening at the London Environmental Educators' Forum LEEF winter party. Members attended from organisations including Barnes Common, Creekside, Field Studies Council, City of London, Natural History Museum, Hackney Forest Schools, and freelancers and hosted by The Royal Parks.

We have couple of places left on our two day outdoor first aid course. Next week - Holland Park - discount to £120 for LEEF members. See email for discount code.

Outdoor First Aid Join a like-minded group of environmental educators for first aid training with an outdoor focus, delivered by React First.

Don’t miss our bulb planting masterclass with Ken Greenway ( The Nature Seed) on Monday

How to get bulb planting right - with Ken Greenway Want to do more bulb planting with your groups? This masterclass is for you.

Some great news.

First wild bison born in UK for millennia after surprise pregnancy Exclusive: Unexpected arrival at a pioneering rewilding project in Kent after introduction of animals in July

How to get bulb planting right.

31st October 10am to 3pm

This fascinating workshop will involve planting a wide range of bulbs of types which, if planted in suitable places, should come back each year. It will also cover how to buy bulbs and store them safely until planted, how to get a long season of flowering, and bulbs valuable to pollinators. The session is in Partnership with the London Environmental Educators' Forum LEEF & will be led by the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.

Booking below or via Linktree in our Insta Bio:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-get-bulb-planting-right-with-ken-greenway-tickets-425099643477

N.B. The image shows a hand trowel and spring flowering bulbs in the ground.

Don’t miss Ken’s bulb planting masterclass at Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.

How to get bulb planting right - with Ken Greenway Want to do more bulb planting with your groups? This masterclass is for you.

Job add... Might be of interest to you or someone you know

We are looking for an enthusiastic and inspiring Education and Engagement Officer to join our team.

Learn more: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/education-and-engagement-officer

Schools - Dynamic Dunescapes Education and learning resources Whether you’re a teacher looking to plan a geography, history or ecology lesson, or a student searching for help with your studies, our education and learning resources are free for you to download and use. This page will be regularly updated with new materials. Co...

Earth Hour Schools At 8.30pm on Saturday 26 March 2022, hundreds of millions of people across the world will be switching off their lights and coming together to celebrate Earth Hour. Your pupils have a vital role to play in achieving a more sustainable world and, by taking part in WWF's Earth Hour, they can make a pr...

Last week we held the eighth LEEF Fellowship, where we gathered to honor four of our members with long and successful commitment and experience. They shared their journeys, they told us of their inspirations and their dreams, and they all had riches to share. Not least the delicious chocolate truffles made by Gemma Hindi. Gemma is gaining a name for herself in foraged food, and her LEEF Fellows' profile is here: http://www.leef.org.uk/gemma-hindi.html

Gemma Hindi LONDON ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATORS' FORUM

New job going with LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming), join the education team as regional consultant for London, on a decent rate of pay. Home-based, working with teachers, farmers, young people and others in land-based and food sectors to support learning about food and environment. Sounds fantastic. See more here: https://www.countryside-jobs.com/jobs/employer/linking-environment-and-farming

The International School Grounds Conference is both 'live', in Stirling, Scotland, and online at the end of September. Lots about how the outdoor aspects of school support sustainability and sustainable learning, it looks absolutely amazing and well worth a look if you're working in a school or involved with schools: https://www.ltl.org.uk/projects/isga2021/

International School Grounds Alliance (ISGA) Conference, Stirling, September 2021 Come and join us for three days of learning and sharing about school and nursery grounds. There are workshops on physical changes, ideas for play and learning, working with colleagues and winning funding.

Everyone, Forest School Skills! Even those with L3 training need an update, inspiration, community, space to think and share ideas with others. Gemma Hindi (aka Earthwild), Maria Sprostranova and Richard Sylvester (Richstories) come together to bring us a day of Forest School magic on Ham Lands. We'll do some sustainable foraging and learn some stories to accompany what we find, we'll cook it over the fire, and also delve into storytelling and tool use, as well as other aspects of Forest School practice.

Bag a space by paying through PayPal here: http://www.leef.org.uk/events.html ://www.leef.org.uk/events.html

EVENTS ​Join three highly experienced LEEF members to enhance your forest school skills. This day is suitable for qualified practitioners as well as those who would like a 'taster' to learn more about...

Phenomenal: calculating the carbon value of mature trees. Trigonometry is involved, and many of us cannot remember how to do the calculus, but it's amazing to know it's possible! For secondary school pupils!

The best LEEF social ever...the combination of rain, messed up trains and post-football trauma was bad for numbers, but we enjoyed the intimate company and the gorgeous environment. Thanks Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park for the hospitality, and the tour. Thanks to LEEF for the wine.

LEEFers, if you need to update your Outdoor First Aid, join us at Wildcat Wilderness in Catford on 24th and 25th June for a two-day humdinger with React First, London's number one first aid training organisation. Sign up on our events page. All materials and manual included, although you have to bring your own lunch.

First Aid! 24/25 June, at Wildcat Wilderness in Catford, see more here on our events page here: http://www.leef.org.uk/events.html

Beginners bird songs!

Day 9 of

It’s easy to lose track of the birds singing all around us sometimes, so today let’s pay special attention and find out who’s performing. Luckily, you don’t have to wake up at the crack of dawn to hear them, either!

Here are just some of the top bird artists performing all around London.

Want to know more about identifying birdsong? Find our more here:

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife/how-identify/identify-bird-song

Dear LEEF, does anyone know a Community Gardener who would like to work with the old LEEF coordinator Anna Portch at Sunnyside Community Gardens? Please share away.
Also any tips for where to share a job like this to get some great candidates?
http://sunnysidecommunitygardens.org/vacancies/

Vacancies – Sunnyside Community Gardens Vacancies Community gardener vacancy – 2021 – Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays Sunnyside Community Gardens is a long-established open-access community garden in Archway, North Islington. It is maintained and developed by a diverse group of volunteers living in the adjacent council estates and stree...

Trees are fellow beings who don't speak...but of course they do, just not in words, but in gasses, cells, nutrients, minerals, and, arguably, spirits. This lady spent her life finding out, and has written a book about it, which she describes in this article. We are running an event about trees: Trees for Life: biology, mythology and politics, on 20 July, more about that soon. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/24/suzanne-simard-finding-the-mother-tree-woodwide-web-book-interview

Secrets of a tree whisperer: ‘They get along, they listen – they’re attuned’ The woman who discovered the woodwide web shares the wisdom of a life spent listening to the forest in her new book

If you want to pick up tips about marketing to schools, join us on 11th June, on zoom, to hear from LEEF members who've marketed successfully to schools, on how they did it. We'll cover experiences, principles that work, some minor legalities around data collection, etc. and some good ideas. It'll be chatty, about sharing and support, and contain some practical examples and techniques. Sign up here: http://www.leef.org.uk/events.html

First Aid! 24/25 June, at Wildcat Wilderness in Catford, see more here on our events page here: http://www.leef.org.uk/events.html

Guillaume (sounds French but apparently isn't) is setting up an amazing conservation/education/meditation project on the edge of Bromley, and he is looking for education collaborators, preferably with the ability to link Darwin and conservation to the national curriculum. He's a start-up, and it's a hard time for start-ups as we know, but if you're up for a challenge and some fun, contact him through his website: https://countrykarma.co.uk/

Country Karma – Connecting you to yourself and nature Country Karma connecting you to nature and yourself Our Retreats Find out more about our nature-based retreats that develop mind, body and soul View Retreats Commitments From helping the environment to giving something back to community, find out more about how your retreat impacts others. More Abou...

Looking for an Environmental Educator with the skills to link Darwin and conservation to the national curriculum, freebie start-up and volunteer opportunity for now, but looking at funding for the future. If you're up for some fun in Bromley, and want to support a start-up, contact Guillaume through the website.

https://countrykarma.co.uk/

New Jobs for Spring: Garden Instructor at Lambourne End, an amazing outdoor learning organisation near Hainault Forest. Fantastic team and lovely environment. LEEFers have spent some happy hours there, and will do again I'm sure. Give it a look: https://www.lambourne-end.org.uk/join-our-team

Disney is a bit of a minefield, but Pocohontas does a bit of tuneful intersectional Environmental Education in this clip. My daughter is 6, and she introduced it to me. Quite like it, though I guess wrapped in the fable of Pocahontas it's pretty sad.....https://youtu.be/O9MvdMqKvpU

Pocahontas | Colors of the Wind | Disney Sing-Along Streaming Now on Disney+ – Sign Up at https://disneyplus.com/Paint with all the colors of the wind for this sing along. SUBSCRIBE to get notified when new Di...