EVC Magazine Autumn 2025_digital - Flipbook - Page 38
Make the
nature connection
If you think a long-haul visit is the only way to have a proper adventure, think
again – an immersive experience closer to home can add depth and purpose
to your students’ education
Adrian Ferraro, founder of
The Bioasis, explains the value
of purpose-driven visits and
residentials.
Do you remember your own school trips?
I have vivid memories of mine. In fact,
I'd go as far as saying they helped
shape my life and my career – I’ve spent
the best part of 20 years arranging
adventures for school groups across
the globe.
Those 20 years have taught me that it’s
a messy world out there. Geography
is closely connected to politics. Social
cohesion relies on economics and the
environment. Business is dependent on
ecosystems, farming and geopolitical
relations. Everything is connected.
Everything except, that is, our education
system, which teaches history separately
from maths, geography separately
from science.
However, educational
visits can bring all this
together, adding context,
depth and perspective to
classroom learning.
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Bridging the gap
The DfE’s Sustainability and Climate Change
Strategy makes it clear that decarbonisation,
nature recovery and climate action now need
to shape every layer of school life – from what
is taught to how schools run their estates and
operations and influence the wider school
community. It is an opportunity for schools
to act with purpose and ambition, and your
educational visits programme needs to be part
of that plan.
In the face of the climate and biodiversity crisis,
the traditional, single-subject study trip needs
a major rethink. Time is short and we need to
recognise the value of school trips as a way
of bridging the gap between education and
meaningful change.
A good place to start is to reduce the climate
impact of any visit programme by swapping
long-haul tours and expeditions for European
or UK trips. But it is, of course, more nuanced
than that.
