RHS Learning day at Story Garden
On ‘back to school day’ in September, we hosted the RHS Learning and Education team at the Story Garden. It was a warm sunny day, and myself and my colleagues Jemma, Samika and Maedeh were excited to have the opportunity to share Global Generation’s educational approach with others. Jess from the RHS shared that they were looking at refreshing their whole learning offer, with a special focus on making their in-garden learning experiences more innovative, participatory and rooted in excellent engagement and facilitation practice. They were interested in how Global Generation empowers young people to co-create urban green spaces and bring nature and community stories alive through hands-on, sensory activities.
We first heard from Samika and Maedeh, who shared their own journeys from joining our Youth Leadership programme (the Generator) at the age of 13 to now being employed members of staff. They set the context for the day and I am always inspired by their journeys and proud that we are now co-facilitators on programmes.
The morning together was framed around our interconnected themes of I, We and the Planet. Jemma opened the day with a story which served as the magic door for people to transition from their train journeys and busy mornings so far, to another realm in which new ideas, imagination and presence can abound.
“I felt nervous telling my story to a group of adults for the first time as previously I had only told it to children. But I was amazed at how everyone came into the roundhouse with open hearts and minds, ready to go on a journey with us. The story opened the magical doorway into how we shared our educational approaches in working with young people, and throughout the day we were guided by the values we hope to instill in young people, the nature that surrounded us and a group of people open to exploring different ways of working and being.”
Jemma, Head of Fundraising and Programmes
We then went out into the garden each doing mindful walking to connect with ourselves and with the natural world around us. Everyone found an object in nature which represents the purpose of their role in working with children and young people. Through a sharing circle we heard everyone’s individual purpose and created a piece of collective land art bringing everyone’s objects and purposes together, seamlessly feeling the interconnection between each other and the meaning behind the work that we do.
In the next part of the workshop we explored what values are most needed when co-creating spaces with young people. Each person chose a value and did freefall writing, otherwise known as writing without a parachute, to dig into the inquiry further. They shared this in small groups and worked together to create their own stories through the use of clay, paints, crayons and recycled materials. The creative outputs were beautiful and varied, from having a recipe for co-creation to a sculpture to an immersive installation.
“I found working with members of the RHS really insightful, encouraging and hopeful and that we share so much in terms of goals and values. Through sharing creativity and creating with our hands, through stories, expressing our visions and connecting individual values through clay allowed me to realise that there is so much that we can learn from each other and build together, just like deep roots stretching far and wide, connecting all.”
Maedeh, Youth Programmes Assistant
We ended the morning with a really fruitful conversation around how the workshop inspired participants to deepen their work in sustainability, storytelling and community co-creation and left the magic door by sharing one word around what we were taking away from the day. We all agreed that there will be more opportunities going forward for shared learning and programmes.
Here are some reflections from the RHS team on what they thought was most valuable from spending the morning together:
“Visiting the Story Garden and really seeing and feeling the difference co-creation can make”
“Seeing how the Story Garden teach outdoors with minimal resources. Considering different engagement methods to communicate the objective.”
“Visiting an inspirational institution to view learning in a different light, then taking the time to reflect on how this could change our approach at RHS”
Thank you to the RHS Education and Learning team for reaching out to us and giving us the opportunity to share our youth-led, co-created approach with you. We look forward to doing more together in the future.
Notes from the Garden
We hosted the RHS Learning and Education team at the Story Garden. It was a warm sunny day, and myself and my colleagues Jemma, Samika and Maedeh were excited to have the opportunity to share Global Generation’s educational approach with others.