Ecology Encounters 2025 is a series of experiential and educational meetings dedicated to ecology, biodiversity and caring for the planet through sustainable agriculture. For lower secondary schools, Navdanya International offers activities designed as starting points to guide students in discovering the natural systems around them and understanding the deep connection between nature and food.
Experience and knowledge of a local ecological system
Students engage directly with an ecosystem in their own area, observing how its living and non-living parts interact. This hands-on encounter turns abstract ecological concepts into something concrete and memorable, grounded in a place they already know.
Re-establishing a connection with one’s local area and with nature
Many young people feel distant from the natural environment around them, even when it is close by. This activity helps them rebuild that bond, fostering a sense of belonging and care for the landscapes and living systems of their region.
Getting to know the parts that make up the ecosystem
Students learn to recognise the key components of an ecosystem — from the soil beneath their feet to the variety of plants and animals it supports. Understanding how these elements depend on one another lays the foundation for grasping why biodiversity and healthy soil matter for the planet.
Experential learning and intuitive Ecoliteracy
We follow an experiential approach. The individual modules, which take place both in the classroom and outdoors, include: teaching sections, tasks to be carried out individually or in groups, workshops, and walks through fields, woods, pastures and gardens.
The modules offer a varied and engaging form of education, aimed at sparking students’ curiosity to explore the proposed topics independently. Over the course of the individual modules, we will invite all participants to complete a few specific tasks.
What This Project Is About
Middle Schools
In November, Navdanya International launched an ecological education program with first-year classes at the I.C. Bruno Munari middle school [...]
Getting to Know the Soil
A first hands-on encounter with soil. Students explore its layered structure (horizons) through a sensory experience that stimulates observation and curiosity, learning to recognise the signs of healthy or struggling soil and plants. They also sow their own small pots, which stay in a dedicated space throughout the programme so they can care for the seedlings and follow their growth.
Into the wild
A full day out in a woodland, park or ecological reserve, reached by coach or van provided by Navdanya. Here students step directly into a living ecosystem, observing how soil, plants and biodiversity interact in their natural setting.
Making Sense of the Journey
A closing session of reflection and sharing. Students look back on what they have experienced, give meaning to it and build a final shared narrative together, connecting the ideas of healthy soil, care and community.
A new generation of care
The course is made up of three modules for a total of nine hours, combining classroom-based learning with hands-on outdoor experience. It begins and ends indoors — a two-hour opening session to get to know the soil and a two-hour closing session for reflection and sharing — while the central module is a five-hour field trip into a natural ecosystem such as a woodland, park or ecological reserve. Throughout the programme, students follow an experiential approach, caring for their own sown seedlings and gradually building a shared understanding of soil, biodiversity and the connection between nature and food.
News from our blog
Our approach recognizes that the rights of nature can only be realized through the renewal of our communal bonds and the shared responsibility of care. Through participatory governance, education, and collective action, we aim to restore our resources as living commons, where ecological regeneration and community regeneration are inseparable.
