Nature Based Education: Time for Action 

10 September 2025 - Salzburg, Austria 

40 engaged  | Global (29 countries)

By: Dominic Regester, Salzburg Global

In a world grappling with environmental degradation and systemic inertia, the question of what it takes to equip students for a better future has never been more urgent. The path forward is not found in traditional textbooks, but in a radical commitment to intergenerational solidarity and place-based action. To shape a better picture, we must move away from seeing education as a preparation for a distant "someday" and instead recognize it as a tool for "Monday"—an immediate, lived experience rooted in the present.

The traditional concept of "equipping" students often implies addressing a deficit, as if young people are empty vessels waiting to be filled with tools. However, a more transformative approach recognizes that students are already co-creators who possess a unique capacity for imagination. While education systems have often been criticized for stifling creativity—making it easier for youth to imagine the end of the world than a change in our economic systems—we must instead cultivate schools as spaces for bold dreaming. By encouraging students to question the status quo early in life, we foster the agency necessary to challenge the "normalization" of environmental and social decline.

Equipping the next generation is not an abdication of responsibility by adults; rather, it requires a deep, intergenerational partnership. There is a profound need for "unlikely connections" that bridge the gap between students, parents, and even other species. This partnership must also acknowledge the heavy emotional toll of the modern world. Youth burnout and mental illness are often manifestations of the weight of responsibility placed on young shoulders. To support them, we must provide robust mental health frameworks and address intergenerational trauma, ensuring that the "village" provides emotional safety alongside academic opportunity.

To achieve systemic transformation, we must place our "big bets" on the levers of change, starting with teacher colleges. Young teachers must experience transformation themselves before they can facilitate it for others. When we equip new educators with the tools for system leadership, we create a multiplier effect that can reshape entire communities. This systemic shift also requires us to look at who is not in the room and challenge the power of corporations over citizens, ensuring that the "we" in "we are all responsible" is truly inclusive of the most marginalized voices.