A beautiful time of connecting across the nations

 Today I had a glorious two hours of connecting with 10 of our CRED Partners as they took part in the quarterly CRED Partners Connect meeting. Some of the partners weren’t able to make it for various reasons, but those who were there represented 10 different programmes across 7 different nations. 

NB this doesn't show all the participants, as there was a bit of coming and going!

The main presentation was given by Bishnu Bhatta from Nepal. Bishnu is the director of PSD-Nepal, with whom CRED partners, and it was fascinating to hear more about various aspects of their work, including the plastic recycling and upcycling programme, their volunteer programme, and Mud Day – an annual celebration to mark the start of the rice-planting season, when essentially it seems that everyone revels in really getting their hands dirty as they dance, slide and splash in the mud!

But Bishnu’s main focus was sharing about their Nature-Based curriculum programme that they launched in 2012 and have been rolling out into a number of primary schools. The aim is to help the children reconnect with ‘Mother Nature’ and foster a relationship with the natural environment, and local plants and animals.

“By instilling in young children the importance of environmental stewardship, we will plant the seeds for new generations that will be able create a brighter future for themselves and also make an impact on nature.”

It was fascinating to see examples of how this is put into practice in the Nepalese context, and to hear some of the philosophy behind the programme. Bishnu also shared a little about the community gardens that PSD has helped set up in more urban settings, including the use of roof-top gardens, container gardening etc.

Equally wonderful was the conversation that came afterwards as the other CRED Partners at the meeting all joined in the discussion. Some of those present, e.g. Daniel in Tanzania and Alice in Malawi, already have an element of nature-based input in their programmes, but it was interesting to hear initial thoughts from others about how the programme could be adapted for those who don’t have such easy access to open spaces. For example, Aaron working with children from the streets in Lusaka, Bee working with children whose mothers are escaping situations of sexual exploitation, Mesfin who works in a very deprived community in Addis Ababa.

There was also discussion about whether there is a place of developing a digitalised component to the programme, that could help reach children who tend to be more screen-based and less likely to choose the outdoor option. But if that route is followed, does that just lead to the dilemma of encouraging children who are already very screen-based to become even more biased that way, whereas it could be argued that those are precisely the children who need to be getting outside and away from the screens.

As our time together drew to a close, there was a real sense that today was just the beginning of a conversation that has a long way to go. Sharing of different practices, encouraging each other, joint problem solving, just bouncing ideas around – we were all reminded again of the power of partnership, and the richness of coming together to grow and support each other.

At the end, I was tasked with coming up with a few key questions that can be conversation starters to take this topic forward amongst the group. I’ve yet to do that, but I’m certainly looking forward to seeing what richness can be unearthed as a result.