A call to Government to guarantee regular and ongoing nature experiences for all children and young people in education

The Nature Premium Campaign is calling for the Government to guarantee regular and ongoing nature experiences for all children and young people in education, with additional funding for those who need it most.

We have made significant progress. We were delighted when Stephen Morgan became the Early Years Minister last year as he has supported the Nature Premium Campaign from the beginning (we started during Lockdown 1, 2020). Our conversations with the Department for Education officials are more positive, however there is still a challenge of where the funding for the Nature Premium will come from.

We prefer to ask ‘how can we make the Nature Premium a reality for all children and young people?’ Rather than just look at ‘a cost’ we wanted to demonstrate the societal value and the likely improved life outcomes of children and young people who would have benefited from the Nature Premium, not to mention the medium to long term savings. So we have been talking to the DfE officials about using the Government’s Green Book framework analysis (— the process used to assess new policy ideas) to assess the Nature Premium proposal. As the wheels of Government move slowly we have already started work on the Green Book Framework so that we can share the results with Stephen Morgan and the DfE officials at our next meeting.

We are also using our Green Book analysis to promote the Nature Premium proposal and are asking supporters to complete a very short survey to share their insights and useful data (you can find it here). We hope to demonstrate:

the breadth and depth of UK business sectors that depend on nature and
their need for their future employees and customers to be connected with the natural world and to aspire to live a sustainable life creating a stronger, greener society.

Please complete our survey so that we can share your insights in our Green Book analysis.

As a quick update, we have:

A Corker of an idea! We are calling for the Government to guarantee regular and ongoing nature experiences for ALL children and young people, with additional funding for those who need it most.
Governance – We are Sector Specialist Group within the Institute of Outdoor Learning managed by a constituted Steering Group.
Expertise and support - The Steering Group is made up of representatives from major conservation organisations, and three head teachers. We are also being supported by Bishop Jonathan Frost (the CofE education lead) who is keen that we use their established network of education settings including those in a wide range of urban areas of deprivation and ethnic communities.
A practical proposal - where the Nature Premium funding would go directly to each education setting to be used to support the children and young people’s regular and ongoing nature experiences with respect to their life experiences and the school location.
A Financial Model - the Social Bridging Finance Trial (SBF) model that has been designed to allow public bodies to test innovative policies at no financial risk, until the benefit has been proven. In this model the funders, policymakers, and implementers work in partnership and negotiate the responsibilities and Key Outcomes of the trial. Funders would support the Nature Premium SBF trial for 3 years on the condition that when Key Outcomes are achieved the public body sustainably funds the policy. You can find a full explanation of the Social Bridging Finance model here, where Bishop Jonathan Frost hosts a presentation by Kenneth Ferguson who designed Social Bridging Finance model.
An open mind at the Department for Education - Stephen Morgan MP (Minister for Early Education) has supported the campaign since the beginning and has asked the officials at the DforE to ‘carry on the conversation with us’.
A funding Coalition – we have started to build our funding coalition to create an ambitious trial proposal that the Department for Education will want to work with. We were delighted with the success of our Environment Funders Network hosted webinar Growing up greener: the case for guaranteeing children time in nature (recording here with password: growgreener) where Baroness Prof. Kathy Willis, Ben Goldsmith, Andy Haldane, Tony Juniper, & Kenneth Ferguson together with members of the Nature Premium Steering Group presented a robust argument for the case for guaranteeing regular nature experiences for all children.
The other exciting news is that we have become an Environment Partner with 1% for the planet (where business commit to donate at least 1% of their sales turnover to environment projects of their choice through the Foundation). Through our contacts with the Institute for Outdoor Learning we are approaching the Outdoor Retail Industry to ask for their help via 1% for the Planet