Publications school children

The theoretical framework describes the Dreaming and Doing competencies to connect with nature for children aged 5-12.

This practice brief gives a summary of the content of the theoretical framework  and the manual for teachers and nature educators who work with school children. It is  available in English (concept version, see left pane) and will soon also be available in Dutch, German, Italian and Portuguese.

This test document will help you to gain insight into the nature intelligence profiles of children in your class or group. It consists of two tests with each 18 statements for young children aged 5-8 and older aged 8-12. The test for young children needs to be filled in by an adult (teacher, educator, parent) who knows the child well. Older children can fill in the test themselves.  The tests are available in English, Dutch, German, Italian and Portuguese.

This report presents a Nature Pedagogical Training Course for school teachers. The four-day training  included hands-on, outdoor learning experiences for school teachers from Italy and Portugal. Teachers explored how to foster children’s Nature Intelligence through sensory games, nature rituals, storytelling, and creative activities. The training combined theory with direct experience and was hosted by Struin in the Netherlands and co-developed by German partner Gröninga. Evaluation results showed that the training inspired confidence and provided practical tools for applying nature pedagogy in diverse school contexts. Available in English only.

This report documents the testing phase of the Nature Intelligence approach in schools across Germany, Italy, and Portugal. Using a Collaborative Action Research method, teachers co-developed and tested nature-based learning activities tailored to their own school settings. The activities focused on fostering children’s emotional and embodied connection to nature, following the Dreaming and Doing model. The report includes a detailed implementation guide and practical templates for schools. Results showed increased student engagement, wellbeing, and creativity, as well as strong professional learning among teachers. Available in English only.

In December 2025 we published a scientific paper about the Dreaming and Doing model in the Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Education.

The paper is not open access, but you can download a preprint version which is similar to the official one by clicking on the button below. The reviewers were  very positive about the model and they even said they found it an honor to be asked to review this paper. Of course we also mentioned the manual and this website, so hopefully we can get broader outreach for this wonderful project