Educators/Researchers

For seven years, Blaxland Preschool Kindergarten has been delivering an innovative nature-based program that encourages adventure & risk-taking. Inspired by Scandinavian Forest Kindergartens, Bush Preschool is offered to children one day a fortnight.

Agroforestry around the world is demonstrating a promising solution for reducing the climate crisis. In a recent hands-on workshop in Hazelbrook, participants created a food forest and learnt how they could ‘bend time’ by accelerating its growth to help create a fertile earth for all organisms to survive.

Belle Butler visited Lawson Public School during Nude Food Week - an annual event that encourages families to pack school lunches without single-use packaging. The event promotes minimising plastic waste and opting for healthy food choices.

In April the Maldhan Ngurr Ngurra Lithgow Transformation Hub launched its first citizen science activity for 2023: the Lake Pillans BioBlitz. I spoke with Alice Blackwood, ecologist and Field Technician at Western Sydney University about citizen science and their findings at Lake Pillans.

Liz Durnan spoke to artists Ro Murray and Mandy Burgess, and Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute CEO Jane Powles, about a heartbreaking story of near-extinction and how we can help save the lost song of the Regent Honeyeater.

Hamish Dunlop talks to the Bush Fire Resilience Team at Springwood Neighbourhood Centre Co-operative Ltd. to find out how they have been assisting people to overcome 'preparedness fatigue'.

Lawson writer and publisher Sharon Baldwin has written a series of children’s books based on the unique subject matter of permaculture. Read her story here.

A Blue Mountains program called Connect at Home started during COVID to support early childhood language development. Through the program families access high quality storybooks and are guided on how to optimise learning at home.

As a child, Beth Healy loved reading The Secret Garden. When she became a mum, Beth created her own outdoor treasure trove at her Blaxland home. 'Dirt Mum' is passionate about spreading her love of nature and its bounties to her 9 and 11-year-old daughters and Lower Mountains school children.

“Wherever I go, bookstores are still the closest thing to a town square.” – Gloria Steinem. Founder of Good Earth Bookshop Mary Coin talks about the importance of community connection and the enduring power of books.