We are living in a crisis of imagination

From guest writer Katharine Earley

‘We are living in a crisis of imagination’

This was one of the powerful messages delivered by a leading environmentalist at a nature conservation event in Oxford in April, a dialogue centred on putting communities at the heart of efforts to restore the world’s forests and natural landscapes.

We must re-think the way our economy works to value nature in order for humanity to thrive in the future. Yet currently we’re constrained by a fixed image of how money should operate. What might nature, forests or birds want from finance?

The speaker invited us all to think laterally about the challenge – remembering that nature has existed far longer than money.

So who can answer this call? Children have the courage and imagination to address global challenges. And I believe forest school offers a profound way for children to be free with their imagination and engage with the natural world.

"Forest School offers a profound way for children to be free with their imagination and engage with the natural world."

Why we need to invest in nature

The case for change is clear. There is currently around $220bn available to support solutions that benefit nature and the climate annually, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. However, $7.3trn is being channelled towards activities that degrade nature.

So what’s stopping us from putting this right?

Three principal reasons: people’s separation from nature, short-term thinking and inequality in our economies.

Importantly, change will come from empowering individuals and communities to take positive action, rather than solely political leaders and big business.

Freedom of imagination

At forest school, we encourage children to want to protect and conserve nature. It’s one of our three rules – be kind to yourself, be kind to others, be kind to nature. And the value of this message is evident when I hear children telling each other not to break branches or pick flowers. “You can’t hurt nature,” I once heard a boy telling a group that was starting to rattle a tree branch rather too vigorously.

We want children to absorb and understand the concept that nature has a value, and provides the services we need to live – food, water and shelter, at a basic level.

Beyond this, the freedom and creativity that we encourage at forest school nurtures the imagination that will help to deliver the transformative change we need to see in the world. Simply being in the woods all day provides a much needed break from screens and digital interaction. It gives children a slower, more natural pace to the day, in which they’re free to do or explore whatever they’d like, while respecting our three rules. We offer a range of activities, from lighting fires to wood-working and making crafts with natural resources, but they’re never compulsory.

Instead, we actively encourage children to be free with their imagination, make dens, and create their own games and activities. This could be exploring the forest for insects, making their own food shops selling sticks and leaves, or even a charcoal tattoo shop for the more adventurous.

Expert den builders demonstrating their creativity.

This kind of liberty of thought and action in nature offers the enabling conditions for children’s imagination to thrive.

So when a room full of adults was asked to consider what a bird might want from the global financial system, I’m sure we all felt slightly bemused by the question. But ask a child the same and I’m sure they would offer a response. It wouldn’t seem strange to them. Why shouldn’t a bird or a flower want to be protected by money, if it could?

It will be up to the next generation to help create a fairer, more sustainable world. Forest school provides a cradle to encourage the motivation and freedom of thought that will enable tomorrow’s grown-ups to re-imagine a better future for everyone.

Katharine Earley is a Green Planet Forest School Assistant and a writer specialising in human rights and environmental topics.