“Let Nature be your teacher”
Our Gaia Education Interview is here!
“Education doesn't change the world, Education changes people, People change the world” - Paulo Freire
"This is a story of hope, love, pure intentions, perseverance and human connection. It shows how a community of specialists, environmentalists, activists, teachers and beautiful human beings came together to co-create a safe, educational space in nature.
We caught up with Mercia Eichmann, Founder/Headteacher, to find out more about the magic of the centre." Gaia Education - UNESCO
Our project starts at Early Years
We are located in Sant Joan Sanata, Barcelona, Spain
The Chestnut Tree is a nurturing, inspiring, children-focused learning center that provides meaningful opportunities for a healthy development.
It is a sustainable, ecological program that supports environmental projects and the strengthening of our communities.
PreK 2022/2023 School Program
Summer Camp 2022 was a blast!
Summer camp is the time of doing something big. Being a camper is something that most of us miss, as adults. Those few days or weeks, promise the memories that last a lifetime. Summer camping is all about learning, making friends and having fun.
In the heart of nature
As a nature project, we aim to embrace diversity, care for our community and facilitate reconciliation in the world.
We believe in a new vision of education that nurtures children's emotions and sensibility, providing them with the necessary tools, so they can flourish with purpose in the world.
We invite you to join our international community and find out how we could better support each other.
"Researchers agree that increased contact with nature is seen as an integral and vital component of education, particularly in early years settings where Nature projects are being introduced.
Since the eighteenth century, pioneers of early education, namely Froebel, Montessori and Steiner, have valued the outdoors and recognized the importance of contact with nature, with particular reference to learning through active, hands-on play (Constable, 2012)".
Our partners
Gaia Education is an international organisation active in 55 countries on six continents, with a 15-year track record in education for sustainable development and with more than 25,000 graduates around the world and 146 partner organisations. Gaia Education’s programmes equip students of all ages and cultural backgrounds with the appropriate knowledge, skills and critical thinking tools necessary to design a society which uses energy and resources with greater efficiency, distributes wealth equitably, and makes quality of life the focus of future thinking. Our learners become change agents capable of playing active roles in transitioning their existing communities, neighbourhoods, cities and regions to sustainable and regenerative practices, lifestyles and infrastructures.
For more: Gaia education
The Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a concrete response to the urgent need for a new way of living that respects the limits of our planet’s resources while enhancing our collective well-being.
The programme builds on the momentum created by the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), by scaling up action at all levels and areas of education and learning, to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
For more: UNESCO - The Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
Project Learning Tree
Project Learning Tree is an award-winning environmental education program designed for educators, parents, and community leaders working with youth from preschool through grade 12.
Montseny Park Nature Reserve
Montseny biosphere reserve
Montseny massif is one of the outstanding protected areas in Catalonia, so in 1978, UNESCO included it in the MAB (Man and Biosphere) World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
The contour of Montseny starts with elevations of fewer than 200 metres on the eastern side that rise to just over 1,700 m.
The Montseny Natural Park is in the Catalan pre-coastal mountain range. It covers an area of 31,063.94 hectares and is 50km from Barcelona and 25km from the Mediterranean Sea.
The summits in this massif are the highest in the pre-coastal mountain range, and its name (Monte signo) comes from the fact that sailors used it as a landmark to return to Catalonia from their trips in the Mediterranean many centuries ago.
For more information: parcs.diba.cat/es/web/montseny