Learning with trees and young people in north east Scotland

This chapter explores ideas of landscape and learning, key concepts in Ingold’s work in and following The Perception of the Environment. We set out grounds for research with children and young people on treescapes (trees themselves, woods and forests) in northeast Scotland. Three themes will guide our paper: firstly, that treescapes are constantly remade through the activities of those living in and around them, which opens possibilities for change even in apparently settled landscapes; secondly, that learning about treescapes through schools can involve finding and enacting the curriculum outdoors, rather than following pre-determined forms of learning in the classroom; and thirdly that an understanding of environmental history could open new possibilities for curriculum learning and engagement with the temporality of treescapes. This could have an affect on learning about sustainability and options for landscape conservation and change in the future. Through these themes, we present models and examples of research with children and young people that centre co-production and collaboration.