Open Ground was set up to respond creatively and positively to the increasingly urgent social and environmental issues which we face. Through place-based education and research, we can make sure our actions, at work, in our community or at home, aren’t destroying the places which we depend on. Engaging with our local landscape increases our health and the health of the places where we live.

Open Ground works from a strong values base, here are some of the points of our ethos:

Changes should be motivated by care not fear – Open Ground takes people out to enjoy and learn about the landscape and how we fit into it.  We do this in the natural environment not in a lecture hall or watching a t.v. screen.  This bases motivation to change on personal experiences, rather than prophesies of doom. 

Human minds and bodies fit into natural systems – we have evolved in nature for the vast majority of our human existence, so interactions with nature are natural to us.  Experiential outdoor learning projects facilitated by Open Ground can increase mental and physical well-being and sense of place. 

Start with where you are – our local places, both urban and rural provide a realistic scale to interact with environmental issues, and a context through which to understand wider problems.  Open Ground organises projects to explore the places local to you, allowing you to continue to return to those places and build up an understanding of the processes which we all rely on.  These projects are long term helping maintain motivation and impetus.

Our health and the health of our landscapes are intimately linked – Open Ground works to engage people physically and emotionally in the life and history of the landscape, bringing into focus the quality of our relationships, both natural and social.  Learning about sensitive connection to natural systems through our food, our recreation, and our work allows both nature and human nature to flourish.

We are all responsible – there are no simple solutions, Open Ground’s work can help you discover your interconnection with the environment, but this will inevitably be both positive and negative.  We help you engage in a process of becoming more aware of your impacts and explore where we all draw our health, vitality and inspiration from.