The Harmony Project Education Podcast

In this episode, Richard Dunne speaks to Muhammed Foulds, raptor biologist, human ecologist, Head of Multi Faith Chaplaincy and Senior Imam in the Ministry of Justice Prison Service. They discuss Muhammed’s life-long passion for the natural world, how Nature connection can be transformative to the lives of prisoners and what is the role of the education system in helping young people to learn in a more holistic and joined-up way.

Tune in to listen to our conversation with Abby Evans, who we were excited to welcome to the podcast after recently seeing her talk about her love of Nature and permaculture on Gardeners' World. Abby currently manages the walled garden at The Grove Hotel in Hertfordshire, growing produce for the restaurant in a permaculture garden. She's been gardening for nearly eleven years since training with the RHS, and told us how she's always had a deep sense of connection to the natural world and its rhythms. It was this sense of connection to Nature that drew her to permaculture. After studying permaculture design, she was given the opportunity to redesign The Grove's kitchen garden and has overseen its evolution ever since.

For the latest episode in our Living in Harmony podcast series, we spoke to Barney Swan, a polar explorer and Nature-based solutions expert who is currently leading a restoration project in Daintree, Australia – the world's oldest rainforest and home to a unique range of flora and fauna.

Barney was born in London but, aged six, he and his family moved to an off-grid community in Daintree to live closer to, and in harmony with, Nature. This experience shaped Barney's appreciation for the natural world and his understanding of its finite resources. This is why, after years of travelling and living in various parts of the world, he returned to the rainforest to restore and protect a place that played such a huge role in determining who he is today.

To broaden his global impact, Barney started the charity ClimateForce. Its mission is to equip businesses, students and citizens with sustainable development strategies to help reduce CO2 emissions and regenerate the planet, both on land and in the ocean.

Listen to the latest episode of our Future of Education podcast with best-selling, British author, Isabel Losada. She’s written seven non-fiction books relating her own experiences in the pursuit of a more environmentally friendly lifestyle, combining humour with a serious take on this critical subject. In her most recent book, ‘The Joyful Environmentalist: How to Practice without Preaching’, she shares practical tips on how to live in more sustainable ways that will benefit both the planet and ourselves, maintaining a positive and uplifting tone throughout.

What is a polymath? What cultural changes are needed today to promote holistic, multidisciplinary thinking? To find out, listen to the latest episode of The Future of Education podcast with Waqās Ahmed. 

We are joined by Donna Edmonds, CEO of Farms for City Children, a charity that's enabling children from disadvantaged communities to experience farms in the heart of the British countryside. She explains how, growing up on a council estate in South London, she had zero experience of the natural world and had very little understanding of the links between food and farming, and how this led her to see access to Nature as the right of every child, not a privilege.

What are the opportunities and challenges we face in education today? Could the outcomes of learning be measured in a more holistic way? Why is now the right time to rethink the purpose of education? These are just a handful of the questions we discussed with Dame Alison Peacock in the most recent episode of our Future of Education podcast. Dame Alison Peacock is chief executive of the Chartered College of Teaching, a new professional body that seeks to raise teachers' status through celebrating, supporting and connecting them to provide expert teaching and leadership. Prior to joining the Chartered College, Dame Alison was executive headteacher of The Wroxham School in Hertfordshire. Her career to date has spanned primary, secondary and advisory roles. She is an honorary fellow of Queens College Cambridge and UCL, a visiting professor of both the University of Hertfordshire and Glyndŵr University and a trustee for Big Change. Her research is published in a series of books about 'learning without limits', offering an alternative approach to inclusive school improvement.