Academics Discussed Outdoor Education for Children at a Round Table
Published: 1. december 2025
We organised a meeting for academics who, within preschool teacher‑training study programmes, introduce students to the topic of outdoor education. The round table, held at the foundation’s headquarters in Prague’s Bořislavka district, was prepared in cooperation with the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice. The aim was to show not only how to integrate the topic effectively into teacher preparation, but also what concrete benefits it brings to pedagogical practice and to children themselves.
Main topics of the round table
At the beginning of the meeting, Marie Najmonová, Head of the Department of Primary and Preschool Pedagogy at the University of South Bohemia, thanked the foundation for enabling her to connect with people who work in the field of outdoor education. The University of South Bohemia is the very first university in the Czech Republic to introduce a course on outdoor education in the kindergarten environment.
„I am glad that I can help spread the foundation’s ideas, expressed in its philosophy A Garden Is Also a Classroom!, further into the world.“
Head of the Department of Primary and Preschool Pedagogy, University of South Bohemia
Psychiatrist Vladimír Kmoch, lecturer at the First Faculty of Medicine of Charles University, provided the scientific framework for the event. He introduced participants to research showing why time spent in green environments has a positive effect on mental health. Studies indicate that today, only one in ten children regularly plays outside in nature, compared to almost one in two a generation ago.
„Spending time in nature positively influences our emotions, thinking, attention, prosocial behaviour, and creativity.“
Psychiatrist and Lecturer at the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University
This is why, according to Kmoch, it is essential to create high‑quality public spaces and build school gardens in increasingly dense urban areas. Researchers have shown, for example, that children with ADHD experience improved attention after a walk in the park.
The foundation as a driver of systemic change
Part of the morning was dedicated to foundation‑related topics. Ivana Procházková, KKFF Programme Manager, presented findings from the Czech Children Outdoors study and outlined the foundation’s role as a driver of systemic change in how society understands outdoor education. A high‑quality school garden is a space shaped by many institutions – from schools to municipal authorities and ministries. The foundation’s goal is for these key actors to respect the principles embodied in its philosophy and expressed in the motto A Garden Is Also a Classroom!
„We are building a network of outdoor‑learning educational centres that help us spread our ideas further. At the same time, we support the work of a multidisciplinary group whose goal is to create, together with our foundation, standards for school gardens. In simple terms, these standards serve as a manual for schools and founders on how to approach a school garden in terms of its functionality and its role in the healthy development of children.“
Programme Manager, Transformations of Gardens
The course Outdoor Education in the Kindergarten Environment
The afternoon session focused on the elective course Outdoor Education in the Kindergarten Environment, which offers pedagogy students at the University of South Bohemia a comprehensive insight into the methods and possibilities of outdoor teaching.
At the end of the round table, academics discussed the need to recognise high‑quality environments for outdoor learning and to work with natural forms of risk. They also shared their own experience in this area.
The goal of the course is to strengthen the competences of future teachers and familiarise them with everything essential for implementing outdoor education in practice. The course also aligns with related themes such as community use of school gardens and the creation of key school documents in the field of environmental education.
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