The Topic of Educational School Gardens at a Leading Conference
Published: 12. october 2026
As a partner, we took part in the School as a Place of Meeting conference, where we presented the topic of school gardens as a fully fledged educational environment. In the expert section of the programme, together with other co‑authors, we presented the methodology for school garden standards. Colleagues from the Transformations of Gardens programme spoke with visitors about the possibilities of outdoor learning and distributed supporting materials.
The fourth edition of the School as a Place of Meeting conference brought together more than 400 headteachers, teachers, experts, and other people from the field of education. The programme, subtitled Meaningful Education | Full of the Senses, offered lectures, expert contributions, and space for meetings and discussion.
One of the topics of the expert programme was the School Garden Standards, which help schools think about how to use their gardens for education. They develop the idea that a garden should not be only a place for play, breaks, or rest, but a natural and fully fledged part of learning. The methodology was presented by our colleague Ivana Procházková.
„Speaking in front of more than 200 participants at the School Management 2026 conference was both a challenge and an opportunity for me. Together with Ludmila Třeštíková from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and Marie Najmonová from the University of South Bohemia, we opened up the question of the role of the school garden in the preschool education system and the opportunities that the outdoor environment offers for children’s learning and development. The topic then received further space in the afternoon section on preschool education, where we were able to go into greater depth and share practical experience. The conference, full of information, inspiration, and new perspectives, reminded me how much potential school gardens have.“
Program Manager, Transformations of Gardens
The Foundation stand, By the Willow, became a space for practical demonstrations and conversations with visitors. Colleagues from the Transformations of Gardens programme referred visitors to the educational platform Zahrada je taky třída, which offers materials and inspiration for outdoor learning. They also distributed promotional materials from the Foundation’s educational centres and presented new cards called explosive topics.
Competition for a School Garden Development Concept
The stand programme also included a competition for visitors. The competition question was based on the School Garden Standards and concerned the number of key competences used in the Framework Educational Programme for Preschool Education.
The main prize of the conference competition was a concept for developing a school garden as an educational environment, worth approximately EUR 2,051. The prize includes an assessment of the current condition of the garden, identification of its strengths and development potential, recommendations for its further use in line with the Framework Educational Programme and the school’s educational philosophy, and an expert consultation with a landscape architect.
The winner was Komořany Kindergarten from the Vyškov district.
The conference was an opportunity for us to meet a large number of practitioners and share experience of how the school outdoor environment can support learning. The School Garden Standards and other materials on our dedicated educational platform Zahrada je taky třída help schools find concrete ways to use the potential of their gardens.
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