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FTHub SPECIALIZATION COURSE

NatureConnect — Nurturing Children’s Growth Through Outdoor Experiences

LIVE ONLINE COURSE

  • Saturday & Sunday | 4–8 pm CET
  • 2027 | April 17 and 18
  • Live online sessions with a trainer
  • 2 sessions | 8 hours
  • 3-month access
  • 8 modules
  • 9 downloadable materials
  • 8 hours of video recordings
  • Level: Intermediate
  • English

490 €

490 €

Add to Cart
Add to Cart

Trainer

Manuela Renzi

NatureConnect gives you the methodologies and tools to meet children where they are. It is built for professionals who work with young populations in educational, therapeutic, or community settings and who want to do so with greater skill, confidence, and evidence-based rigor.

This specialization focuses on advanced nature connection practices designed specifically for children aged 8–12, with methodologies that engage creativity, movement, play, and age-appropriate reflection.

Outcomes

What you'll gain

    • Developmental Perspectives on Nature Connection
      How children of different ages engage with natural environments. Developmental stages from early childhood through adolescence, attention patterns, physical and cognitive capacities, and the role of sensory engagement at each stage. How to adapt activities to match developmental readiness.
    • Adapted Nature Connection Activities
      Techniques designed for the energy, attention patterns, and developmental stage of young participants. Games, movement sequences, storytelling, building activities, observation tasks, and sensory play. A library of activities adapted for 8–12-year-olds.
    • Creating Engaging Experiences
      How to design sessions that children genuinely want to return to. Balancing structure and freedom, energy and stillness, group work and solo time. The art of inviting wonder without forcing it. Practical techniques for opening and closing sessions with young people.
    • Safety, Supervision, and Safeguarding
      Comprehensive protocols for outdoor work with children and young people. Group management with high-energy participants, ratios and supervision, environmental risk assessment specific to young bodies and abilities, safeguarding principles and ethical practice in outdoor settings.
    • Inclusive Outdoor Experiences
      Creating experiences that welcome children of diverse abilities, backgrounds, and needs. Sensory sensitivities, neurodiversity, mobility differences, and cultural inclusion. Adapting activities without excluding any participant.
    • Designing Nature-Based Programs for Schools, Communities, and Family Groups
      How to plan and deliver nature-based programs at scale: school residencies, after-school clubs, weekend family workshops, camps, and community initiatives. Program structure, stakeholder communication (parents, teachers, commissioners), and outcome framing.
    • Working with Parents and Caregivers
      Engaging adults in children’s nature experiences. Parent-child session design, communicating the value of nature time to families, and supporting caregivers to extend the practice at home.

Audience

Who is this course for?

    • Educators and teachers bringing nature connection into schools and early years settings
    • Forest School leaders and outdoor education professionals seeking advanced methodologies
    • FTHub Certified Forest Bathing Guides and Forest Therapy Practitioners working with families and young clients
    • Youth workers and community facilitators using outdoor environments
    • Health professionals (psychologists, therapists, pediatric nurses) supporting child development, well-being, and resilience through nature
    • Family-focused practitioners running parent-child nature sessions
    • Camp counsellors, summer program leaders, and environmental educators

Course Framework

Course structure

MODULE 1 · Understanding the Link between Children and Nature
  • Explore the correlation between modern children’s lifestyles and their connection with nature.
  • Acquire the necessary skills to lead a group of children safely and create an enjoyable experience in a natural setting.
  • Develop the ability to select and enhance green spaces suitable for engaging and enriching nature connection activities for children.
  • Learn the art of designing engaging nature connection activities tailored for groups of children within the 8 to 12 age range.
  • Delve into both theoretical and practical aspects of nature connection activities that stimulate children’s curiosity, enthusiasm, and fantasy.
  • Explore theoretical and practical approaches to nature connection activities that foster children’s body awareness, coordination, and fluidity of movement.
  • Investigate theoretical and practical strategies for nature connection activities that support restoring and maintaining children’s attention through play.
  • Explore both theoretical and practical dimensions of nature connection activities that promote prosocial and pro-environmental attitudes among children.
  • Design nature connection activities for a group of children to demonstrate acquired skills and knowledge.

COURSE TOOLS & BONUS

What’s included

    • 1-year free Hub Seedlings Pro membership
    • FTHub NatureConnect Specialization Certificate upon completion
    • Complete online course with live online lessons, practical tools, and readings
    • Session design templates for school, family, and community contexts
    • Safety and safeguarding checklists specific to outdoor work with children
    • Inclusive practice frameworks and adaptation guidance
    • Parent and caregiver communication templates

ROOTED IN RESEARCH

Connection

NatureConnect builds on FTHub’s active engagement with young populations through internationally funded projects:

  • Back to Nature (Erasmus+): Forest Therapy for youth aged 16–30 focused on addiction prevention and resilience
  • NASC — Nature Ambassadors for Sustainable Change: empowering young people to become community leaders
  • GreenTouch (Erasmus+): nature-based well-being for higher education students

The methodologies and insights from these projects inform the NatureConnect curriculum, ensuring practitioners learn from the latest applied work in the field.

TRAINER

About the trainer

Manuela Renzi

FTHub Training and Capacity Building Director

Manuela brings over a decade of global experience in Naturopathy, Ecopsychology, Mindfulness, and Oriental Medicine to shape international, evidence-based nature health frameworks. She adapts the FTHub Method across diverse global contexts and leads EU-funded projects like NATURELAB. An author, speaker, and facilitator grounded in deep ecological literacy, Manuela advances culturally sensitive, scientifically robust nature interventions worldwide.

Evidence Base

Grounded in peer-reviewed science

Why this matters for your practice

FTHub courses are evidence-informed at every step. The evidence is not decorative; each module connects theory to field practice using the same scientific frameworks underpinning the FTHub Method.

LIVE ONLINE COURSE

  • Saturday & Sunday | 4–8 pm CET
  • 2027 | April 17 and 18
  • Live online sessions with a trainer
  • 2 sessions | 8 hours
  • 3-month access
  • 8 modules
  • 9 downloadable materials
  • 8 hours of video recordings
  • Level: Intermediate
  • English

490 €

Add to Cart

Trainer

Manuela Renzi

TESTIMONIALS

What the professionals say

Real experiences from the field.

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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

NatureConnect is FTHub’s specialization course in advanced nature connection methodologies for children. It covers developmental perspectives on nature engagement, adapted activities for ages 8–12, outdoor safety and safeguarding, inclusive practice, and program design for educational and community settings. It also addresses working with parents and caregivers.

No. NatureConnect is designed for professionals who work with children in outdoor settings. It is most valuable for those with existing training in Forest Therapy, outdoor education, or Forest School practice, though it is also suitable for educators, youth workers, and health professionals looking to develop nature-based skills for young populations. No formal prerequisite or FTHub certification is required.

Yes. NatureConnect includes a comprehensive module on safety, supervision, and safeguarding in outdoor settings with children, covering group management, supervision ratios, environmental risks specific to young bodies, and ethical practice frameworks. While the course covers these topics, it does not replace formal safety qualifications.

Yes. The course addresses middle childhood (8–12), with activity libraries and facilitation approaches adapted for this stage.

Yes. Forest Therapy Hub offers NatureConnect, a specialization course in advanced nature connection methodologies for children. The online course covers developmental perspectives on nature engagement, adapted activities for ages 8–12, outdoor safety and safeguarding, inclusive practice, and program design for schools and community settings. It also addresses work with parents and caregivers. The course is informed by FTHub’s active work in EU-funded youth projects including Forest4Youth, Back to Nature, and NASC. It is designed for educators, Forest School leaders, Forest Therapy practitioners, youth workers, and health professionals supporting child development.

It includes an eight-module handbook, a two-day applied training, and a free 1-year Hub Seedlings Pro membership.

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