The Power of Partnerships: a new Masters level microcredential, Leading and Enhancing Community Learning Outdoors

For Thrive Outdoors, our vision for a sustainable Scotland where our children and young people can play, learn and thrive outdoors can only be realised by also working to create opportunities for adults to extend and strengthen their skills and understanding in facilitating great outdoor learning experiences. 

We also believe in the power of partnerships and that’s why we have been really excited to work with both Queen Margaret University and the Community Learning & Development (CLD) Standards Council to develop a new Masters level (SCQF11) microcredential, Leading and Enhancing Community Learning Outdoors, which started last week on 5th March 2025. 

This module is designed to support educators who are working in community settings to develop the core knowledge and skills to lead groups in the context of outdoor learning. 

Accredited by the CLD Standards Council as recognised CPD for their membership, this module will support CLD workers to develop their skills in facilitating learning outdoors, enabling more children, young people and families to have the opportunity to engage with the outdoor environment and nature. 

For educators from other sectors such as schools and Early Learning & Childcare, the qualification offers the opportunity to explore outdoor learning in a community context, expanding children and young people’s experiences and offering new, or additional, ways of working. 

For many years the term ‘outdoor learning’ was often used interchangeably with ‘outdoor education’ and this was largely understood to be activities such as hiking, kayaking and other pursuits of the adventurous kind! These days, outdoor learning is understood more broadly to be any learning that takes place outdoors! 

In recent years, we have seen the growth of outdoor based Early Learning and Childcare and a greater focus on outdoor learning within schools as a key pillar of Learning for Sustainability, an entitlement for all children and young people age 3-18 within Curriculum for Excellence. 

Thrive Outdoors is committed to working with a broad range of partners to strengthen our diverse workforce enabling more babies, children, and young people to access Scotland’s varied landscape of green, blue, brown, and grey spaces, connecting people, place, and planet.