Education + engagement
StreamScapes for Schools
Since 1989, StreamScapes has worked with hundreds of schools across Ireland, empowering young people to understand and care for their local rivers, streams, and biodiversity through immersive, hands-on learning.
Our unique approach brings environmental science to life, using each school’s local catchment as an outdoor classroom. Students don’t just learn about ecosystems—they experience them directly, developing a real connection to the natural world around them.
Our Programmes
StreamScape’s education ethos is grounded in hands-on, immersive learning, encouraging participants to engage directly with their local environment. All of our courses are designed to be flexible and adaptable, ensuring they meet the specific needs, interests, and learning objectives of each group.
Whether for primary schools, secondary schools, Transition Year students, or teacher training, our programmes combine hands-on learning, scientific exploration, and environmental stewardship. From studying local biodiversity and water quality to engaging in community service projects and conservation efforts, we provide immersive experiences that inspire action.
StreamScapes Basics: An Introduction to Your Catchment
This course is designed to provide hands-on environmental education that aligns with the SESE curriculum. It integrates science, geography, and literacy skills while fostering environmental responsibility. It introduces young learners to their local water catchments, biodiversity, and the importance of clean water while fostering a sense of wonder about the natural world to empower students to become local environmental stewards.
Key Features:
Cross-curricular approach incorporating science, geography, and literacy.
Field trips to local streams or water bodies to study biodiversity and water quality.
Use of Bio-Monitors (aquatic insects) to assess water health.
Interactive activities such as mapping, observation, and creative projects.
Integration with the Green Schools Programme.
StreamScapes Advanced: Field Studies
This course provides an advanced exploration of local ecosystems, with an emphasis on scientific inquiry, environmental policy, and hands-on conservation efforts. For secondary school students, particularly those in Transition Year (TY), we encourage student-led environmental action projects, ensuring that learners not only study biodiversity but actively participate in its protection through research, engagement, and practical solutions.
Key Features:
Field-Based Learning: In-depth investigation of local streams and rivers.
Catchment Assessment: Students use worksheets to characterise their local water system.
Scientific Analysis: Identifying pollution sources, assessing bio-monitors, and understanding water chemistry.
Cross-Curricular Integration: Links to biology (ecosystems & conservation), geography (water systems & land use), and chemistry (water analysis & pollutants).
Optional Service Project:
TY students design and implement a community-based service project to raise awareness or improve water quality.
This could involve creating reports, digital storytelling, community outreach, or local conservation initiatives.
StreamScapes: Mentor | Múinteoir
This train-the-trainer course is designed to equip teachers and facilitators with the knowledge, tools, and methodologies needed to deliver StreamScapes education programmes effectively. It integrates hands-on field learning, scientific inquiry, and community engagement to help participants teach about water catchments, biodiversity, and sustainability.
Key Features:
Catchment & Environmental Education – Integrating local water studies into the curriculum, linking with SESE and Green Schools Programme. Teaching Strategies – Using inquiry-based learning, cross-curricular connections, and hands-on activities to engage students.
Field-Based Learning & Safety – Organising safe, educational field trips, teaching bio-monitoring and water quality assessment.
Catchment Assessment & Community Engagement – Helping students map and study their environment, fostering citizen science participation.
Service Projects & Storytelling – Guiding student-led environmental action projects and using digital storytelling to raise awareness.
Assessment & Next Steps – Evaluating learning outcomes, publishing findings, and encouraging schools to take long-term environmental action.
StreamScapes: X-Stream (DIY Catchment Guide Book)
This comprehensive guide empowers citizens to explore, assess, and protect their local water systems. The guidebook blends scientific fieldwork with community engagement to foster practical environmental stewardship. It provides step-by-step methods for surveying catchments, riparian zones, and instream habitats, while emphasising both ecological sensitivity and participant safety.
Key Features:
Citizen Science Focus: Practical tools and guidance for hands-on water catchment assessment and monitoring.
Ecosystem Stewardship: Strategies for protecting biodiversity, including measures to support species like salmonids and freshwater pearl mussels.
Safety Emphasis: Clear protocols for conducting fieldwork safely around aquatic environments
Salmon Sanctuaries
This course introduces students to the fascinating life cycle of salmon and their importance to local ecosystems. It integrates storytelling, science, and conservation awareness while fostering an appreciation for biodiversity and clean waterways.
Key Features:
Scientific Investigation: Examining salmon life cycles, migration patterns, and survival rates.
Field-Based Research: Exploring local waterways to assess habitat quality and biodiversity.
Human Impact & Solutions: Learning about pollution, land use, and conservation strategies.
Community & Cultural Connections: Investigating salmon-related mythology and the role of salmon in different cultures.
Sustainability & Best Practices: Encouraging sustainable behaviors at home and in the community to protect water systems.
The bog revealed: essential knowledge and resources
This course introduces students to the unique and vital ecosystems of bogs, emphasising their role in biodiversity, climate regulation, and water management. It fosters curiosity and environmental awareness through hands-on learning and inspires young learners to appreciate and protect bogs, reinforcing their importance to Ireland’s landscape and global sustainability.
Key Features:
Scientific Investigation: Understanding bog formation, hydrology, and nutrient cycles.
Biodiversity & Conservation: Studying the specialised flora and fauna that depend on bogs, including rare birds, insects, and mammals.
Human Impact & Restoration:
Examining threats to bogs, such as drainage, agriculture, peat extraction, and climate change.
Exploring conservation efforts, including bog restoration techniques like re-wetting and reintroducing native vegetation.
Field-Based Learning: Conducting bog surveys, soil
sampling, and biodiversity assessments.
Education + Engagement
StreamScapes for Communities
StreamScapes works with community groups to design impactful local engagement projects that build environmental awareness, celebrate biodiversity, and strengthen stewardship of natural assets.
What we offer:
Community Engagement Projects: Designed for your local catchment.
Facilitated Workshops & Field Events: Hands-on, inclusive, and designed to spark discussion and pride.
Local Publications: We help communities create beautiful booklets showcasing local rivers, species, and heritage.
Outcomes For Communities:
A shared sense of place and environmental responsibility.
Enhanced biodiversity knowledge.
Visible and lasting local impacts.
Momentum for future projects and collaborations.
Inspire Local Action Through Local Knowledge
Whether you’re a teacher, parent, community leader, or volunteer, StreamScapes offers tools, inspiration, and support to help you reconnect people to place.
