Blue & Green
A New Natural Curriculum for Sussex
Educator Resources
Access ready-to-use lesson plans and activities to teach marine, coastal, and environmental sustainability, inspiring the next generation of green leaders.
Wild Work Toolkit
Discover opportunities to gain skills and take action, explore real-life career stories, and connect with green organisations.
A new natural curriculum for sussex
Young people learn about rainforests and coral reefs, before they understand the chalk streams, kelp forests, or floodplains on their doorstep.
Sussex is uniquely placed at the intersection of major nature recovery efforts—combining coast, farmland, woodland, rivers, and urban green space. Yet most curricula don’t reflect the richness or relevance of the local environment.
This curriculum will close that gap—to connect national learning goals with local realities. Sussex is a living case study in climate adaptation, biodiversity restoration, and sustainable land use. With projects like Weald to Waves, Knepp, and Sussex Bay underway, students have a unique opportunity to learn from active, real-world environmental change.
Marine & Coast
The ocean is where life on Earth began, and it remains vital to every living system today. In this module, students dive into the marine habitats along the Sussex coast, from kelp forests and oyster beds to seagrass meadows and chalk reefs. Through hands-on activities and engaging lessons, they explore the rich biodiversity of our local waters, learn about the pressures these ecosystems face, including pollution, climate change, and overfishing, and discover how the health of the ocean is directly connected to our own wellbeing, from food and climate, to culture and livelihoods.
By building ocean literacy close to home, students come away with a deeper understanding of why a thriving sea matters and how they can help protect it.
More to Come
The Blue-Green curriculum is growing. Our first modules focus on Sussex’s marine and coastal environments, but freshwater and landscape-focused modules are on the way. These will explore rivers, wetlands, woodlands, and farmland, building a fuller picture of nature recovery across the region.
If you’re an educator, researcher, organisation, or funder interested in contributing to or supporting these next phases, we’d love to hear from you. Whether you can offer content, collaboration, or financial backing, your input will help shape meaningful, place-based learning for the next generation.
Get in touch to be part of the journey.
© 2024 Naomi Humphreys, Geodime Ltd
Wild Work Toolkit
The Wild Work Toolkit is your starting point for taking meaningful action in the world of nature recovery and environmental careers. Whether you’re exploring inspiring role models, discovering organisations making a difference, or seeking real-world opportunities to get involved with, the Toolkit brings together practical resources and pathways to help you take your next step.
Opportunities
Ready to take action? Explore hands-on opportunities to learn, volunteer, and work with people and projects making a difference for nature and communities.
Role Models
Meet the people making change happen and inspiring individuals taking action for nature and community — explore their stories and start your own journey.
Organisations
Discover groups connected with our land and seascapes, that are leading the way in nature recovery and community action — connect, get inspired, and get involved.
Oceanic Scale
Diving into the Numbers
Sussex's Shoreline
Sussex has a 90-mile coastline along the English Channel, supporting a diverse range of marine life and habitats.
Marine Species
Over 300 species of marine life have been recorded off the Sussex coast, from seahorses in the seagrass meadows to basking sharks spotted in deeper waters.
Seabed Protection
Following the banning of trawling from over 300 square km of seabed, Sussex’s kelp forests are beginning to recover.