Zaria is now LEEF Coordinator! In post since December 2019, Zaria is working three days a week from the Horniman museum (when not under lockdown), to guide the network through turbulent times. Drop her a line on [email protected] to say hello.
Zaria Greenhill
How did you get where you are today?
It was complicated route. I was an ESOL teacher and I spent two years teacher training in rural China, which opened my eyes to the complexities and dilemmas of development environment. I then did an MSc in Education for Sustainability at London South Bank University, followed by four years in the education team of WWF UK. I've now been freelance for two years, including some volunteering with LEEF.
What tips would you give someone starting out in your field?
I think environmentalism suits people as a second career. Whatever your previous passion or skillset is, it will have some application to environmental change. I think re-skilling through higher education is really useful, but if you have a passion for change, don’t underestimate the need for specific skills in a field, such as education, engineering, marketing or administration: they are all incredible valuable to build sustainable change.
What inspires you? Or who?
Nature, my warm community, Alastair McIntosh, Meg Wheatley and poetry
What is a significant memory of being in nature as a child?
Monsoons, frangipani and rainforests, as well as the threat of angry indigenous communities of Papua New Guinea, where I lived for two years as a small child.
What project are you most proud of? ‘Leading for the Future’, completed with WWF-UK in collaboration with Commonwork, a residential course for awakening head teachers’ sense of mission in teaching for the future.
What’s your favourite game or activity?
Cooking and cycling
What’s your favourite eco-place in London, and why?
Ladywell fields in Lewisham, it’s got a solitary Elm, a lovely river and kingfishers
Do you have a recommendation to LEEF members?
Jason Buckley the philosophy man, he sends out email shots with ideas of how to have learning discussions and games with children
What are you working on at the moment?
Promoting the Beyond the Classroom conference on Outdoor learning, planned for March 2015.
How would you like to see Environmental or Sustainability Education develop in the next 10 years?
I’d like to see Sustainability as a core part of the curriculum, and I’d like to see all teacher training include ESD, as well as dialogic, critical, philosophy-for-children-type skills. I’d like to see teachers treated better and valued for what they can bring to society.
It was complicated route. I was an ESOL teacher and I spent two years teacher training in rural China, which opened my eyes to the complexities and dilemmas of development environment. I then did an MSc in Education for Sustainability at London South Bank University, followed by four years in the education team of WWF UK. I've now been freelance for two years, including some volunteering with LEEF.
What tips would you give someone starting out in your field?
I think environmentalism suits people as a second career. Whatever your previous passion or skillset is, it will have some application to environmental change. I think re-skilling through higher education is really useful, but if you have a passion for change, don’t underestimate the need for specific skills in a field, such as education, engineering, marketing or administration: they are all incredible valuable to build sustainable change.
What inspires you? Or who?
Nature, my warm community, Alastair McIntosh, Meg Wheatley and poetry
What is a significant memory of being in nature as a child?
Monsoons, frangipani and rainforests, as well as the threat of angry indigenous communities of Papua New Guinea, where I lived for two years as a small child.
What project are you most proud of? ‘Leading for the Future’, completed with WWF-UK in collaboration with Commonwork, a residential course for awakening head teachers’ sense of mission in teaching for the future.
What’s your favourite game or activity?
Cooking and cycling
What’s your favourite eco-place in London, and why?
Ladywell fields in Lewisham, it’s got a solitary Elm, a lovely river and kingfishers
Do you have a recommendation to LEEF members?
Jason Buckley the philosophy man, he sends out email shots with ideas of how to have learning discussions and games with children
What are you working on at the moment?
Promoting the Beyond the Classroom conference on Outdoor learning, planned for March 2015.
How would you like to see Environmental or Sustainability Education develop in the next 10 years?
I’d like to see Sustainability as a core part of the curriculum, and I’d like to see all teacher training include ESD, as well as dialogic, critical, philosophy-for-children-type skills. I’d like to see teachers treated better and valued for what they can bring to society.
This fellowship was awarded on Tuesday 25th March 2014 at the;
Isis Education Centre
The LookOut
Hyde Park
London
LEEF fellowships are awarded to recognise excellence in Environmental and Sustainability Education.
Isis Education Centre
The LookOut
Hyde Park
London
LEEF fellowships are awarded to recognise excellence in Environmental and Sustainability Education.
