Nominee Summary
Edge Group Scotland is transforming access to Scotland's rural education for young adults who have learning disabilities, are autistic and/or have other additional support needs. Through Edge Woods – our living environmental learning space – participants develop practical countryside skills through conservation, biodiversity, horticulture, enterprise and environmental stewardship. Edge Woods provides a practical setting for Qualifications Scotland accredited learning across all of our programmes, enabling recognised outcomes to be achieved through meaningful, real-world projects. By widening participation in rural education, Edge is helping preserve Scotland's rural knowledge while inspiring a new generation of confident environmental custodians.
The preservation of skills
Scotland's rural future depends upon practical knowledge being passed from one generation to the next. At Edge Group Scotland, we believe that process should include everyone. Too often, young adults who have learning disabilities, are autistic and/or have other additional support needs are absent from conversations around countryside learning, conservation and environmental stewardship. Opportunities are frequently limited, not by ability, but by accessibility and expectation. Edge Woods was created to change that. Our working outdoor learning environment provides meaningful opportunities to develop practical rural skills through genuine participation rather than observation. Participants create wildlife habitats, improve biodiversity, grow food, develop sensory gardens, manage woodland spaces and contribute to environmental projects that continue to evolve long after individual activities have ended. Importantly, Edge Woods is not simply somewhere learning takes place; it is where learning is applied. Supporting Qualifications Scotland accredited learning across every Edge programme, participants complete enterprise projects, grow produce for use within our teaching kitchen, create products that support fundraising initiatives and develop practical skills that connect environmental responsibility with employability, health and wellbeing. Unlike many outdoor education projects, Edge Woods is never "finished". Each cohort inherits the work of those before them, contributes their own ideas and leaves an even richer environment for those who follow. Participants do not simply learn about environmental stewardship; they experience it. By removing barriers rather than lowering expectations, Edge is helping ensure Scotland's rural knowledge is passed on to a generation that has too often been overlooked.
Increasing awareness
Edge Group Scotland is challenging perceptions of who rural education is for. Our programmes demonstrate that high-quality countryside learning can be both ambitious and genuinely inclusive. Through practical conservation, biodiversity, horticulture, sustainability and environmental projects, participants develop confidence while creating lasting environmental value. Edge Woods is not a destination within our programmes; it is a thread that runs through them. Learning introduced through Qualifications Scotland accredited activities, enterprise, healthy cooking, volunteering and travel training is reinforced, applied and brought to life outdoors, allowing participants to see the real-world impact of their knowledge and skills. The impact extends beyond our own programmes. Schools, careers advisers, local authorities, partner organisations and professionals regularly engage with Edge to explore how inclusive rural education can be successfully delivered. Our partnership with OutdoorClassrooms.scot further strengthens this approach by bringing specialist environmental expertise into weekly programme delivery. Annual Programme Reflection demonstrated that Edge Woods is one of the most highly valued elements of our supported day programmes. Participants repeatedly identified practical outdoor activities, gardening, building projects and seeing the tangible results of their work as programme highlights, reinforcing the positive impact of hands-on environmental learning. This innovative approach has also been recognised nationally through Edge Group Scotland being shortlisted as a finalist in the 2026 YouthLink Scotland National Youth Work Awards.
Ethical/environmental standards
Environmental responsibility underpins every aspect of Edge Woods. Rather than creating a landscaped teaching space, Edge has transformed an underused area into a thriving environmental learning environment where conservation, education and community benefit happen simultaneously. Every project is designed to deliver long-term ecological value while creating meaningful opportunities for learning. Participants actively contribute to biodiversity enhancement through wildlife-friendly planting, habitat creation, vegetable growing, sensory gardens, bug habitats, living walls and woodland management. They learn not only how these projects benefit local ecosystems, but why careful stewardship is essential to protecting Scotland's natural environment. Sustainability is embedded throughout our programmes. Produce grown within Edge Woods is used in our teaching kitchen, reinforcing healthy food choices while demonstrating sustainable food production. Enterprise projects encourage participants to create practical garden products that support fundraising for our minibus appeal, helping them understand how environmental projects, enterprise and community benefit can work together. Wherever possible, Edge works alongside local organisations, specialist practitioners, volunteers and local suppliers, recognising that protecting Scotland's countryside is a shared responsibility strengthened through partnership. Our commitment to inclusion is equally important. We do not reduce expectations because of disability or additional support needs. Instead, we remove barriers while maintaining authentic, meaningful experiences that allow every participant to make a genuine contribution to the environment around them. The result is a working landscape that benefits biodiversity, participants and the wider community alike.
Noteworthy improvements
Edge Woods has evolved from an underused outdoor space into one of the defining features of Edge Group Scotland's programmes. Today, it delivers more than 5,000 participant learning hours every programme year, providing structured, year-round environmental education that is embedded across all of our supported day programmes rather than delivered as occasional outdoor activities. Its impact extends far beyond the physical landscape. Edge Woods supports learning across every Qualifications Scotland pathway delivered by Edge Group Scotland, enabling recognised outcomes to be achieved through genuine conservation, enterprise, horticulture and sustainability projects rather than simulated classroom activities. Our annual Programme Reflection identified Edge Woods as the most frequently selected employability and volunteering activity. Participants consistently highlighted the opportunity to work outdoors, use practical tools, build projects, garden and see the lasting impact of their work, demonstrating the value of learning through meaningful participation. Participants consistently recognised the opportunity to contribute to something lasting, with many highlighting the satisfaction of seeing their work continue to benefit future programme participants. Every cohort inherits the work of those before them, contributes new ideas and leaves behind habitats, growing spaces, enterprise projects and environmental improvements that benefit those who follow. Participants are not simply learning about stewardship; they are actively creating a lasting environmental legacy.
Overcoming Challenges
The greatest challenge Edge has overcome has been changing perceptions about who rural education is designed for. Historically, young adults who have additional support needs have been significantly underrepresented within environmental education, despite having every potential to contribute meaningfully to Scotland's countryside and natural environment. Rather than accepting this imbalance, Edge developed a different model. By transforming an underused space, we created a living landscape where accessibility, environmental responsibility and high expectations coexist. Participants are not passive observers. They become active contributors, taking responsibility for projects that improve biodiversity, support wildlife, grow food, develop enterprise skills and create lasting environmental improvements. Developing this model required more than creating an outdoor space. It required embedding environmental education, employability, enterprise, health and wellbeing, and Qualifications Scotland accredited learning into one connected experience while demonstrating that meaningful rural education can be genuinely inclusive. The greatest success of Edge Woods is not measured by the habitats created or the infrastructure developed, but by the people who have helped shape it. Every participant leaves behind something of lasting value; a habitat, a growing space, an enterprise project or a new idea for the next cohort to build upon. They are not simply learning rural skills. They're helping preserve them. By broadening who has access to rural education today, Edge is strengthening the people who will care for Scotland's natural environment tomorrow. Scotland's rural skills cannot be preserved if they are not passed on; and Edge Group Scotland is helping ensure the next generation includes everyone.
