Nature-Based Education, Sustainability, and Resilience

Teachers and Practitioners Training for a Regenerative Future

Portugal - Coming up soon

Join us for an immersive training designed for educators, facilitators, and practitioners committed to shaping a regenerative future through education. This program offers a deep exploration of nature-based education, sustainability, and resilience, equipping participants with practical tools and transformative perspectives for today’s evolving educational landscape.

Rooted in both theory and hands-on practice, the training bridges the gap between knowledge and real-world application. Participants will gain clarity on future-focused education while strengthening their ability to integrate sustainability, regeneration, and experiential learning into daily teaching and learning environments.

What You Will Explore

Tools to Transform Education

  • Practice-based theory and theory-based practice

  • Regenerative design for schools and learning environments

  • Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) – Integrative Model

  • Sustainable project-based learning for schools

  • Experiential and outdoor learning methodologies

Registration - Will OPEN SOON
Venue

A Transformative Learning Journey

Through a carefully designed learning experience, you will:

  • Elevate your teaching and facilitation skills

  • Gain practical tools for sustainability, environmental education, and climate adaptation

  • Learn how to design regenerative learning environments that foster resilience and ecological awareness

  • Connect innovative educational ideas directly to everyday teaching practice

Our approach emphasizes learning by doing. By actively engaging with real-life contexts, you will leave not only with a strong conceptual understanding but also with the confidence and skills to implement change within your own educational setting.

Regenerative Education for a Sustainable Future

This training invites you to step into the field of regenerative education—where education does not merely sustain, but actively restores and nurtures life. You will explore methodologies that empower learners, strengthen communities, and cultivate a deep connection with the natural world.

Unlock clarity on future education, integrate theory with practice, enhance sustainability skills, and embrace regenerative education for a resilient and thriving future.

Program Overview

Understanding Nature-Based Education, Sustainability, and Resilience
Teachers and Practitioners Training for a Regenerative Future
Portugal | July 3–6, 2026

Day 1 – Arrival & Orientation

Arriving, Connecting & Setting the Learning Space

  • Arrival and registration

  • Welcome and opening circle

  • Introductions and intention setting

  • Overview of the training program and learning journey

  • Creating a shared learning culture: values, agreements, and expectations

  • Introduction to the place and its natural environment

  • Gentle outdoor walk and grounding activity

  • Evening reflection and informal connection

Focus: Arrival, connection, and orientation to place and people

Day 2 – Foundations of Nature-Based Education & Sustainability

From Experience to Understanding

  • Introduction to Nature-Based and Experiential Education

  • Practice-based theory: learning from lived and embodied experience

  • Sustainability and resilience in education

  • Education for Sustainable Development (ESD): Integrative Model

  • Outdoor and experiential learning session

  • Reflection, dialogue, and integration

Focus: Core concepts and experiential foundations

Day 3 – Regenerative Design & Sustainable Learning in Practice

Designing Future-Ready Educational Environments

  • Regenerative education: moving beyond sustainability

  • Regenerative design principles for schools and learning environments

  • Sustainable Project-Based Learning for schools

  • Climate adaptation and resilience in educational contexts

  • Hands-on group work: designing regenerative learning projects

  • Peer sharing and feedback

  • Reflection circle

Focus: Application, design, and real-world practice

Day 4 – Integration, Closing & Departure

Harvesting Learning & Next Steps

  • Morning reflection and integration

  • Connecting theory to everyday teaching and facilitation

  • Personal and professional action planning

  • Sharing insights, commitments, and next steps

  • Closing circle and certification

  • Departure

Focus: Integration, closure, and transition back to practice

Facilitators

Taisa Mattos — Lead Trainer & Regenerative Education Specialist

Taisa Mattos is a Brazilian educator, researcher, and internationally recognized trainer in sustainability, regenerative education, and community life. Since 2009, she has coordinated and taught Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) programmes across Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Argentina, Mexico, the United States, and online, contributing to dozens of certified educational experiences worldwide.

From 2019 to 2024, Taisa served as Education, Consultancy, and Research Coordinator at the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN International). She currently works as Gaia Schools Coordinator at Gaia Education, supporting the integration of holistic, sustainability-based frameworks into formal and non-formal education.

Taisa is a board member of the International Communal Studies Association (ICSA) and the author of Ecovillages: Building a Regenerative Culture. Her academic background includes a master’s degree in Psychosociology of Communities and Social Ecology, as well as a degree in Social Communication. She also teaches Community Principles at the postgraduate level in Pedagogy of Cooperation and Social Methodologies in Brazil.

Her work bridges sustainability theory and practice through immersive, participatory learning approaches that foster community engagement, systemic thinking, and social innovation.


Margarita’s journey is rooted in her passion for education, sustainability, languages, cultures, and the well-being of society. She holds a master’s degree in Educational Science with a specialization in Education for Sustainability from the University of Iceland, along with a degree in International Studies in Education. She is also a certified Life Coach and a trained facilitator with the Global Ecovillage Network, where she actively promotes holistic and regenerative practices.

Margarita currently serves as Project Manager for Outdoor and Nature-Based Education at Hjallastefnan Preschool in Selfoss, Iceland. She is the co-founder of Adventures for Students Iceland and Futureroots. Education, both dedicated to reimagining sustainability in education. These initiatives focus on empowering educators through capacity-building, well-being, and transformative training that integrates ecological, social, economic, and cultural dimensions into everyday teaching.

Her work emphasizes the power of confident, informed educators as catalysts for change, supporting them with tools, professional learning communities, and opportunities for deeper reflection and growth. Margarita also contributes her expertise as a member of the South Iceland education committee, run by the National Protection Agency. At the heart of her work is a commitment to environmental advocacy, community resilience, and meaningful human connection.