24/03/2026
At the Mediterranean Academy of Culture, Technology and Trade, we consider it essential to start from childrenโs perspectives when designing educational approaches.
The findings emerging from the Lifenat: Little Footsteps IN NATure project highlight a clear direction:
outdoor environments are naturally associated by children with exploration, interaction, and discovery.
These insights reinforce the importance of promoting learning models that go beyond traditional classroom settings, integrating nature-based experiences into early childhood education.
At the same time, the results underline a key challenge. Learning is still often perceived by children as something linked to indoor, structured activities. This confirms the need to support educators in bridging this gap through innovative and inclusive methodologies.
MACTT will continue contributing to the next phase of the project, focusing on the development and dissemination of approaches that connect:
โข learning
โข wellbeing
โข environmental awareness
within meaningful outdoor experiences.
๐ค Mediterranean Academy of Culture, Technology and Trade (Malta)
๐ค St Edward's College, Malta
๐ค Erasmus D. Dinis Agrupamento de Escolas D. Dinis (Portugal)
Fondi.eu | EUPA Malta - Erasmus+ & European Solidarity Corps | MaltaGov | Erasmus+ | European Commission
Childrenโs voices matter when designing better learning environments.
Within the Lifenat: Little Footsteps IN NATure project, students aged 2โ9 shared their thoughts about learning indoors and outdoors through surveys and focus groups.
The results show a clear trend:
children associate outdoor spaces with play, freedom, and discovery.
Many described activities such as running, climbing, exploring nature, or playing with friends as their favourite experiences. These environments support social interaction, curiosity, and movement. All essential elements of early childhood development.
At the same time, some children still associate โlearningโ mainly with classroom materials such as pencils or worksheets. This highlights an important opportunity: helping children recognise that learning can also happen through play, exploration, and interaction with nature.
These insights are helping the LIFENAT partnership design activities that connect learning, wellbeing, and outdoor experiences.
https://www.mactt.eu/lifenat-project/
๐ค Mediterranean Academy of Culture, Technology and Trade (Malta)
๐ค St Edward's College, Malta (Malta)
๐ค Erasmus D. Dinis Agrupamento de Escolas D. Dinis (Portugal)
Fondi.eu | EUPA Malta - Erasmus+ & European Solidarity Corps | MaltaGov | Erasmus+ | European Commission