Aim

Connecting West Sussex teachers to river ecosystems with in-situ training, allowing young people to learn through local area immersion.

WHO ARE WE, AND WHAT IS THIS PROJECT ABOUT?

Reboot the Future is a UK charity bringing compassionate, sustainability-focused values into education. Through Reboot Education, our teacher platform with a 20-year legacy in global learning, we support over 5,000 teachers monthly with resources on climate, nature and biodiversity.

This project uses the River Arun at a farm in West Sussex, as a living classroom. The river was rerouted in the 1800s to accommodate canal boats, and the hope now is to restore it to its original course.

That question, should we undo what humans changed, is a powerful entry point into conversations about ecological responsibility and climate resilience. The uncertainty itself becomes the lesson.

We will run teacher training days at the farm and in-classroom workshops for local schools, giving teachers the knowledge, materials and confidence to bring rivers and ecosystems into their everyday teaching, aiming to have students understand how to be a good ancestor.

This project sits within Aviva's Climate Action criteria, providing education and skills for a sustainable future and reconnecting teachers and children to their local ecosystems.

WHY ARE WE CROWDFUNDING?

We are launching this campaign at Reboot the Future's forum event this September, when a small group of key stakeholders will gather to discuss our responsibilities to this stretch of the River Arun, its ecosystem, and its ambition to become regenerative.

While we have centred the project around the Arun river catchment community, the questions we raise are representative of challenges rural and urban communities face across the country.

This local pilot is designed to grow. Every pound raised funds teacher training days and in-classroom workshops for schools in West Sussex, and lays the groundwork for a national programme through Reboot Education. The more we raise, the more teachers we can reach.

HOW WE'LL SPEND THE MONEY

Every pound goes directly towards training teachers and reaching schools:

    •    Teacher training days at a farm, covering expert facilitation, covering teacher costs and transport from the nearest train station

    •    In-classroom workshops for local West Sussex schools, delivered by expert facilitators and Reboot staff

    •    Development of training materials for teachers to use during and after the programme

    •    Photography and videography to document the programme for reporting and wider communications

    •    Creation of an open-source webinar series for teachers

The more we raise, the more teachers we train, the more schools we reach, and the more young people we teach.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Three simple ways to get involved:

• Make a donation. Every pledge trains another teacher and brings rivers into another classroom.
• Spread the word. Share our project with parents, teachers and anyone who cares about nature education.
• Get in touch. If you are a school, educator or organisation who would like to get involved, contact us through this page with the subject "I want to get involved."

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 23rd October 2026 at 9:09am