ABAE – Associação Bandeira Azul da Europa
ABAAE (Associação Bandeira Azul de Ambiente e Educação) is a national non-profit environmental NGO that runs recognised programmes such as B…
Nature-based Learning
Lessons the land teaches best: forest-school days at Bosque do Pisco near Estoril, hands-on stays at Terra Alta near Sintra, and living classrooms like Quinta Vale da Lama. Learning by doing, outdoors.
Projects in this focus
Eco Life Experience
A sustainable eco-tourism and education platform in Sintra offering workshops, reconnection activities and eco-village experiences that prom…
Enraizar - Associação de Aprendizagem Comunitária
Enraizar is a non-profit Learning Community in Santo Isidoro, Mafra, that supports children and families through nature-based, participatory…
K-Evolution
K-Evolution is a Portuguese non-profit association, founded in 2013, that promotes sustainability, citizenship and entrepreneurship through …
Bosque do Pisco
A nature and arts space in a small forest inside a quinta in São João do Estoril, with playgroups, family workshops, holiday programmes and …
Grupo de Aprendizagem Livre
A Waldorf-inspired educational community for homeschooled teenagers in Colares, Sintra, combining academic content with art and experiences …
Terra Alta Permaculture
Terra Alta Permaculture is an off-grid permaculture education and research centre in a protected valley near Sintra, Portugal. It runs immer…
Aldeia do Vale
Aldeia do Vale is an agroecological and permaculture project between Sintra and Mafra, Portugal, with courses, workshops and practical exper…
Biovilla Sustentabilidade
Biovilla Sustentabilidade is a sustainable development cooperative on the Herdade de Pinhal Basto in Palmela, combining nature tourism, sust…
Nature-based learning in Portugal
Forest school arrived here late and grew fast, helped by a climate that makes outdoor days possible most of the year and by families who moved to the countryside and then had to answer the schooling question.
Folha Verde runs bilingual natural education in the Benfeita valley near Arganil. Novas Descobertas works with children year-round near Lagos. Biovilla teaches on an estate in Palmela within reach of Lisbon, and Faia Brava takes school groups onto rewilded land in the Côa.
Some are alternative schools, some are an extension of a farm or a reserve, and the legal shape varies as much as the pedagogy, worth asking early. Related focuses: sustainability in schools, community education and eco-tourism and experiential learning. Dated programmes appear on our events calendar.