Big Pond Education

Our work is to establish and conserve permanent native woodland in Ireland, encouraging land regeneration and biodiversity. What inspired you to work with Hometree?
We founded Big Pond Education in part due to the fact that we work in a field (international education) that has a massive climate impact and was, up until recently, doing very little to address this issue. As part of our mission we aim to build carbon saving initiatives and climate education into everything we do. 

Passively funding carbon offsetting projects can be problematic and often delivers zero environmental message to the polluter. Actively offsetting by engaging students with tree planting as part of a wider environmental mission can help educate the polluter and embed longer term behavioral changes. We needed a partner that believed in educating service users, planted native species, owned the land, worked with the local community and had a mission we believed in. After an extensive search for the right partner we found Hometree! They are environmentalists and educators and have become a huge part of our programmes. 

You will not see some of the trees you are planting reach maturity, what has inspired such a long term vision?
Hope! We (the Big Pond founders) spend our days working with young people and looking after our kids. Our students and staff are understandably angry, scared, confused and looking for direction when it comes to the climate crisis. Like many, the pandemic offered us a moment of reflection in which to reflect. During that time we realised that central to our work had to be a focus on the climate and the future. As the result, we left our jobs and founded Big Pond. The creation of Big Pond ultimately stemmed from a conversation about what we could do in our day to day lives to render our work more meaningful and impactful on the things that matter most to us - our families, students, communities and planet. Knowing that the trees we plant today will still be standing in a future, more densely forested Ireland is a long term vision that motivates us.

Would you like to share any key lessons life has taught you?
Stay present. Work hard. Be kind. Prioritise people, not titles. And Listen.

At Big Pond we're really trying to foster a space for staff, students and the local community that is welcoming, kind, honest, open, transparent and meaningful. We are actively trying to make a positive impact on our community and planet. It's a daily learning curve, but these key lessons are at the heart of everything we are trying to accomplish.