Our Courses
Ancestral skills: Skills for connection
“Most of us think of belonging as a place outside of ourselves, that if we keep searching for, that maybe one day we’ll find it. But what if belonging isn’t a place at all, but a set of skills, or competencies, that we in modern times have lost or forgotten.”
From ‘Belonging: Remembering ourselves home’, by Toko-PaTurner.
Wild Awake runs classes for individuals and groups which aims to draw you away from the city and the pressures of modern day life, back to the land where you are freely able to explore your own connection to place. At the heart of these skills lies the real learning: community building, grief-tending, cultural regeneration, and rewilding.
Connection to the Earth
We firmly believe that it is through practicing the skills of our ancestors, those who knew the land so intimately and recognised their place within it, that we can strengthen our connection to the earth and all its inhabitants. By practicing these hands-on, creative skills we can flex our own ancestral muscle memory and recognise ourselves as the creative, problem-solving, and resilient beings that we are.
Personal Growth
Through these classes, we aim to provide authentic, transformational, and immersive experiences that contribute to personal growth, community building, and real skill development.
Connection with the Nature
We try to make these workshops as eclectic and as interesting as possible, with the emphasis being to unplug, relax and reconnect to yourself, each other, and to nature. We also tend to sing. A lot.
Ethnobotany Courses
“Plants are also integral to reweaving the connection between land and people. A place becomes a home when it sustains you, when it feeds you in body as well as spirit. To recreate a home, the plants must also return.”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
Ethnobotany is the study of the relationship between plants and humans. Not only for food but also for medicine, craft, fire-lighting, natural navigation, wildlife tracking, basketry, rope making, dying, textiles, tanning, inks and paints, torch-making. Ethnobotany is the study of the relationship between plants and humans. Not only for food but also for medicine, craft, fire-lighting, natural navigation, wildlife tracking, basketry, rope making, dying, textiles, tanning, inks and paints, torch-making.
Plants as Medicines
We provide seasonal foraging walks & workshops across the country. These can range from a simple 2-hour walk & talk, with tastings at the end, or a more in-depth exploration of how plants can be processed into food, medicine, or craft materials.
Uses of Plants
Lucy’s particular focus lies with the practical ethnobotanical uses of plants, trees, fungi, and seaweeds in Ireland and further afield.
Sustainability
The possibilities offered to us from the plant and fungi kingdom are endless and the tales and customs associated are just as fascinating! Sustainability and respect for nature is at the heart of what we do and so we can explore and maintain this land whilst creating something unique that we can be proud of.
Phoenix Forest School
Phoenix Forest School is located in the beautiful surroundings of the Furry Glen in Dublin’s iconic Phoenix Park.
We have been offering Forest School programmes for children aged 4 and up since 2015. We provide forest school programmes for people from all walks of life. We also run weekly after-school groups and host Forest school CPD days for adults, Training for teachers and college students. We are very grateful to all those who have come to play in the woods with us.
Forest School is a wonderful way to encourage your pupils to spend time outdoors in all weathers. Activities can be linked to your Green School awards as well as other curriculum topics. We witness the development of resilience, teamwork, and care for the earth in all of our programmes..
Aspirations for Future Generations
Here at Wild Awake, we believe that Forest School as an ethos of learning most suits our aspirations for future generations. In our experience, Forest School fosters creative & resilient individuals by supporting them to make the choices that are right for them.
Natural Environment
We understand that it takes time to build a relationship, whether that it is with yourself, the people around you, or with nature. Therefore, we appreciate the importance of long-term, regular contact in a natural environment.
Listening to One Another
We value play and understand the importance of sitting around a campfire listening to one another as much as reaching for that next branch up the tree. We see the value in risky play and support people to assess risk for themselves.