As summer holidays in a heatwave draw to a close, and parents and teachers start to think about lessons for the new school year, what can we do to prepare young people for the challenges they are facing?

How do educators and young people respond to the storm of changes brought about by climate change and the pandemic? How do we connect, as individuals and citizens, with a future that seems terribly uncertain?

One exceptional organisation has been asking these questions and taking action.

The RAIN Pioneers Project encourages schools and communities to plant and maintain their own reforestation, rewilding or ecosystem restoration project.

How do we equip our children to face the world they are growing up in? RAIN launches Pioneers Monthly.

St Brendan’s in Bristol, one of our Pioneer Schools, worked with local organisations, businesses and The Woodland Trust. Here they are with a special delivery on site.

The students at New Hinksey Primary School heard about RAIN and our work helping students in Brazil to regenerate the Atlantic Forest. They decided to do a "Dress like a Tree" day as a fundraiser for RAIN.

Pé da Vida is an ecological education organisation at the University of Pernambuco, doing sustainable projects with schools and communities in Recife on the Northeastern coast of Brazil.

Much of the native vegetation (called cerrado) of the region has been lost to soya plantations, so the need for education about sustainable land use is critical.

The project, led by St Brendan’s Geography teacher Sophie Preece and Danny Diskin, founder of the Regenerative Agroforestry Impact Network (RAIN) brings together a group of environmental experts, enthusiasts, land owners and researchers.