La forêt du Je Libre

La forêt du Je libre is a non profit organisation founded in 2017 in order to create and manage the first forest kindergarten in France, called l'École en Forêt de Marsac. It is a secular public school, licensed by the central education board, which receives no state funding. We have two specialised educators, who work with a group of up to 16 children on mondays, tuesdays, thurdays and wednesdays from 8:30am-17:45pm. Our association is recognized by french law as a general interest association with the aim to promote: - learning in and from nature; environmental education including sustainable development and eco-citizenship; parenthood accompaniment and support; creating a network with other nature schools in France and providing support to project holders nationwide wanting to start forest schools. Run by a team of professionals (EJE - infant educator and environmental educator) and volunteers, we are now in our 4th school year, with regular inspections by the national education board. The association aims to democratize this educational concept in France, which has only very few establishments of its kind. We have thus put into place an annual workshop for project holders on site at the forest kindergarten, in order to share our experiences. The association has dedicated resources to media coverage, with over 40 appearances in local and national newspapers, radio and TV in order to make forest schools known to the general public and encourage others to follow suit.