Connecting young people with farming, food production and the natural world lies at the very heart of LEAF Education. It is vitally important, not just for the future of the agricultural industry and their own health and wellbeing, but to nurture a lifelong love of the natural world and help future generations recognise their role in protecting it.
We are delighted to be working again with Bayer on the Bayer-LEAF Education Awards.It is a privilege to work with an organisation committed to promoting, thanking and celebrating those, who so often go unrecognised in our industry – educators.
This year we have refreshed the Award categories and application process. But their purpose remains the same – to champion food and farming education and shine a spotlight on those people and projects that are going that extra mile to inspire, engage and educate future generations about modern, sustainable farming.
We are particularly excited to give a bigger platform to farmers working with schools at secondary level, which has been a focus for LEAF Education over the last 18 months. From our work with teenagers, it is clear that this is so often an underrepresented group; but a group who are eager to find out more about farming, especially when considering further career opportunities.
As part of LEAF Education’s extensive work with teenagers in 2018, it was evident that young people want to work directly with farming and food professionals and learn first-hand about the opportunities and routes into the sector.
New for this year is our Young Inspirational Communicator Award, recognising an individual (between the ages of 18-35) using social media and technology to better engage with future generations in new and imaginative ways. At a time when society is so ‘connected’ our young people should not feel disconnected to farming and where their food comes from, though all too often they do.
This year we are asking the public to nominate those they feel deserve recognition and are making a change for good. Our future generations will be the ones making decisions, whether that be political or consumer related. The Bayer-LEAF Education Awards really are a highlight in our calendars, and we look forward to hearing about all those forward-thinking, creative individuals and initiatives that are reaching out to young people about the wonders of farming.
Nominations for the Bayer-LEAF Education Awards 2019 are now open! The Award categories are:
If you would like to become an Award-winning initiative recognised for going the extra mile to share your passion about food and farming, or know someone who deserves that recognition, then you can either apply directly by clicking here, or nominate someone by clicking here. All forms should then be sent to education@leafuk.org by the 26th April 2019.