This Outdoor School For Adults Combines Education, Adventure & Activism

For most people, the idea of going back to school brings up memories of boring classrooms and greasy canteen food. But what if learning was actually an outdoor adventure, living on a boat and swimming with whales for a week? Well, that’s what Mer-School has achieved with their recent pop-up school for adults.

 

The recent adventure set sail for 7 days in August, with 11 enthusiastic change makers on board. The school was a combination of retreat (yoga, meditation, music, vegan food) adventure (sailing, whale-watching, swimming) and education (workshops on purpose, environmental activism, consumption, make your own plastic-free products).

Oh, the skipper also happened to be a bad-ass Marine Scientist who teaches for National Geographic.

 

 

 

“We both give a huge shit about sustainability and consumption — and we wanted to focus on how we could train up epic change makers, help them find their purpose, empower them to go out into the world and create their own unique ripples of awesomeness.”

– Sara Rickards

 

 

The innovative activists behind the idea, Sara Rickards and Kate Nelson, launched the adventure together in response to the global waste crisis. Sara is a Biomedical Scientist, Environmental Engineer and educator and Kate is a plastic-free activist, full-time mermaid, and yoga instructor.

 

 

The concept has two main aims, educate and empower individuals on purpose, activism, and consumption, whilst tackling a specific waste issue for a company or brand. The prototype focused on individual consumption — did you know our diet makes up 30% of our ecological footprint, could you reduce your impact?

“Forget everything you know about school…like the Breakfast Club on a luxury cruise through paradise, except instead of nerds and jocks learning to understand each other, you start to save the world”

– Participant at Mer-school 2018

 

 

Kate and Sara are really keen to expand the diversity of future events, looking for companies or brands to sponsor places or send staff.

If you’re looking for a trip with more purpose than just cocktails by the pool, join the next Mer-school in 2019.