Eden Project to beam free lessons into UK classrooms

The Eden Project has been sending school groups home muddy and inspired for a quarter of a century. Now it wants to reach the children who will never make the trip to Cornwall at all.

The Cornwall charity is launching a new digital schools membership called Eden Project Live Learning, built to reach an extra 30,000 pupils every year. It plans to triple the number of live lessons it runs and stream them into classrooms across the UK and around the world.

Twenty-five years of school trips

Eden welcomed its first school groups when it opened in 2001. Since then, more than 750,000 children and young people have visited on school and college trips, with around 30,000 students coming through the gates each year.

The site already runs almost 40 curriculum-linked workshops alongside a growing online learning offer. Last year the Eden Project engaged with more than 80,000 learners through a mix of on-site visits, workshops, livestreams and digital resources.

Its livestream programme has connected more than 75,000 young people so far, in countries including the UK, Canada, the USA, Japan, Portugal and the Netherlands.

Free for primary schools first

Eden Project Live Learning will be free during the 2026/27 academic year. It opens first to primary schools, giving them a structured run of interactive live lessons streamed straight from Cornwall.

The broadcasts will come from locations across the site, including the Rainforest Biome. Lessons will cover biodiversity, tropical rainforests, sustainability, food systems, climate change and the links between people and the natural world.

Secondary schools, colleges and universities are next in line, with plans to widen the offer in future.

Sam Kendall, Head of Education at the Eden Project, said education had been at the heart of the site since the day it opened.

“Eden is a living classroom, but not every child can make that journey. This new membership will allow us to bring some of the experiences, stories and expertise that make Eden special directly into classrooms across the UK and beyond,” Sam said.

“We hope it will inspire more young people to understand the connections between people and nature and help them see the role they can play in shaping a positive future.”

Backed by a British Airways fund

The expansion is supported by the BA Better World Community Fund, which is paying for new broadcasting equipment and software.

Carrie Harris, Director of Sustainability at British Airways, said the airline was proud to back the project.

“Eden Project Live Learning will help bring Eden’s unique learning experiences to thousands more children, wherever they are,” Carrie said. “Alongside supporting community wildflower habitats and the development of Eden’s new Seed Lab, our partnership reflects our shared commitment to creating opportunities for people to connect with nature and learn more about biodiversity.”

Schools can find out more on the Eden Project website.