An outdoor classroom being built on Queen Margaret University campus will be surrounded by a small forest overlooking a pond.
The university, on the outskirts of Musselburgh, worked with Edinburgh and Lothian Greenspace Trust to create the new learning hub to provide future teachers with outdoor lesson experience.
And the plans, which have been given the go ahead by East Lothian Council, will mean that a ‘knowledge trail’ will be created within the campus which will be available for public use.
Plans for the new hub said the outdoor classroom and ‘Wee Forest’ will be “one of the key focal points on campus, included along the Knowledge Trail adding the classroom will “facilitate course teaching on ‘Outdoor Learning’ in a hands-on environment and with opportunities for the students to add to the space;”
The classroom and surrounding area will be open for public use when not being used by students and have a capacity for 40 people.
It will have an octagonal timber deck and pitch roof with a wood fencing which can be equipped with blackboards, wind chimes or plant pots and bug hotels proposed to protect the class from wind and noise from the A1.
A proposed footpath through the forest, which was planted earlier this year, will link students’ residences with a pond on the campus with areas for benches and barbecues also included in the designs.
Planners said no objections to the proposed new learning hub had been lodged and the well-established university would not be negatively impacted by the proposals.
They said: “As the proposal would be used as an outdoor learning classroom/hub as an additional facility for the existing Queen Margaret University and by being located within the existing campus it would be easily accessible to students within the campus by foot.
by Marie Sharp Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency: funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector, and used by qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
