At present, there is a gap in the education and support for school-based outdoor and environmental vocational learning for young people with challenging behaviour. The outdoors and other sustainable development contexts are often far more engaging for more vulnerable pupils than the traditional 14-19 curriculum. At the same time, young people who understand concepts around sustainable resource use, conservation and horticulture will be more informed and inspired to make their careers in these very same growth areas which are currently emerging. Young people must now remain in education until they are 18 – meaning that the outdoor learning context will be of huge importance, relevance and inspiration to these very same young people who are on average more likely to fall into the ‘Not in Employment, Education or Training’ (NEET) category upon leaving education. Alternative Curriculum Education Wild (ACE Wild) aims to train educators so that they can provide high quality environmental and outdoor learning education specifically for young people with challenging behaviour, which is of direct relevance to their future careers and further education opportunities. At the end of the project, there will be a transferable school-based model which supports the professional development of teachers in this niche area, with the informed capacity to support other schools and organisations. This model will take educators from the beginning of the education journey in looking at how to identify the varying needs of these young people, right through to how educators can meet these needs through an ‘Alternative Curriculum’, specifically in partnership with local education and employment partners. The project will achieve this aim through two key areas of work:- 1) Action Research: Each of the 3 country partners involved will deliver 2 sets of 12 week sessions aimed specifically at vulnerable young people, using environmental and outdoor / sustainable resource use / green economy contexts. This research will be key to developing an informed model of practice that is well evaluated and based on experiences of the different partners, sharing the most innovative ideas, approaches, pedagogies and practices. 2) The development of training resources: These resources will comprise of a range of ‘tried and tested’ educational activities and approaches (including session plans and case-studies), using the environmental and outdoor learning contexts, which can be delivered by a variety of individuals. The programme will see the following 5 participating organisations meet together 4 times over the next 2 years, in each of their respective countries:- • Norfolk County Council, UK – The Environmental and Outdoor Learning Team, based at Holt Hall, has had extensive experience in supporting schools to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly, by providing teacher training, residential experiences for young people and leading European projects in the area of resource use and education. • Aylsham High School, UK – An ‘outstanding’ school who wishes to further develop their growing expertise around supporting vulnerable young people in the outdoors • Susted, UK – A small enterprise specialising in consultancy, support and training for education, with a focus on sustainable development who has worked with a range of schools, vocational colleges, universities and enterprises, in addition to being heavily involved in a large number of multinational projects. • Goldcrest Outdoor Education Ltd, UK – A small business specialising in providing best-practice outdoor and environmental education to Norfolk schools and communities, within their local environment. • RCE Rhine-Meuse, Netherlands – A Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development for the Netherlands and the Euregion; comprising of 4 universities, 10 muncipalities, 3 provinces and 20 primary and secondary schools. • RCE Oldenburger, Germany – A Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development for the district of Cloppenburg and Vechta in Germany, who addresses its activities to formal and non-formal educational organisations which focus on youth and young adults. As a result of the above, we hope to have better informed teachers in this growing area of education provision for vulnerable young people, specifically using the environmental and outdoor learning contexts. A further spin off will be that young people in this category will not only have a curriculum which is more suited to their specific needs, but will also be of direct relevance (and inspiration!) to their future employment prospects.