Your Journey

Silhouette of a pine cone with open scales, depicted in black and white.

Our Simple Steps to Finding Your Place

1: Sign Up

The hardest part is taking the leap and signing up for your Discover Nature Award. First-day-of-school nerves are totally normal, but you're stepping into a community made for the community, by the community. Take the gamble and find your place, your new journey starts here.

2: Take Part

This is the easy bit! Spend two days connecting with nature, discovering new places, learning actionable ways to tackle the climate emergency, and sharing the experience with like-minded people. It's your two-day adventure into climate action.

3: Find Your Place

Once you’ve completed your Discover Nature Award, your journey really begins. We offer loads of ways to immediately get involved. All these next steps are for DNA Graduates only, ensuring you remain part of a trusted, supportive community.

A community-designed journey

The Discover Nature Award is shaped by the young adults who take part in it. From the structure of the programme to the activities, language, and pace of learning, every part of the DNA journey has been co-designed with its community.

This approach ensures the Award remains accessible, relevant, and responsive to the lived experiences of those it serves. Participants are not passive recipients of a fixed curriculum. They actively influence how the programme evolves, helping to remove barriers, reflect diverse perspectives, and keep the learning rooted in real places and real lives.

Co-design does not end when a cohort finishes. Feedback, reflection, and participant leadership continue to shape future delivery, ensuring Discover Nature Award grows with its community and remains open to everyone who wants to find their place in nature recovery.

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Find your Place like Amani

By taking part in the Discover Nature Award, I’ve gained insights into the lack of biodiversity in Scotland, but also the solutions to this problem.

We often think we are separate from the natural world, but it actually affects and is affected by everything we do. As an architecture student, the award has inspired me to implement a more ‘wild,’ biodiversity-friendly approach to design.

I saw the amazing work that Borders Forest Trust has done at Corehead and the resilience the land shows when given the chance to exist.

During just a few hours on-site, I saw voles, hares, buzzards, and even the remnants of a barn owl’s dinner! When we rewild and care for the land, it’s rewarding to know you’re caring for all those little creatures, that’s why I’m so glad to have found the DNA.
— Amani - 21
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