YES to a new generation of environmental leaders
The Green Team looks to the future, announcing a major new learning pathway for 11-25 year olds, The Young Environmental Stewardship programme (YES).
YES starts in January 2026 and is funded by a £187,037 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
YES will help address biodiversity loss and climate change by empowering young people, many of whom are disengaged from formal education.
The programme will help participants build a lifelong connection with nature and become confident, skilled custodians of Scotland’s natural heritage.
More about Young Environmental Stewardship
YES will focus on the most at-risk greenspaces, engaging the city’s young people in hands-on conservation, outdoor learning and accredited outdoor learning awards. The Green Team will nurture wellbeing, self-esteem and leadership potential whilst restoring natural heritage sites across Edinburgh, the Lothians and specific rewilding sites further afield.
The legacy of YES will be a new generation of environmental leaders. The programme will further strengthen The Green Team’s role as a sector leader in youth environmental engagement.
More about the Young Environmental Stewardship programme will be announced in January 2026. Watch this space!
Julia Duncan, Co-CEO of The Green Team confirmed the importance of the new programme,
‘We are thrilled to share the exciting news that The Green Team has been awarded £187,050 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to launch our new Young Environmental Stewardship (YES) programme.
‘YES is an ambitious, 27-month, multi-tiered outdoor learning initiative designed for young people aged 11–25 across Edinburgh and the Lothians.
‘Developed in collaboration with young people, the programme will offer progressive, experiential learning opportunities that strengthen skills, self-esteem, leadership, and environmental awareness.
‘Through hands-on stewardship of local natural heritage sites—and select rewilding locations further afield—participants will play an active role in restoring and protecting the landscapes they care about, while building confidence, connection, and purpose.
‘We are incredibly grateful to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for making this work possible, and we can’t wait to begin this next Green Team chapter with our young environmental leaders.’
Caroline Clark, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Director for Scotland, said,
‘It is important to us that projects we fund support inclusion, access and participation in heritage.
‘The Young Environmental Stewardship programme has inclusion built in from its earliest planning stages with The Green Team’s youth group helping in its design to ensure the project can successfully engage with more young people and inspire a passion for natural heritage, while offering an alternate means of education and a path to employment.
‘We are excited to see what these young people will achieve thanks to the support made possible by National Lottery players.’
Thank you
YES, the Young Environmental Stewardship programme is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Thanks to National Lottery players, The Green Team will be able to reach and support the next generation of environmental leaders.