Climate Action &
Sustainable Development
Step Outside, Make an Impact: Hands-On Climate Action For Students.
Give your students the chance to explore, investigate and act in the great outdoors through a practical Leaving Cert CASD Action Project while tackling real-world climate challenges. Our field studies turn theory into action, allowing students to collect data, observe environmental change and investigate real sustainability issues through hands-on outdoor classroom learning.
Turning students into climate champions through hands-on CASD Action Project experiences and outdoor learning.
Locations
Powerscourt Waterfall
Wicklow
Leinster Coastline
Experts in
Action Project
&
Action Research
Suitable for
Leaving Certificate
River & coastal options
Outdoors
Outdoors & hands on from beginnning to end.
Tourism, Land Use, and Climate Change.
Well-managed natural areas store more carbon and attract visitors, encouraging people to holiday locally and reduce emissions from travel.
Students investigate how people impact busy natural areas and how this affects carbon storage, while considering actions that can protect these places and encourage people to stay local, reducing emissions.
Bring your students out of the classroom and into the field to explore real-world sustainability issues through a practical CASD Action Project and climate action investigation.
At the field study site, students can investigate high-use tourist areas and see first-hand how human activity affects carbon storage and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. This provides students with real-world evidence that can support their Leaving Cert climate action project.
Two Ways to Use the Field Study:
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Action Research – Students collect real data to support their CASD Action Project.
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Action Project – Students carry out a practical investigation and survey to assess a sustainability issue at a high-use tourism site as part of their Leaving Cert climate action project.
Action Research = data collection
Action Project = the action itself
Protecting soil, sand and vegetation keeps carbon stored and helps reduce Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Well-managed natural areas encourage people to stay local, reducing emissions from travel.
Whatever option you choose, your students will gain hands-on experience, real data and expert guidance while completing a CASD Action Project that supports their Leaving Certificate requirements.
Supporting Your CASD Action Project
A Branch Out CASD Action Project gives students the opportunity to investigate a real environmental issue and collect evidence from the field.
Rather than learning about climate action only in the classroom, students can observe how tourism, land use and human activity affect natural environments. They collect real data, examine environmental conditions and consider practical actions that could help protect these areas and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This hands-on approach helps students connect their Leaving Certificate Climate Action and Sustainable Development learning with a real-world investigation, while developing skills in observation, data collection and analysis.
What Students will do?
Our River
Students will explore how people impact Powerscourt Waterfall, how this affects carbon storage, and how protecting these areas encourages local use, by examining:
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Vegetation – identifying areas that act as strong or weak carbon sinks
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Soil – assessing soil condition and its ability to store carbon
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Riverbanks – measuring bank stability, erosion, and loss of vegetation
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Human Impact – recording informal paths, trampling, and signs of disturbance
This practical geography CASD field study helps students investigate environmental change while collecting evidence for their project work.
Methods used:
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Quadrat surveys
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Soil sampling
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River measurements
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Photography
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Maps and field observations
This practical geography field study helps students investigate environmental change while collecting evidence for their project work.
Our Coast
Students will explore how people impact Greystones South Beach, how this affects carbon storage, and how protecting these areas encourages local use, by examining:
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Coastal Vegetation – identifying plants that act as carbon sinks (e.g. dunes, grasses)
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Sand and Sediment – assessing stability and signs of erosion or disturbance
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Shoreline Changes – observing erosion, deposition, and beach movement
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Human Impact – recording trampling, litter, and pressure from tourism and recreation
Students engage in outdoor classroom learning through real-world data collection and environmental observation.
Methods used:
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Transect and quadrat surveys
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Beach profiling
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Sediment sampling
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Photography
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Maps and field observations
Students engage in outdoor classroom learning through real-world data collection and environmental observation.
What can you do?
Reduce your transport carbon footprint, improve the energy efficiency of your home and avoid food waste - a climate action you can do every day.
Remember:
“EVERY BIT OF WARMING MATTERS. EVERY YEAR MATTERS.
EVERY CHOICE MATTERS”
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Supporting behavioural change and facilitating the National Dialogue on Climate Action.
Why Choose Us?
Fantastic Locations
Powerscourt Waterfall
Larch Hill Dublin
Toilets & bus parking
(a coffee shop at P/court)
Reduce Bus Costs
Let us come to you with our Mobile Unit. Make the most of public transport and choose a coastal study.
Safe & Supportive
Experienced outdoor educators
Inclusive and engaging activities
Specialist Equipment
Wellingtons
Clipboards
Data collecting equipment
Curriculum Focused
Field study designed to align with CASD Action Project titles and support successful project completion.
Why Choose a Branch Out CASD Field Study?
Our Leaving Cert CASD Action Project field studies combine curriculum-focused learning with practical investigation in real environments.
Students collect authentic data, investigate human impacts and explore possible actions while being supported by experienced outdoor educators. Schools can choose from river and coastal field study locations or make use of Branch Out's mobile unit.
The result is a practical, engaging climate action project experience that helps students understand sustainability issues while developing valuable fieldwork and research skills.
