Environmental studies and Transition Year are a perfect fit. Environmental studies takes a holistic view of the world that builds on a pyramid of subjects. This is an exciting departure - for too long the concept of syllabus has dominated school activities, writes Dermot Quish

Studying the environment gives students a world view and a chance to examine the interaction between nature and culture in an immediate and meaningful way.

Because environmental projects such as the ones described above are project-based, they encourage the style of learning that TY is built on Students work at their own pace, following their own interests and collaborating with others to get the best results. This kind of peer group learning is far closer to the workplace experience that students will encounter beyond the classroom.

Teachers play the role of guides and advisers. Like any programme, projects in TY only succeed if they are well-managed by caring professionals. Ultimately, however, the students take ownership of their own learning and this has the potential to unleash massive motivation and creativity.

Environmental studies is a subject that unites students of all aptitudes. While geography and biology are its core disciplines, it offers an opportunity for collaboration with business, languages, history and home economics. It is a truly inter-disciplinary activity and as students will learn, life is an inter-disciplinary experience.

This takes me to the wider value of the environmental learning experience. When a student joins his peers in an examination of the local environment, of geopolitics or global ecology, he has an opportunity to make an immediate and tangible connection with the world. For this student, education is not a museum-like experience.

At a time when many people, not just the young, feel alienated from the world they live in, environmental projects give students a connection and dialogue with the world.