Learning & analysis researcher - Volunteer

Join to apply for the Learning & analysis researcher role at East London Waterworks Park

Researcher wanted to help East London Waterworks Park deliver its environmental learning goals.

What difference will you make? You will have a significant impact on the creation of a new biodiverse community‑owned park with free access natural swimming ponds. By volunteering in this role, you will help shape the future of East London Waterworks Park as a community‑led environmental learning space. This will also help our charity with the strategy to buy the land by demonstrating the value of our environmental education programme before we create the park.

If you’re interested in joining us, we’d love to hear from you!

What are we looking for? Candidates with experience in research, policy analysis, or education studies are encouraged to apply. Strong analytical skills and a passion for environmental advocacy will be beneficial. Our roles are quite flexible; we hope that people bring radical imagination, peace with nature, and courageous inclusiveness to the role.

What will you be doing? East London Waterworks Park is a volunteer‑led charity that won a 2024 New London Architecture award and has raised £2m towards buying land from the Department for Education to transform the 14‑acre Thames Water Depot on Lea Bridge Road on the border of Waltham Forest and Hackney, into a new biodiverse park with natural swimming ponds, forest schools and community spaces.

We are seeking a volunteer to conduct research on best practices in outdoor education and environmental learning. The insights gathered will help shape our existing learning programs and advocacy efforts. The role will include:

• Reviewing academic and nonprofit literature on outdoor education
• Identifying case studies and best practices from similar grassroots initiatives
• Supporting the creation of ELWP’s Under 18s volunteering policy
• Providing recommendations to enhance our environmental education strategy

Schools, universities and youth groups we've collaborated with include:

• Waltham Forest College
• Henry Maynard Primary School, Walthamstow
• Buxton School, Leytonstone
• Kingsmead Primary School, Hackney
• Daubeney Primary School, Hackney
• UCL
• Royal College of Art
• University of Westminster
• Project Zero
• Voyage Youth
• Loyola University Chicago
• Vanderbilt University Nashville

The Learning Circle currently meets monthly on a Wednesday evening at 8 pm for an hour on Google Meet and spends voluntary time outside of the meeting completing agreed tasks remotely.