Piedmont Learning Center
Year Joined: 2026 · United States
The Piedmont Learning Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A., and our mission is to connect people, nature, and communities through experiential outdoor learning on our historic, ecologically-rich property. We inspire curiosity, build confidence and practical skills, and foster environmental stewardship through engaging outdoor education opportunities, including experiencing beekeeping first-hand, and helping children and adults become curious, thoughtful, and responsible members and leaders of both their local and global communities.
Our program offerings include guided history hikes through the forest; watershed education with green stormwater infrastructure, such as rain barrels and our large rain garden, featuring a dry-creekbed inflow and native plants; the importance of increasing urban tree canopy and learning about the Miyawaki method of planting through our new “pocket forest”, as well as how to plant trees; experiential, sustainable beekeeping through our 16-hive apiary, honey processing, and learning about pollinator gardens; other sustainable agriculture with our free-range chickens and vegetable and herb garden; creating arts and crafts relating to, teaching about, and/or helping the environment; teaching about the native Pawpaw tree and fruit; and soon, we will be launching a water quality monitoring and education program in our local Gwynns Falls– a major tributary of the lower Patapsco River, which empties into the Chesapeake Bay 11 miles south of the mouth of Gwynns Falls.
Through our program offerings and our commitment to environmental sustainability on our property and in our community, the Piedmont Learning Center will incorporate Planetary Health into nearly every aspect of operation and will continue to seek how we can improve doing so through the Planetary Health Alliance. We hope to contribute our knowledge to and collaborate with the Planetary Health community through being a space for members to come learn, explore, and experience nature, as well as being open for research plots and/or monitoring equipment to be installed on our property, and through sharing our knowledge, environmental research, funding strategies, pollinator knowledge, and more. We hope to be a resource for environmental communication and collaboration within the Planetary Health community and beyond, and we appreciate feedback and suggestions on how we can improve our commitment to Planetary Health.