A Forest School is an innovative educational approach to outdoor play and learning. The philosophy of Forest Eduaion is to encourage and inspire individuals through positive outdoor experience. Bella Ma and Daniel Demarmels are committed to bringing Forest Education to China and providing educational solutions for schools and educational institutions in the country.

Why did we start an educational business?

"It is very important for us to help other people to grow. Education is one of the most fundamental things for a society, " said Bella, a 23-year-old girl, a regional manager of Enlai Total Educational Solutions. She emigrated to the UK from China when she was 9 years old, and now is starting her own business with her American boyfriend Daniel in Chengdu.

Forest Education is a specialised learning approach originating in Scandinavia in the 1950s. A group of children are led to a natural environment, probably in the forest or a natural space, to explore the natural world, and learn to build a teamwork work culture.

In the perspective of Daniel, Chief International Officer of Enlai Total Educational Solutions, compared with other countries' concepts and methods of Forest Education, the UK's share more similarities with the Chinese mentality education. So far, Bella and Daniel have set up 3 forest schools in China and are planning to establish another one in Chengdu soon. They also offer help to local kindergartens in terms of forest education curricula and teachers.

Bella and Daniel, together with a local partner, set up their company Enlai Total Educational Solutions 8 months ago in Chengdu, which is a subsidiary of Bella's family business, an IT company in the UK. However, her father is very interested in forest schools and gave her the opportunity to run the new business after she had learned the Chinese language for one year in China. In the UK, they met a teacher from Sichuan, who was willing to collaborate with them to bring forest education to China.

Daniel said they had established connections with some schools and educational professionals in Chengdu and China to improve the city and the country's education quality by working with local people very closely. "The fact that we are foreign entrepreneurs is really helpful because we see things here in a different perspective and can find problems easily."