Ida fabrizio

Ida was born and brought up in Birmingham, with a deep connection to her southern peasant Italian heritage, which instilled in her a profound appreciation for living off the land. Growing up, she spent her summers in her family's ancestral village, immersing herself in the rhythms of nature that sustained their community for generations.

Feeling the disconnection of urban modern life, Ida embarked on a transformative journey over the past 15 years. She made a conscious choice to reconnect herself and others in the city to the natural world. Her initial foray into sustainable food, community orchards, and organic food growing in London led her to work on the Capital Growth project with the charity Sustain. Through this initiative, she helped establish new community food growing projects in unused spaces across the city. Simultaneously, she honed her skills as an organic urban salad grower for Growing Communities, while also conducting training and workshops in food growing.

Ida's passion for reconnection then led her to the transformation and management of an overgrown, neglected garden at the Castle Climbing Centre. Over the course of 11 years, she created a thriving one-acre permaculture garden and forest garden. This space supplied the center's café and served as a venue for seasonal nature learning and celebration events. Ida also devoted her time at this garden teaching apprentices and volunteers, fostering a sense of stewardship for the natural world.

It was here with climbing and gardening that she took an interest in movement, learning how to use her body efficiently with tools on the land and  she trained in the use of the scythe and teaches it too. 

During this time she became inspired by natural movement and started going to Ben Medder’s various classes and move with the trees workshops.

Driven to deepen her nature connection practices, Ida pursued further training in facilitation and outdoor leadership with Wildwise

in Devon, in year-long experiential courses such as "Call of the Wild" and "Tending the Green Fire," learning many creative, playful; imaginative as well as immersive, sensory and practical ways to connect to nature. 

She came away with an even more drive for natural movement and nature games. 

She expanded her knowledge of rewilding and ancestral skills like crafting and hunter gathering and tracking taking part in a year long immersion on the Old Way camp; which included a trip to spend time with the San Bushmen in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.  She went onto to manage the hearth at The Old Way immersion camp for two years.

Passionate about sharing her love for the natural world, Ida has spent several years facilitating nature connection and bushcraft activities in urban communities and camps across the country. She finds joy in inspiring others to connect with trees, plants, and wild food foraging, as well as exploring the wonders of insects, mammals, birds, and bird language. Ida has also developed her skills as a wildlife tracker, recently obtaining NCFE Level 4 in wildlife identification and tracking, and achieving CyberTracker level 2.

Ida's interests extend beyond nature connection as she finds solace in wood carving. She contributes her expertise as a facilitator for Pathcarvers, an organisation based in Birmingham that teaches hand crafts for mental well-being and brings these skills to communities that often lack access.

In 2022, Ida returned to Birmingham and began working for the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) on a pilot project with the Princes Trust. This initiative aimed to connect young urban unemployed adults to nature, outdoor skills, and nature conservation, empowering them with confidence to pursue employment in this field. Ida also provided training to RSPB staff for the nature-connected communities project in Birmingham.

Following her successful work with the Princes Trust, Ida continued working with the RSPB in Edinburgh. She joined the nature prescriptions project, which involved bridging nature connection practices and training to NHS staff, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and community link workers. This endeavor aimed to improve the well-being of healthcare professionals and offer nature prescriptions as a holistic approach to patients' health. She recently worked on a pilot project bringing nature connection to patients and staff in the Western General hospital in Edinburgh. 

Ida brings playful and sensory approaches to help people fully embody their human potential; her mission is to inspire others to connect with the natural world in accessible and engaging ways, bringing joy and fulfillment to their lives