Where
the magic happens
The city is our classroom
The island is our backyard
We believe that beauty is essential to the process of imagining and building a sustainable, equitable and regenerative future. This was one of the main motivators when choosing the location of the school.
Combining the best of what urban life and nature can offer, REAL School is located in Graphisoft Park, in Óbuda, right next to the Danube river. Our neighbours are higher education institutions, research and development organisations, startups and technology companies, in the greenest innovation park of Budapest.
Our learning environment is a historical factory building repurposed to meet the needs of our pedagogy. It is a source of inspiration for environmentally-friendly solutions, including the materials we use on a day-to-day basis. The school has large, multi-purpose spaces, upcycled furniture, and just the right amount of technology.
The school building
REAL Ground
The playground is co-designed by the children. It is a living, breathing garden of play — built with care for the environment and evolving with the seasons. From mounds and climbing towers to logs and stepping stones, every feature reflects creativity, sustainability, and stewardship, offering a place where play and learning grow together.
Makerspace
The makerspace is a container workshop where ideas take shape. It is a space of imagination — where children discover that their ideas matter, because they can bring them to life. From crafting objects to prototyping student projects, every activity blends creativity, critical thinking, and skill, turning dreams into reality.
Children have direct access to a large green space for free play.
The great outdoors
Children thrive in a big, adventurous outdoor space where learning is not confined to four walls. Spending time outside in every kind of weather helps them grow resilient, balanced, and deeply connected to nature.
With the Danube and Óbudai Island nearby, they have endless opportunities for discovery — jumping into piles of leaves, riding their bikes, or reading under the trees. Each season brings new adventures, along with new lessons about the world and themselves.
REAL School was intentionally created in an urban environment, as this is where most of our sustainability challenges lie. The city offers vast learning opportunities that connect beautifully to the real-life projects students are involved in. From selling their products at a nearby market, to learning regeneration at a repair café, to exploring history by making a film in the city streets, students have the opportunity to see their learning come alive and make a real impact on the community around them.
The city
regeneration
isn't a luxury, it's a necessity
Regeneration is creating the conditions for life. It means designing systems that are life-centred, interconnected, and inspired by nature, aiming not just to avoid harm but to generate health and vitality for people, places, and the planet. At REAL School, children explore how this works in practice — from food and energy to communities and cities — learning that their actions can help transform systems and nurture a thriving world.
Food is part of our education. At REAL School, we serve plant-based meals because we believe eating should be healthy for children, kind to animals, and sustainable for the planet. Prepared in our on-site canteen, The Planteen, lunches are colourful, seasonal, and full of flavour.
Lunches & snacks
Our ambition is to expand mindsets around food from a young age - helping our children understand that meals do not grow in supermarkets or plastic packaging. Choosing a plant-based approach also sparks meaningful conversations about values, sustainability, and how daily choices shape the future. By experiencing food as something alive, connected to soil, seasons, and people, our community discovers that eating well is not only about nourishment, but also about responsibility and joy.
Visit the REAL School campus with a lead educator or our Founder. You will have the chance to see the school in action, understand how its mission comes to life, and learn about its pedagogy and curriculum. Due to small groups, you will also have the opportunity to get all your questions answered.
Come and see for yourself!