Those energetic and committed participants at our inaugural event in February have been busy acting on many of the ideas that were discussed. And others have joined in the conversation too!
- - - - Browse through the happenings described here - then get involved!
- - - - Join the network of organizations and individuals committed to bringing the experience and love of nature into the lives of children and families!
- - - - Share your ideas!
- - - - Write to us to share the news of your activities in our regular newsletter!
- - - - Contribute your time to make things happen!
- - - - Spread the word to friends and colleagues by passing on this newsletter!
- - - - Donate to the work of the Nature Child Reunion initiative!
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A Great Promotional Video for Nature Child Reunion!
Recapture for yourself the February Dialogue - Richard Louv’s presentation and the Royal Roads workshop. And use this video to pass on the message and encourage others to get involved!
Our new twelve minute video from the footage gathered at the February Dialogue features Richard Louv, Her Honour Iona Compagnola, Minister Gordon Hogg and Dr. Milt McClaren's closing remarks. You can purchase a disc copy by making your cheque for $12.00 [postage included] payable to Bob Peart and mail it to: 11166 Willow Road, Sidney, BC V8L 5K6.
Many thanks go to Peter Campbell and Richard Fulop [Gumboot Productions] and Bob Peart who have worked hard to put together this great production.
2008 Conference
Royal Roads University has given our proposal for a 2008 conference some seed money to start the ball rolling. Rick Kool will use that money to hire a graduate student to assist with funding applications and conference organization, tracking down our guest speakers and moving this whole thing towards a great event. Mark the event in your calendars August 8-14 2008.
Early Childhood Education
The early childhood education group, lead by Enid Elliot, Eric Higgs and Natasha Blanchett-Cohen have been very active in working with the ECE community in the Victoria area to get some on-the-ground projects off-the-ground. Collaborations with local preschool/daycare groups have included both the UVic Centre 4, and the OPTIONS daycare for young mothers. Enid has also met more formally with Ron Duffell from ActNow, and is engaged with other BC government folks to see if it actually is possible to start 'naturalizing' pre-school play spaces! The work of this group could be very engaging and applicable to folks elsewhere in the province.
Kids in Parks
Gail Ross has coordinated two meetings within Ministry of Environment emphasizing the value and importance of having more youth-directed activities in provincial parks. There is a dramatic and compelling case for reconnecting children with nature within BC Parks. The answers partially lie with legislation and policy, but more importantly need to be incorporated in the products and services that BC Parks provides and the park experience offered to children and families.
Colin Campbell has submitted a grant to develop a BC Parklands Co-op. His goal is to raise sufficient funding to undertake a feasibility study. The Parklands Co-operative is seen as an independent cooperative entity with the focus of a partnership with BC Parks for engaging with youth at the community level.
Robert Bateman Centre
On May 24, 2007 Royal Roads University celebrated the life and work of Robert Bateman. The Robert Bateman Art and Environmental Education Centre is to be constructed on the RRU campus by 2010. It will house a permanent exhibition of the works of Robert Bateman, one of the world's most celebrated contemporary artists. The Centre will host programs that focus on getting children back into the out-of-doors. Many thanks go to organizers Caterina Gueur and Rick Kool who participated in the February Dialogue and who continue to promote the relationship between the Robert Bateman Centre and the Nature Child Reunion initiative.
Marine Education
Hillary Leighton and Rick Kool have been pushing the idea of creating a marine education facility in the old boathouse at Royal Roads University, working in collaboration with the Ecorowing folks led by Lenny Ross and Nikki Wright. A tour of the facilities with the University’s A/President and VP Finance was a starting point for selling them on the idea that the boathouse, right on the edge of Esquimalt Lagoon, has better uses than furniture storage! The preliminary news is that the concept is to proceed, everyone involved is quite excited.
MEC Support
Sponsoring the Dialogue on Children and Nature was an important way for Mountain Equipment Co-op to support the efforts being made on Vancouver Island to provide opportunities for children to become engaged with the natural environment. MEC Victoria (Zaniata Lukezich) is pleased to announce a new partnership with Seachange Marine Conservation Society by supporting the important conservation and environmental education work of Seachange with $7,500.00 in MEC product and cash in 2007. After taking a tour of the Seachange facilities at Royal Roads, MEC Victoria is confidant that becoming involved with Seachange is an excellent opportunity for young people to have a meaningful wilderness experience that can assist their understanding of and appreciation for our natural environment.
Adopt a Park
CPAWS-BC and the Young Naturalists of BC are teaming up to build a program for older kids. In this program Young Naturalist clubs (either community or school-based), will announce to their communities that they have adopted a park in their region. This means they will associate their club with the park with the intention of monitoring, restoring and maintaining the ecological health of 'their' park through the practice of stewardship. The two organizations are just in the formative stages of building this program. Be sure and keep in touch with the progress on this initiative. More updates will follow in our newsletters.
Links with Child and Nature Network
As the initiator of the Nature Child Reunion Bob Peart has maintained links with Richard Louv and his Child and Nature Network. Richard was extremely pleased with the energy and commitment shown here in February and is keen to see this Canadian network strengthen and expand. He continues to refer people he speaks with in Canada to our network. Bob has been invited to attend the meeting of the Child Nature Network, which will be held in Minnesota this August. In turn the August 2008 conference in Victoria will serve as the 2008 meeting location for the Child and Nature Network.
First Nations Pilot Programs
J.B. Williams has indicated his interest in bringing the 'greening childcare' initiative to preschools in our local First Nations communities. There are two First Nations centres ready to get involved in pilot projects.
Nature Child Reunion and the GVRD Parks
GVRD Parks has been actively circulating and discussing information from the February Dialogue among their staff and are trying to develop creative ideas about how to imbed the ideas from the Nature Child Reunion initiative into their programming for 2008.
They are also working with Daphne Solecki [Young Naturalist Clubs of BC] to provide some programs cost-free to her kids in Pacific Spirit and perhaps other parks in West Area. Also, staff member Stephen Suddes is looking at how GVRD may be able to tie in the Robert Bateman “Get to Know” launch with an opportunity to provide some high profile exposure to Richard’s ideas and have some sort of symbolic event as part of GVRD Parks’ 40th Anniversary celebrations.
Multicultural Efforts in Environmental Education
Green Club/Green Culture Community College [www.greeenclub.bc.ca] is a registered non-profit organization dedicated to environmental education on biodiversity and multiculturalism in the Greater Vancouver, BC, Canada. It is a group of environment concerned Taiwanese and Chinese Canadian dedicated to promote cross-cultural understanding of the unique eco-systems and cultures among Taiwan, Asia and Canada, and to educate the public about the importance of conservation and bio-diversity.
Of the over 400 family members, about 75 % came from Taiwan, 15% from Hong Kong, and 10% from China. Most came to the Greater Vancouver area within the past 15 years.
Their programs are designed to advance a healthy way of living our daily life, provide guidance to appreciate the natural history, present opportunities to learn how to decrease human disturbances and impacts, and encourage active participation in community environmental protection. Each month the program includes eco-tour programs, healthy life programs, guided nature walks, and community health walks.
ActNow Action Plan
ActNow BC is hosting a small meeting in late June that will bring key government agencies (Health, Education in particular), NGO's and academics together to develop an action plan to more strongly direct this network/movement within the provincial government/. Linking the children-nature conversation to various health initiatives will be fundamental.
Scouting and Nature Child Reunion
At international meetings in Switzerland Paul Whitfield’s comments and contributions concerning the Nature Child Reunion initiative were well received and he is well positioned in the world Scouting movement to encourage positive actions as they begin to develop the new World Scout Environment Program. He has also been asked to speak at the World Organization of Scouts Movement (WOSM) [28 million active members] this November about their new environmental programs – a great opportunity to build support for some of the ideas of the Nature Child Reunion. Paul is also active in SCENES [Scout Centres of Excellence for Nature and Environment]. They are in a planning phase of an effort to 'convert' camps to environmental education centres.
Furthermore, Richard Louv has been invited to be the keynote speaker at a Scouts Canada National meeting being held in Vancouver on December 1, 2007. Bob Peart has also been invited to speak.
And From Ontario
We are always delighted to hear from others across Canada who are keen to support the Nature Child Reunion initiative. We recently heard from Jacob Rodenburg, Executive Director of Camp Kawartha & the Kawartha Outdoor Education Centre in Lakefield, Ontario. His thinking on the relationship between children and nature truly resonates: “to build a foundation of environmental literacy, younger children need repeated and rich immersion time in nearby natural spaces”. He goes on to report:
“In my work teaching “Environmental Science for Teacher Education” at Trent University, I’ve noted how keen and passionate older students are to teach environmental issues. But they know frighteningly little about their own environment. Not the frog species, the tree species, the song birds, the insects, nor many of the other inhabitants of their natural communities. And some even know less about the hard science of environmental problems; what creates acid rain, what causes global warming, why species are in decline. More than ever solid training needs to happen if we want environmental education to be effective. The training needs to be comprehensive: Pre-service training for undergraduates and especially student teachers. There is no university that I am aware of that offers environmental education training for emerging teachers. There needs to be post service training for qualified teachers to help them find workable strategies and methods for teaching environmental education. Ideally, there would be an “environmental mentor” in each school, helping to insure that environmental initiatives are taking place, from outdoor visits, recycling programs, schoolyard naturalization projects to facilitating an awareness of local environmental issues.”
And a final few words.......
* We have added a 'what's new' page to the site to contain information of interest that comes along between newsletters. And our newsletters will be stored on the website also for those that have joined us recently.
* If there is anything in this newsletter you would like to comment on we would be very pleased to hear from you. We will post your reflections as additions to the ongoing conversation. Similarly if you would like to be in touch with the people and organizations involved, please let us know and we can put you in touch.
* Many, many thanks to Emrys Miller and William Bull of Rocketday Arts, Victoria, who were instrumental in developing the website and newsletter format.
* We want to share links with like minded organizations. Please consider placing the Nature Child Reunion banner on your website and we will also provide a similar link on ours. Check out the banners.
And a last reminder. The success of the Nature Child Reunion network will depend on widespread support. Please do your part to encourage your friend’s colleagues and members of your organizations to get involved. Pass along this newsletter and encourage people to sign on to stay in touch.
Bruce Downie
Director
The Kesho Trust
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