COEO NEWS
COEO Annual Fall Conference 2025 – Register Today!
{RE}GENERATING OUR NATURAL INTELLIGENCE
The Council of Outdoor Educators of Ontario is excited to invite you to attend our Annual Fall Conference to be held at Camp Couchiching, from September 19 – 21, 2025.
The 2025 COEO conference organizing committee has been hard at work and plans are well underway for this year’s annual fall conference. This year’s conference theme, “{Re}Generating our Natural Intelligence”, is an opportunity for educators to rethink and reimagine the role of outdoor learning and experiential education at a time when digital technologies, virtual learning environments, simulated instruction and artificial intelligence are transforming educational practices, policies and places.
Natural intelligence is the ability to flexibly adapt and achieve goals in a variety of environments based on our experiences in the natural world. It is these lived experiences, that take place within the complexity of life’s natural systems, which provide an essential literacy and resistance training for our minds (bodies and spirits). By redressing and rekindling natural intelligence, we will be able to prepare students for the real problems of today and ready them with resilience to face the future challenges of tomorrow.
Plan to join us as we learn, share and laugh with kindred spirits from across the province and beyond. We’ll enjoy great food all weekend and enjoy an evening social program filled with fun, dancing and live music. You will leave this professional development experience feeling rejuvenated and with many new ideas and resources in hand.
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!
Regular and Organizational Members $295
Retiree and Student Members $255
Saturday Day Rate $95
Membership: Registrants for the 2025 COEO Annual Fall Conference must hold a current COEO membership. Not a member? Your membership fee can be paid along with registration.
Hey Students! The COEO Conference Committee is pleased to announce the return of our STUDENT GROUP RATE. If you plan to attend the conference with a group of six or more students, then you will be able to access a special discounted rate. Please contact co********@**eo.org for further details.
PRECONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
We are very pleased to be able to offer two preconference workshops prior to the start of this year’s fall conference. These three-hour long intensive workshops will take place Friday afternoon at Camp Couchiching.
Project Wet – Foundations of Water Education and Climate, Water and Resilience, Facilitator Billie Jo Reid
This special combination workshop-training will introduce participants to two of Project WET Canada’s valuable resource guides. The Foundations of Water Education program covers the Principles of Water Literacy and includes topics such as properties of water, watersheds, water systems, groundwater, ecology, water use, and management of water resources. The lessons span from lower elementary school through secondary school level and can be adapted for setting, age level, ability, and time. Participants will receive the educators’ guide for teaching water literacy, which contains 12 lessons that provide a foundation to support water literacy in students. The Climate, Water and Resilience workshop component will help educators teaching at the junior, intermediate and senior levels about climate and climate change using interactive, objective, science-based activities that students will enjoy. Participants will also receive the Climate, Water and Resilience educators’ guide. $20 participation fee, which includes 2 resource manuals. Special grants are available to help individuals cover the cost of this workshop – please inquire when registering. Email co********@**eo.org if you would like to register for this workshop.
Billie Jo Reid is the owner and operator of Pine & Ponder Outdoors. Billie Jo has a deep passion for outdoor education and love helping others connect with nature. She is a certified Nature Journaling Educator and works part-time as the National Coordinator for Program and Delivery for Project WET Canada. Billie Jo also facilitates Project WILD and Below ZERO workshops through the Canadian Wildlife Federation and serves as an instructor and moderator for the Wild Wonder Foundation, helping others explore the power of nature journaling.
Spoon Carving, Facilitator John Wager
Learn how to carve a wooden spoon! Participants will learn about wood selection and woodgrain, hand craving techniques, and will be guided through the process of creating their own wooden spoon. This workshop will cover all safety aspects along with how to properly use a carving knife. $40 participation fee. Please email co********@**eo.org if you would like to register for this workshop.
John Wager is Michi Saagiig Anishinaabe from Curve Lake First Nation. He makes and sells craftwork for a living, and also teaches the skills he has learned along the way in various workshops. He carves lots of spoons, but also makes baskets, knives, bowls, cups, canoe paddles, and even some leatherwork.
COEO’s Annual Board Election- Seeking Nominations for Candidates
COEO’s annual elections are coming up! Are you interested in running for our volunteer board? Nominations are due August 16 to be included in the list of candidates that will be sent out to the membership before the election at our Annual Meeting. Nominations are also accepted on the floor during our Annual Meeting (Sunday September 21, 2025 at Camp Couchiching). Click here for the nomination form and for more information.
COEO Merch
COEO Merch is Coming!
COEO Merch will be available for sale in limited quantities at our Annual Fall Conference (September 19-20 at Camp Couchiching). We’re also offering a short preorder window until August 15th for those who would like to guarantee a specific size and/or colour. Check out the preorder form for more information: https://forms.gle/db6pzMQELJE7DrzR7
OWLS 2025
This past June, COEO facilitated a reimagined iteration of the Ontario Wilderness Leadership Symposium – known as OWLS – with the help of generous financial support from the Jean Wansbrough Leadership Training Fund as well as the Friends of Killarney Park. Jean, in
particular, may be known to some COEO members. A longtime member of COEO herself, Jean’s dedication and commitment to outdoor education lives on, and we are both proud and humbled for OWLS to now be connected with her legacy.
Taking the form of two canoe trips over two separate weekends – first in Killarney and later in Algonquin – the “floating conference” was designed to merge theory with practice: to examine the philosophical and pedagogical questions underpinning outdoor education while taking part in a group outdoor journey ourselves. As Georgia, one of the OWLS participants says, “it was a true backcountry canoe experience with all the joys and hard work that come with it. Portaging, paddling, campfires, and, of course, bug bites.”
With the canoe trip as our medium, the two groups dove deeply into the message. Primed with pre-readings from a variety of sources, our island campsites on the Canadian Shield became little communities of wonder, questioning, and awe, the gathered humans acting as co-teacher just as much as the landscape and its natural creatures.
As we look toward the future – of both education and our planet – COEO will continue to bring together a community of educators, to ask the big questions, to soar high and dive deep, paddle close and portage far. To push the boundaries of what education means and what it can – and, indeed, must – look like. As Georgia further reflects, “what I took away from the Ontario Wilderness Leadership Symposium is hard to summarize neatly. More than anything, I came away with hope – hope that there is a growing desire to rethink how we approach education,
how we build relationships with each other and with the land, and how we collectively lead. It reminded me that the future of education can be rooted in care, curiosity (to poke around), and connection.”
OTHER OEE & RELATED NEWS
Book Launch – The Wild Path Home
Research Survey: Impacts of climate change and ways of adapting physical education teaching in pre-school, school (primary, secondary), college (or high school) and university environments.
Dear colleagues,
We would like to invite you to participate in a study on the “Impacts of climate change and ways of adapting the teaching of physical education in pre-school, school (primary, secondary), college (or high school) and university settings”.
This project is being carried out in collaboration with a team of researchers from Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) in Canada and Universités de Rennes, de Lyon 1 in France.
You’ll be asked to answer a questionnaire on a number of themes related to physical education (PE) and health and/or sport and climate change (e.g., your sensitivity to the environment, your behaviors in relation to the environment, your experiences with events such as floods, heat waves, ice storms, etc.) as well as to participate (if you wish, by leaving your email contact at the end) in a focus group and/or individual interview to delve deeper into several themes around your PE experience in relation to climate change.
We would therefore like to invite you to complete and/or relay the following questionnaire to your colleagues, teachers of physical education.
Link to the questionnaire: https://sondage.uqam.ca/255825?lang=en
On behalf of the entire research team, we thank you for your participation and help with dissemination.
Tegwen, Matthieu, Paquito and Brice
Canadian Environmental Educators Use of Humour Survey
New OUTSIDEPLAY Tool for Elementary School Teachers!
OUTSIDEPLAY is excited to announce the launch of a new free educational tool made by teachers for teachers who want to take their classrooms outdoors! Find it at: https://teacher.outsideplay.org
This tool is the newest addition to our OUTSIDEPLAY.org suite, joining existing parent and early childhood educator tools. It is the result of years of practical hands-on experience and the PhD thesis work of Megan Zeni, a teacher who teaches exclusively outdoors. She worked with teachers across BC and Canada to develop the material. The development of the Teacher.OutsidePlay.org tool was funded by the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.
The 16 modules cover topics that teachers most want to know about, ranging from the basics of outdoor play and learning in schools to practical tips on getting started. We’ll continue to build out the tool with additional resources. We’re planning a speaker weries to dive deeper into the concepts introduced in each module.
For any questions or more information, reach out to our team at ou*********@***hr.ca. Also, please follow us on Instagram @playoutsideubc for regular updates and give our posts a thumbs up!
OEE P.D. OPPORTUNITIES
Featured Fall Resources, Tools & Kits, Outdoor Learning Store
Intro Language Course and 4 Seasons of Indigenous Learning, Natural Curiosity
Kanyen’keha (Mohawk) Introductory Language Course
Natural Curiosity, in partnership with the Outdoor Learning School, is hosting an online Mohawk language course this summer.
After some very positive feedback from our winter course, instructor Tahnee Bennet is back! Tahnee is Mohawk, Turtle Clan from Six Nations who is a 3-year Onkwawenna Kentyohkwa Mohawk Immersion graduate.
This learning is open to everyone – both Indigenous and non-Indigenous learners. Register today!
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SUPER early bird registration is NOW OPEN for the 4 Seasons of Indigenous Learning 2025-2026 Course! Register now and save 25% with code “4Seasons25%”!
Starting this Fall and running through Spring, join an inspiring group of Indigenous presenters and partners in Season 1: Foundations of Knowledge.
What’s included:
- 5 hours of self-paced online learning (certificate provided)
- 7 virtual presentations (60 mins each, once/month)
- Access to the presentation recordings until Sept 20, 2026
- $25 towards accessing Indigenous learning resources
This course serves to support participants in deepening your understanding of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives while strengthening connections with the local Land and supporting more respectful, reciprocal relationships.
Season 1 participants can now access Super Early Bird Registration for Season 2: Learning from the Land, created by Natural Curiosity in partnership with OLSS. If you’ve found this year of learning valuable, we invite you to join us for next year, starting in the fall of 2025.
Get Kids Paddling – New Webinar Series in 2025!
Watch past recordings of all Get Kids Paddling webinars here: Webinars – Get Kids Paddling
Outdoor Learning Webinars, hosted by LSF
Some of the newest webinar offerings include:
A series of webinars designed specifically for and by secondary teachers
Tips for getting outside even in cold winter months!
Connecting primary and middle school math curriculum to the outdoors
For an up to date list of upcoming webinars, continue to check LSF’s R4R outdoor learning page
Check out the recorded webinar sessions for each grade group:
Kindergarten/Early Years: Webinar recording | Webinar slides
Grades K-6: Webinar recording | Webinar slides
Grades 4-10: Webinar recording | Webinar slides
UPCOMING CONFERENCES
Outdoor Play Canada Breath of Fresh Air Summit, Sept 25-27 in Ottawa, ON
Outdoor Learning Leadership Conference, Oct 16-18, 2025 in Banff, AB
North American Association for Environmental Education Conference, Nov 6-8, 2025, Online
Association for Experiential Education Conference, Nov 6-8, 2025 in Pittsburgh, PA
Association for Outdoor Recreation and Education Conference, Nov 4-8 in San Diego, CA
International Outdoor Education Research Conference, June 22-26 in Oslo, Norway
JOB POSTINGS
Forest School Supply Teacher, Cambridge Farm and Forest School
Program Facilitator (Part-Time), Trails Youth Initiative
Reporting to the Program Director, Facilitators work with youth aged 11-17 in an overnight setting. Facilitators provide 24-hour supervision to participants in addition to teaching principles of healthy living and seasonal outdoor activities such as canoeing, swimming, camping skills, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. During the summer, Facilitators are also responsible for leading camping trips at Trails Lakeside site in Stouffville (Years 1 and 2) and/or off-site canoe trips (Years 3, 4, 5) in Ontario’s backcountry (e.g. Algonquin Park, Temagami). https://trails.ca/about/work-at-trails/
Multiple Positions, Cedar Glen YMCA
Assistant Director, Outdoor Education (Full-time permanent):
Outdoor Educator (Seasonal contract):
Bilingual Interpreter, Essex Region Conservation Autuhority
The Bilingual Interpreter is responsible for assisting with planning and implementation of education and outreach programs in both official languages (French and English) as part of ERCA’s cross-functional Community Outreach Team at ERCA properties and facilities, at client sites and virtually. Reporting to the Curator/Education Coordinator, this position plays an active role in providing exceptional customer service to our internal and external clients and the broader community.
https://www.essexregionconservation.ca/post/bilingual-interpreter
Ontario Urban Wild Casual Instructor, Outward Bound Canada
Ontario Urban Wild Casual Instructor, Outward Bound Canada
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ABOUT THIS ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER
For consistency, the COEO electronic newsletter is now published on the first of each month. Anyone having an item of interest to outdoor & experiential educators and desiring publication in this newsletter needs to submit it to ne********@**eo.org at least two days before the publication date.
The newsletter is generally organized according to the following headings: COEO News, Other OEE & Related News, P.D. Opportunities, Opportunities for Students, Resources, Job Postings. If your organization wishes to post information (e.g., notice of upcoming events, etc), it needs to be an organizational member of COEO.
If you would like to be removed from COEO’s eNewsletter mailing list, please send an email to ne********@**eo.org and ask to be unsubscribed.