WORKSHOPS
*Session A, Saturday Morning – 9:15am – 10:15am
THE VALUE OF WORD PUZZLES, RIDDLES, AND BRAINTEASERS
Mike Naumoff, Humber Arboretum
If you are looking for ways to engage children and staff, look no further that getting everyone crowed around you shouting answers. Brainteasers and Nevercantells are a great way to get people connected and communicating. Learn some brainteasers the hard way by doing them yourself in this workshop that will get you connected to everyone around. Can you figure out the answer?
YOUR PERSONALITY GREENPRINT
Jennifer Baron, Lakehead University
Discover how your personality type could influence how you connect to nature and engage in outdoor and environmental education, as well as setting sustainability goals and eco-actions. Learn how you can develop this fascinating aspect of natural intelligence to boost your positive “greenprint” for yourself, your teams, and your students!
FO(R)-REST PRACTICE: LEARNING TO DO LESS TO DE-STRESS
Tamara Cottle, Bridgewater Yoga/District School Board of Niagara
As educators and students become increasingly inundated with rising expectations, overstimulation, and exposure to stress, we need to find ways to bolster our reserves and build resilience. This workshop is designed to help busy bodies learn how to slow down and relax outside and within. Multiple entry points will be offered to restorative somatic practices for people of all abilities and needs. Various relaxation techniques, such as visualization, breathing exercises, sensory exploration, and mindful movement, will be presented and experienced. We will also discuss how educators/facilitators can engage folks who might seem unwilling to participate and how to use language and cueing so that everyone feels welcome and included. Tamara specializes in breathing, stretching, and restorative somatic practices that help to down-regulate the nervous system. She offers a weekly free and accessible community mindful movement and restorative yoga class in Niagara Falls, ON.
SEARCHING FOR ART IN THE FOREST
Lindsay Detta, Brock University
This workshop engages participants in a creative, nature-based experience that blends outdoor education with the arts. Beginning with intentional time spent listening to the natural environment, participants will tune into surrounding sounds as a way to deepen sensory awareness and place-based connection. They will document these soundscapes using visual arts techniques—through drawing, color, texture, and mixed media—creating “sound logs” that reflect their experience of the outdoors. These visual pieces then serve as inspiration for movement, with participants exploring how shapes, patterns, and textures from their artwork can guide gestures and choreographed responses. Rooted in elements of dance and grounded in environmental observation, this process encourages embodied learning through creative exploration. The workshop highlights how time spent in nature nurtures curiosity, strengthens ecological relationships, and enriches interdisciplinary learning. It demonstrates how outdoor environments can serve as vibrant classrooms where art, movement, and environmental awareness come together in meaningful and memorable ways.
MORE THAN TREES – PROJECT LEARNING TREE CANADA
Bonnie Anderson, Project Learning Tree Canada
There is nothing more regenerative than the forest industry. Learn all the what and how to’s of tree management for the long-term stability of your home, school and/or outdoor centre. What skills and basics can you use to set up your own forestry units and maintain your greenspace as you regenerate interest in careers that are really green.
SLOWING DOWN TO NOTICE IN NATURE – GUIDED FOREST THERAPY
Jennifer Blender, Fun in the Forest
Participants will be guided through several invitations, beginning with a Nature-immersed embodiment and mindfulness practice. Each invitation is offered to help slow down, deepen sensory awareness, and foster connection with the more-than-human world. Wandering unfolds at a gentle pace, allowing space for curiosity, stillness, and personal interpretation. Participants may gather briefly between invitations to share observations or silence in a communal way. The walk closes with a simple tea ceremony or reflection circle, honouring the time shared and the relationships formed—both with one another and the land.
ABLE TO EXPLORE: CULTIVATING INCLUSIVE SPACES THROUGH STORY
Caitlin Carmichael, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
This workshop invites participants to explore the Tree of Life narrative approach as a reflective, non-therapeutic tool to deepen connection to nature and inclusion. Through guided prompts (roots, trunk, branches, leaves, and fruits), participants will reflect on personal stories that shape their access to nature, their strengths, and their hopes for more inclusive outdoor spaces. There will be ample time for quiet reflection and the opportunity to create their own Tree of Life, fostering a personal sense of belonging. Grounded in a person-centered and narrative framework, this session supports multiple ways of knowing and honours both dominant and alternative stories that influence inclusion in outdoor spaces. We’ll also highlight our Able to Explore project, which uses a bottom-up approach to create inclusive, nature-based programming for neurodivergent individuals, disabled people, and seniors. This workshop is for educators, outdoor leaders, and facilitators seeking equity-informed practices that regenerate our natural intelligence and shared stories.
MEETING THEM WHERE THEY ARE: EMERGENT NATURE CONNECTION THROUGH FOREST PLAY & PRESENCE
Kimberley Alice & Pat Andrews, Natural Pathways Learning Centre
In a time when digital learning dominates, this interactive workshop invites educators to re-centre embodied, place-based learning as a path to regenerating natural intelligence. Blending Forest Therapy and Forest School approaches, we will explore how attunement, curiosity, and relationship guide meaningful nature connection — especially for learners who may be hesitant or disconnected. Through hands-on invitations, reflection, and group dialogue, participants will experience adaptable tools that honour multiple intelligences, diverse access points, and the lived experiences of children and youth. We’ll consider how to co-create outdoor experiences that flex with the group’s readiness while nurturing systems thinking, creativity, and emotional resilience. Participants will leave with a simple reflection tool to assess how their outdoor practice supports ecological literacy, relational learning, and a deeper connection to land, self, and others. Whether you’re new to nature education or a seasoned guide, this session offers space to reflect, reimagine, and reconnect.
*Session B, Saturday Morning – 10:30am – 11:30am
THE WILD PATH HOME – A GUIDE TO RAISING THE EARTH STEWARDS OF TOMORROW
Jacob Rodenburg, Camp Kawartha
The Wild Path Home – A Guide to Raising the Earth Stewards of Tomorrow is a science-grounded, inspirational toolkit for nurturing young people’s ecological empathy from birth through adolescence. It outlines timeless stewardship principles and introduces 30 age appropriate “Landmarks”—hands on actions that empower children and teens to foster respect, reciprocity, responsibility, and climate literacy in their communities. Emphasizing unstructured outdoor play and mentorship, the book supports developmental stages—from sensory-rich exploration in toddlers to teen leadership in environmental and social justice. Rooted in creative outdoor learning, it offers practical activities and contextual climate insights adaptable to varied settings, aiming to combat youth anxiety and nature disconnection by guiding them toward resilience and advocacy for a sustainable future.
MANAGING SWIMMING IN THE BACKCOUNTRY – MAKING IT SAFE
David Golden & Abby Portelli, Wilderness Water Safety
Recreational swimming can be managed safely in the backcountry. In fact, it is much safer than many activities we do on trips. Less than 1% of all drownings happen while being part of supervised activities, including trips or summer camps etc. Getting into the water in remote areas can and should be an important part of tripping skills. Getting in the water helps us clean up, cool off, have some fun, connects us with the water environment, it gets students more comfortable with water in the backcountry and more likely to engage in more activities in and on the water if they are more comfortable. Using stories, scenarios and discussion we will demonstrate how assessing backcountry waterfronts, recommended policies and best practices all help make time in the water a safe and very enjoyable experience. We will include a demonstration on sightings. Let’s swim in the backcountry.
BRINGING THE BALANCE: HOW OUTDOOR UNSTRUCTURED CHILD LED PLAY PROVIDES PRACTICAL WAYS TO COUNTERACT THE INCREASE IN SEDENTARY BEHAVIOR IN YOUNG CHILDREN
Jill Bienenstock, Margie Newlands & Kristie Roorda, Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds
Providing children time and space outdoors with simple loose parts and tools leads the way to essential sensory exploration, heavy work and problem-solving opportunities (physical-risk assessing, socially and cognitively). These simple experiences support children from infancy to school age with self-regulation, confidence and resilience while cultivating a deep connection to themselves, others and nature. The consistent building of these skills via these experiences, lays the foundation for environmental stewardship, life-long learners and promotes advocacy behaviors. This session will focus on the importance of outdoor unstructured free play in a time of increasing sedentary behavior. We will explore why it’s essential to whole child development and how it supports the foundational skills for learning and life. We will showcase a variety of outdoor loose parts and tools that can be used in all types of weather to create child-led, inclusive experiences where all learning styles, abilities and personalities shine through.
ACORN FOLK
Lynne McNab, Waterloo Region District School Board
Over the past 3 years, I have had a little story at the end of our Forest School morning in kindergarten. This has been extremely successful in a number of ways: well-being in community, love and care for others, “social” story aspects or “curative” stories, oral language development, literacy, connecting with the forest in an imaginative way, bringing the young child into being observant of the forest floor, accessing knowledge from the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee traditions (especially the Grandfather Teachings), care for the environment/forest, engaging with the forest, and naming the space at least for a time.
RECONNECTING YOUTH TO NATURE IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS
Reagan Johnson, The Riverwood Conservancy
Nature is the ideal environment for play and exploration in which to help cultivate all areas of child development. In this digital age, reconnecting children with nature is more important than ever because youth are losing their ability to appreciate and care for the natural world around them. By encouraging youth to have a deeper connection with the outdoors, a profound love and respect for nature will be cultivated, thereby creating the desire to become stewards of the Earth. Come and hear about how much early years and elementary students in Mississauga, ON are learning about and enjoying nature. You will also have the opportunity to try some of their activities yourself.
NATURE’S PALETTE: MINDFUL ART-MAKING WHILE BUILDING A CONNECTION TO THE LAND
Lisa Cafaro, Peel District School Board
Join us for a creative and grounding session that brings together nature connection, observation, and artistic expression. In this workshop, participants will embark on a nature walk to explore and collect a few small natural items such as leaves, flowers, or seed pods. Using field guides and the iNaturalist app, we’ll identify our findings and learn a little more about the life around us. Then, we’ll return to a shared space to create simple, beautiful artworks inspired by these natural forms using paint and easy, step-by-step techniques—no prior art experience required. This hands-on session is designed to spark curiosity, encourage mindfulness, and foster a deeper relationship with the land. By blending natural exploration with creative expression, participants will leave with both a tangible piece of art and a renewed appreciation of the natural world.
LEVERAGING THE POWER OF COMMUNITY SCIENCE & NATURE APPS
Ryan Lamoureux, The Fair Havens Outdoor Classroom
In a time where cellphones/cameras are in our pockets how can we encourage our students to use this tech to “re-plug into nature”? Wildlife Biologist, Master Naturalist and Outdoor Education Director Ryan Lamoureux will share his favorite free nature apps and talk about community science events like a bioblitz which combine tech with in-person research. Ryan will showcase how the new Fair Havens Outdoor Classroom YouTube channel is used for pre/post trip resources to enhance in-person outdoor education school trips. To finish you can download a nature app of your choice and we will try them outside together for a little experiential learning to see what creatures we can find! (bring your smartphone)
UNDERSTANDING, EXPLORING, AND INTERNALIZING NATURE’S COMPLEXITY AND COHERENCE
Nicole Spiegelaar and Honour Stahl, University of Toronto
During this workshop, Dr. Spiegelaar will share her pedagogical intervention conducted during COVID-19 that transformed monotonous and anxiety-inducing lockdown learning for science students. The session will demonstrate how embodied, nature-based learning can be incorporated into curriculum design and made accessible to students worldwide, even in environments with limited natural features. Strategies include prolonged, meaningful engagement with place, and discovery-based, scaffolded prompts. The session will present theory behind nature-based learning strategies and inspire new techniques for more accessible and enduring experiences that support mental wellness, cultivate ecological identity, and strengthen change agency.
*Session C, Saturday Afternoon – 2:30pm – 3:30pm
TEACHING WELL-BEING EXPERIENTIALLY
Brent Evans & Brit Cook, Norval Outdoor School/Upper Canada College
Teaching wellbeing experientially involves engaging students in hands-on activities and reflection to foster deeper understanding and personal growth related to mental and physical well-being. The Norval Outdoor School has developed an approach that moves beyond traditional classroom learning by providing students with opportunities to actively apply knowledge and develop skills through experiences, we are excited to share with you our activities in this hands-on workshop.
FINDING THE BALANCE
Alice Casselman, Association for Canadian Educational Resources (ACER)
“Finding a Balance” provides students an experience through a new approach in both the natural and built environments. ACER’s outdoor hands-on work with trees and “Let’s Get Together” indoor hands-on work refurbishing student collected electronic devices are both relevant experiential learning today – to help students find a balance. Each individual program demands teamwork and attention to detail. Both programs are individually successful in addressing the needs of diverse youth in today’s world, especially after Covid isolation. “Finding a Balance” uses international science-based protocols to understand of the role of trees as we adapt to climate change. Let’s Get Together workshops enable student collection and repair of electronic devices and learn needed digital skills, literary and responsibility. The concept of sustainability in Finding a Balance has opportunities to reflect on how each of us can live, work and play together in a sustainable and healthy manner.
MINDFUL MOMENTS: SIT SPOTS AND REFLECTING IN NATURE
Amy Dickerson, Nipissing University
Careful observation and mindfulness experiences in nature increase empathetic connection with the natural world and have positive impacts on mental health, allowing us to reconnect and unplug. Join me in discussing the magic of sit-spot pedagogy and the benefits for you and your students. Educator resources, such as the Me and My Sit Spot read-aloud, will be used to frame a presentation and small-group discussion about cultivating mindfulness through observation and reflection in nature. This will be followed by personal reflection time in a chosen spot in the campground. Please bring a notebook, a pen/pencil, and, if desired, something to sit on.
YOUR BODY, YOUR EMOTIONS, YOUR MIND – INTEGRATE WITH NATURE
Christine Lynes, CreativeSOULyoga & Melissa Lerner, Peel District School Board
Nature-Immersive Yoga: Take yoga outside, incorporating elements like walking barefoot, earth-touching poses, and outdoor meditation to connect with nature. Christine of CreativeSOULyoga (certifications include 200 hour traditional yoga teacher training, trauam informed yoga teacher training, Yin yoga teacher training and more) will guide you through a somatic release (gentle yoga inspired poses that help move stress and deliver a feeling of comfort and peace to your body, mind and spirit) while Melissa Lerner, a registered psycho therapist and educator will speak to our connection to nature as a part of healing from the inevitability of human suffering and how moving and engaging in nature can lead to healthier connections to self and other.
A TOUR OF A NATURAL ART GALLERY
Walt Sepic, Firefly Adventures
Participants will “be” students in this activity. Each will receive a cardboard “frame” and clothespin. The task will be to wander in a natural setting (forest with thick understory is best with boundaries) and find anything that ‘speaks to you’, that fascinates you, that captures your attention. It could be an object (leaf, flower, rock) or a slow moving animal (slug, millipede) (this frame may need to be moved every few minutes) or a larger view of an area, and position your frame so that when one looks through it they see what caught your attention. The view through the frame can be from up close for something small to further back which changes the size of the field of view. After everyone has selected something to frame (10 min. max 15) we break into small groups and each in the group shares their contribution to the gallery. When the group has seen all of their contributions, if time permits, they can look at other ‘art’. At the end, all frames and pins are collected and anything moved is replaced.
OUTDOOR MAGIC: THE POWER OF NATURE CONNECTION
Grant Linney, Retired Outdoor Educator
In 2024, Grant wrote a book with the same title as this workshop. It’s about his experiences in nature, both personally and professionally over a career that spans multiple decades. Grant will read a few of his stories and discuss their meaning as applicable to natural intelligence under the following headings: Loose Parts; Serendipity; Creativity; Up Close & Personal; Livestreaming. He will explore how such experiences provide the spark and drive to address pressing global issues such as climate change. “Grant Linney’s life journey and essays are powerful reminders that nature is our home.” (David Suzuki).
EEK, BUGS! TURNING CREEPS INTO CURIOSITY
Madeleine Bray, Forests Canada
Insects are more than just pollinators or pests – they are animals with a wide range of lifestyles, habits, and small niches carved just for them. To many people, however, they are simply small, annoying, scary, and so on! If we can foster curiosity about these critters, we can bring about more understanding. This workshop will investigate why bugs are so feared, and what we can do to promote awareness, compassion, and curiosity for our six-legged friends by building ecological literacy. Activities will include a crash course on bugs, how to break down insect anatomy to understand why they do what they do, creative thinking about insects and their parts, and sharing resources to assist with your buggy endeavours!
BEYOND CHILD-CENTERED: RE-ORIENTING OUR PEDAGOGY IN CRITICAL TIMES
Lee McArthur, Trent University
This workshop explores and challenges the assumed best practice of child-centered pedagogy. We will take a dive into what is meant by child-centered pedagogy and what might be missing from this model. Ideas about ‘species loneliness’ and the antidote of developing children’s connection with all-my-relations will be explored. Some practical strategies about de-centering the child in outdoor education practice will also shared.
*Session D, Saturday Afternoon – 3:45pm – 4:45pm
ROOTED IN EXPERIENCE: TEACHING WRITING TO MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS THROUGH EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, GUIDED WRITING, AND THE LANGUAGE EXPERIENCE APPROACH
Colleen Elep, Peel District School Board, ERGO (English Resource Group of Ontario)
In this interactive workshop, educators will explore how to support early STEP multilingual learners (MLLs) in developing writing skills through meaningful, hands-on experiences and culturally responsive writing prompts. Drawing on experiential learning, guided writing, and the Language Experience Approach (LEA), participants will discover how to create identity-affirming literacy opportunities that build vocabulary, foundational writing skills, and nurture connections between students and the outdoors. The focus will be on MLLs in the intermediate grades. Participants will leave with practical tools, sample lesson plans, and adaptable strategies to bring experiential writing to life in multilingual classrooms.
SALMON, STORY, AND SOLIDARITY: MYTHOPOETIC PEDAGOGY FOR OUTDOOR EDUCATORS
Paul Baines, Trent University
This workshop invites outdoor educators to engage the Celtic myth of The Salmon of Wisdom as a tool for professional and personal transformation. Grounded in decolonial and ecological frameworks, we explore how pre-colonial ancestral stories can disrupt the settler imaginary and regenerate “natural intelligence”—our embodied, relational wisdom with Land and community. Through land-based reflection, story-sharing, and myth interpretation, participants will experience a mythopoetic pedagogy that fosters ecological attunement, elderhood, and relational accountability to Indigenous sovereignty. The session cultivates tools for educators to incorporate ancestral storytelling into outdoor learning while avoiding cultural appropriation. Together, we will ask: how might reclaiming ancestral wisdom help settlers become better kin on stolen Land?
OUTDOOR EDUCATION, SO WHAT? BRINGING ATTENTION TO THE BENEFITS OF OUTDOOR EDUCATION DURING FINANCIALLY TRYING TIMES
David Hawker-Budlovsky, Toronto District School Board
In a time where Outdoor Education, and other “extras”, are being challenged for funding, how do we center Outdoor Education opportunities and are bring in voices from the “outside”. Participants will reflect on what are the essential elements of Outdoor Education, the benefits of Outdoor Education, and what we want participants to take away from and Outdoor Education Experience.
RIVERS RUN THROUGH US: CULTIVATING NATURAL INTELLIGENCE THROUGH OUTDOOR ADVENTURE AND INDUSTRY COLLABORATION
Adèle Kowalski, Wilderness Tours
For over 50 years, our outdoor adventure resort has welcomed millions of guests to experience the power of the river and the wisdom of the wild. As we look to {re}generate natural intelligence in a digitally saturated world, this session explores how deep-rooted partnerships with programs like Algonquin College’s Outdoor Adventure Program, and strong ties to local schools and youth organizations, have helped us build a living, learning landscape. Together, let’s paddle forward—where education flows from land, water, and the human spirit.
THE THREE REALMS OF NATURE AWARENESS
Milton Hill, Outward Bound Canada
The Three Realms of Nature Awareness is a way of seeing the natural environment through the weather above us, the ground below us with its plants and animals, with humans integrated within.
CLIMATE WEIRDING: PIVOTING OUTDOOR EDUCATION FROM THE FOREST TO THE SCHOOLYARD
Richella Hyde, Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board
The ice storm that hit Ontario this March forced school closures and Outdoor Education cancellations at the hands of “Climate Change” or “Climate Weirding” as a colleague prefers to call it. The damage sustained by the forest was going to force us to cancel our program or pivot to delivering Outdoor Education programs in the schoolyards until we could return to the forest. Students’ Outdoor Learning is too valuable to “Cancel,” so pivoting was our only option. Learn how we transformed a forest-based program into a schoolyard setting by engaging students through wide games, hands-on interactions and utilizing our local surroundings. Participants will get a chance to experience some of the activities and brainstorm ways to use their own schoolyard/context.
NATURE INTELLIGENCE THROUGH FOREST THERAPY AND REWILDING
Jen Wills, Finding Your Way Adventure Company
This workshop is an opportunity to experience forest therapy and mindfulness in nature. The presenter provides techniques that supports student engagement on a nature outing; one that teaches empathy and understanding towards nature, and our reciprocal relationship with the ecosystem we are connected to. This fully immersive experience will offer tools that educators can use to facilitate deeply powerful and knowledge building encounters with nature for their students. With our tech world shaping students to believe that they are more connected when online, this workshop will provide ways to help educators develop programming that promotes a reconnect while offline and directs students towards a deeper connection to themselves and each other.
*Session E, Sunday Morning – 10:15am – 11:15am
CONNECTING KIDS TO NATURE THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY
Angel Suarez Esquivel, Humber Arboretum
Discover how to design and lead an engaging nature photography program for children in your camp, school, or outdoor center. This hands-on workshop will guide you through the process of using digital photography as a powerful tool to spark curiosity, creativity, and a deeper connection to the natural world. No photography experience? No problem! We’ll cover the fundamentals of photography, so you feel confident helping kids capture the beauty of nature through their own lens. You’ll also explore how to integrate technology meaningfully and manage group activities that inspire exploration and environmental awareness. Whether you’re an educator, camp leader, or outdoor enthusiast, this session will equip you with practical ideas, tips, and resources to bring nature photography to the life of young learners. Note: This is not a photography skills workshop. You don’t need to be a professional or even an experienced photographer to participate. This session focuses on how to use photography as a tool to engage children with nature—encouraging exploration, observation, and creativity through the lens of a camera or mobile device.
IGNITE CURIOSITY THROUGH NATURE JOURNALING
Billie Jo Reid, Pine Ponder Outdoors
Join us for a hands-on, engaging workshop where you’ll learn the fundamentals of Nature Journaling and how it can be a powerful tool to spark wonder and critical thinking in your students. Discover how to guide learners in asking meaningful questions about the natural world and using observation, curiosity, and creativity to explore possible answers. You’ll leave with practical strategies you can bring back to your classroom right away. No art experience necessary – just a willingness to be curious! Please bring paper and a writing utensil.
CLASSROOM HATCHERY, RELEARNING FISH CYCLES
Mike Bradford, Norval Outdoor School/Upper Canada College
How to set up your very own classroom hatchery and connect with the fish life cycle.
MOVING BEYOND THE “CHALLENGE/LEARNING ZONE” – BUILDING A ROBUST FRAMEWORK FOR OUTDOOR EDUCATION
Devin Mutic, Headwaters Wilderness Program, Anissah Rajpatee, Trent University
Outdoor education, when done well, is the best form of good teaching. However, outdoor education is, as we all know, underfunded, under respected, and constantly under threat. If we’re being truthful, this is largely because most people think of canoe trip leaders as “not a real job,” and consider any type of nature-based field trip to be “extra-curricular.” While few would question the benefits of time spent in nature, many would question what, exactly, we mean when we say that our students are “learning with nature as co-teacher.” What does that mean beyond spooky sounding claims that can never be verified? If we believe in this work – if we believe in the transformative and necessary role of outdoor education for both well-lived human lives and for the flourishing of wild creatures and places on this planet – then it is necessary for outdoor educators to present a sophisticated, robust, intelligent theory: an explanation as to what it is that we do “out there” with our students. It is time, in other words, to stop playing continual defence and to mount an undeniable argument in favour of the case for outdoor education. The “learning/challenge/fear zone” model of outdoor education – largely popularized by Outward Bound and taken-up by many others since – wherein outdoor education is said to be efficacious because it puts students “outside their comfort zone” – is perhaps the at-present most popular theory of why outdoor education “works”. We find this model to be both philosophically and pedagogically problematic and will begin this workshop with an interrogation of this model and its flaws as a background from which to develop something better. This is important, long-term work. And if these discussions are not had at COEO conferences, then where will they be had? In this workshop, we will attempt to develop preliminary ideas for what a robust pedagogical framework of outdoor education looks like. A model which, when applied as an approach to education goes beyond the flawed “learning zone” theory and which makes the case for outdoor pedagogies on their own terms, rather than as merely augmenting hegemonic methods of schooling by “improving mental health” or “increasing academic performance”. What we hope to emerge from this workshop is the eventual dissemination of these ideas via Pathways.
PEOPLE, PUMPKINS, POLLINATOR – A TALE OF RECIPROCITY
Susan Chan
I will present a framework for understanding the long-standing reciprocal relationship that began in North America between a wild hoary squash bee and wild squash in Mexico prior to squash domestication. Once humans domesticated squash and then bred, and began sharing or trading squash seeds among themselves, the reciprocal relationship expanded to include them. I will explore the nature of this beautiful reciprocity, the gifts that each brings, and the possible risks this 10,000 year old relationship faces in modernity. This clear example of reciprocity that encompasses survival, reproduction, food security, creativity, economics, migration, and culture provides a model to think about human relations with all of our kin.
SYSTEMS IN MOTION: GAMES FOR CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION
Pam Miller, York University & Bonnie Anderson, Elite Camps
How can we teach climate change in ways that are felt, not just understood? This interactive workshop invites outdoor and experiential educators to explore the power of systems thinking through embodied learning games—dynamic, participatory activities that illuminate the interconnectedness of ecological and social systems. Grounded in the crossroads of cognitive science and aesthetic experiential learning, these games engage learners holistically, activating head, heart, and body in the construction of knowledge. Participants will move, reflect, and collaborate as they experience firsthand how systems thinking can foster empathy, critical inquiry, adaptability, and deeper ecological understanding. Join us to play, learn, and discover how moving through systems can move us—and our students—toward more just, connected, and sustainable futures.