Project Ocean – life under water
Bonnie Anderson, Simcoe County District School Board
Learn the latest science as to why oceans have an effect on Ontario and what can students do to help from a distance. As water levels rise we are slowly getting closer to the shore. Come and find the latest science from this summer’s CMOS institute and how actions can slow that tide. Project Ocean has a North American view on what is happening and we can learn how to act locally together. Get your science fix in games and actions to better see how to survive climate change together.
Wild in the city! Finding nature in urban and suburban spaces
Victoria Badham, Toronto Wildlife Centre
You don’t have to go far to find nature – in fact, complex ecosystems are present even within busy cities! Hundreds of wild species make the Greater Toronto Area their full or part time home; as such, plenty of learning opportunities exist for learning right outside our doorstep – like the school yard, local park, balcony, or other outdoor space. This workshop will focus on accessible place-based learning focused on the habitats and natural behaviours of city-dwelling wildlife, the threats they face, and simple actions kids can take to help keep our wild neighbours safe – right in their own “backyard”! This workshop is ideal for elementary level educators situated in urban and suburban environments.
Grow with the flow: Where outdoor education meets autism
Katie Corbett and Hayley McTaggart, Kinark Outdoor Centre
An interactive experience to highlight the need for diversity and barrier free approaches to education. Participants will be led though an dramatized activity to showcase how barriers can affect outdoor programming, followed by a discussion of how we have addressed this issues at our centre. As part of the Kinark Child and Family Services the Kinark Outdoor Centre offers outdoor educational programming specialized for children, youth, and families in challenging circumstances and with complex needs. Our goal is teach facilitators how they can adapt their programming to meet the needs of neurodiverse populations. Coming into this program participants should come prepared with an open mind and a willingness to come out of their comfort zone; no specific clothing or footwear required, moderate activity level.
Mindfulness and art for all
Lisa Cafaro, Peel District School Board
This art-based session is for those who feel like they “are not good at art”. It will focus on new ways to make art for those of all levels and enjoying the stress relief process.
Why you, yes you, should consider becoming a municipal councillor
Tobin Day, Township of Georgian Bluffs & Bluewater District School Board
After a couple of decades in teaching, outdoor education, and occasional guiding work, I made an unexpected and unplanned foray into municipal politics. This workshop will focus on the important links between municipal politics, recreation opportunities, Conservation Authorities, climate action, and social justice. You’ll also learn more about how to run in an election or support a candidate in your community.
No Trees? No Problem: Outdoor activities you can run in any school yard
Hannah Dabrowski & Heather Dabrowski, Adventureworks! Associates Inc.
Ontario has many incredible outdoor education facilities. However, with the rising cost of business, all the student forms, and the availability/cost of buses, travelling to outdoor education centres for a meaningful experience seems more difficult than ever. We all know outdoor education is incredibly important for children, especially those aged 6-12. A possible solution is for outdoor education facilitators to travel to schools, or for teachers to learn effective activities that they can run in their school yard. The facilitators come from both of these backgrounds with Hannah working at an outdoor education centre and Heather working in the public school system. This workshop will provide you with quality outdoor activities for children in grades 1-6 that can be facilitated in any school yard and connect to the curriculum. Come with questions and prepare to join in on the activities!
Eliminate, automate, delegate: Tips and tricks from a women-led not-for-profit organization
Heather Figueiredo, Cambridge Farm and Forest School
The “human-power” behind an organization can be the most challenging and costly part of operations. This can often impede people from taking the next step to scale their program or even start it in the first place. This workshop will offer strategies and leadership techniques to efficiently run the behind-the-scenes aspects of your organization. Learn new ways to encourage staff retention by empowering your staff, how to implement lean thinking to get the job done faster, and how to build strong customer/client relationships. Effective Leadership, communication, and organization can be the difference between a successful year (both economically and relationally) and a tough year of burnout. Whether you’re an administrator, leader, or facilitator in your field, come and learn how to make your day-to-day tasks easier and more enjoyable.
Bridging the employment divide: Opportunities and challenges of autistic outdoor educators
Laura Flett, Lakehead University
Through the School of Outdoor Recreation, Parks, and Tourism at Lakehead University a pilot research study was conducted in which Autistic outdoor educators provided feedback on their experiences within the workplace. This presentation aims to provide employers and coworkers the opportunity to learn about the experiences of Autistic outdoor educators, the strengths that they bring, and the changes that need to happen within outdoor education workspaces to create more inclusive environments.
Lost and Found – map and compass use 101
Valerie Freemantle, Rideau Valley Conservation Area & Frizz Factor Education
In a world of Siri and Google Maps, sometimes it can be hard to take a minute and really decide how we are going to get from A to B on our own terms. Going back to having to rely on your brain and analog tools is not only a useful outdoor skill to teach, but can also be a space to teach an important life lesson: you’re going to get lost. When set up with appropriate safeguards and scaffolding, teaching students to navigate using new tools can be a great way to give them a taste of what it feels like to be in charge of their own adventure. In this workshop, participants will have a chance to learn how to use a map and compass to navigate a scavenger hunt. After participating in the activity, we will have a brief discussion on how to create maps and adventures in your own educational setting. No experience with map or compass use is needed. Please come prepared for walking or rolling and being outside rain or shine.
Neurodivergency in outdoor education settings
Kathy Haras & Tristan Jones, Adventureworks! Associates Inc.
Neurodivergency (autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyslexia etc.) affects 1 -2 % of the population – a group that includes both school-age participants and adult staff. These disabilities are considered “invisible” because an external observer may not correctly identify that an individual is neurodivergent let alone why they are behaving in a particular way. The divergence from “expected” behaviour in all types of settings, however, is noticeable, commented on, and frequently results in disciplinary action or exclusion (for example, not being hired). Presenters will share the SPACE framework (sensory needs, predictability, acceptance, communication, empathy) developed by autistic doctors for use in healthcare settings and discuss how to apply it to myriad outdoor contexts including classrooms, day and overnight trips, camps, and more. The presentation will cover the accessibility needs of neurodivergent staff and participants. The workshop will incorporate information from the presenters own lived experiences in outdoor education settings and current research.
Invisible barriers to the outdoors – what you cannot see
Tammy Hand, Connected in Motion & Peel District School Board
My love of the outdoors and exploration was sparked early in my life. Along my life journey I have encountered a few speed bumps that have challenged me and forced me to adapt the way I adventure. One of my largest speed bumps was being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 10. While challenging it also opened my world to an organization called Connected In Motion that I now guide trips for. I hope to share with you some “tips and tricks” that have helped my to get out explore while managing Type 1 Diabetes, Celiac Disease, Colitis, multiple medications and mental health challenges. I am not a certified health practitioner just one hoping to share life experiences to help others take those outside that my have some invisible challenges.
Stepping stones to bridging opportunity gaps
Judy Halpern & Sandy Falco, Learning for A Sustainable Future & Sandy Falco, Waterloo Region District School Board
Applying the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provides a pathway towards increasing our knowledge and understanding of the world in which we live, learn and teach. While working towards fulfilling the SDGs we will explore how systemic opportunity gaps impact our ability to meeting the goals.
Alumni: The power of investing in your people
Anum Khan, Trails Youth Initiatives
Connection is essential to the human experience. At Trails Youth Initiatives, our mission is to challenge and equip vulnerable youth from at-risk communities to become contributing members of their society. By taking the time to engage in meaningful connections, we are able to create a foundation for a life-long relationship that fosters a sense of community. At Trails, our alumni return year after year to work with our youth and their presence makes a significant impact. How do we as an organization encourage our alumni to return and contribute to their community? Stick around, and learn more! This will be a lecture style presentation. There will be videos, and story telling.
The honourable harvest; food and foraging on the land
Krista Killian & Brenda Bennett, Toronto District School Board
“The way to people’s heart is through their stomachs.” In 2021, almost one in five households in Toronto were food insecure. Risk of food insecurity is higher for low income households or people who are racialized, especially those who identify as Black or Indigenous.Through highlighting those in the BIPOC community who grow and harvest honourably on the land and work to teach others, we empower students/people to learn the skills and knowledge so the land can provide, we build connection to culture, a sense of place, and an appreciation for All (Our) Relations. In this workshop you will learn of experts in food growing and foraging that you can begin to highlight within your community, as well as take part in honourably harvesting and ingesting plants from the land. Be prepared to walk, inquire, share about groups doing good work around food insecurity and community garden growing, as well as even perhaps examine biases/privilege.
Yoga flow in nature
Christine Therese Lynes, CreativeSOULyoga
Yoga helps us enter “the Flow”. When we are surrounded by human-made infrastructure in cities and buildings, there is a barrier created between our bodies and nature. Take yourself back to nature and move in the body vessel in its natural state. We will use the elements to inspire yogic movement and we will enjoy somatic experiences and a long yoga Nidra in the last quarter of the workshop. Bring appropriate clothing and a yoga mat.
Removing barriers to outdoor education experiences in school-based settings
Liz Kirk, Brock University & Tanya Murray, York Region District School Board
For many school-based outdoor education programs, including multi-day backcountry trips, 2023 marked the return of these student experiences for the first time since the pandemic began in spring of 2020. In this session, Liz and Tanya plan to facilitate a discussion with the goal of providing a space for participants to share about their own experience related to barriers encountered in 2023 as well as listen to the stories of others. Strategies and suggestions for addressing current barriers will be discussed, including how to gather critical support from organizations and groups that exist beyond the education sector. Join us for what we hope will be a lively and productive conversation that inspires hope and focuses on solutions to ensure the doors to outdoor education experiences through the public education system remain open to all.
Goodbye binary! Creating safe, affirming spaces in outdoor programs
Lara Purvis & Liam Sheehan, Out to Play
We step into the forest or out onto the land and many of us feel like we belong. But do our gender-creative, transgender and nonbinary children and staff experience that feeling of belonging too? In this workshop, participants will gain knowledge of the complex intersecting identities transgender, gender-creative and nonbinary children and staff hold, and how this impacts their experience in outdoor nature-based play and learning. Together, we’ll discuss structural changes, inclusive and kind language, and how to navigate tricky questions and facilitate conversations with children. We’ll re-imagine and share our strategies in play and story for supporting a safe and gender-affirming experience in learning on the land. Workshop participants will need to dress to be outside. We’ll be sitting for part of this workshop, so bring your water and a seating mat/camping chair if you would like to.
How to open doors for canoeists with disabilities
Andy Owens, Tom Hodgson & David Spencer, Abilities in Motion
Adaptive Paddling is a method of modifying a canoe or kayak and your approach to teaching. These modifications will enable those with physical and/or intellectual disabilities to safely experience canoeing or kayaking under a safe, supervised setting. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to role-play as an individual having one or more disabilities. Fellow participants will assist you to launch and land your craft using equipment such as a Hoyer wheelchair Lift. You’ll have the opportunity to safety navigate the shoreline with a paddling outrigger. Workshop leaders will guide a discussion focused on the adaptive paddling equipment required to set up a program and safely assist individuals with varying abilities. Teaching approaches and web site resources will be shared that will inspire and widen your perception of who can do what in a canoe.
TDSB’s new outdoor education equity toolkit
David Hawker-Budlovsky, Toronto District School Board
The natural world is an important part of learning. Access to the outdoors increases student achievement and well-being. This toolkit aids educators in decision making on learning experiences and resource selection that centres culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy (CRRP). It aims to affirm all identities and the ways we live in partnership with the land while also addressing systemic oppression.. Environmental racism is“the disproportionate proximity and greater exposure of Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities to polluting industries and environmentally hazardous activities” (Waldron, 2020). This document supports educators in selecting learning resources and developing experiences centring environmental justice
Finding awe in OEE
Grant Linney, Lifetime Outdoor Educator
When you find and celebrate awe in OEE, you expose participants to a profound and transformative appreciation of nature. Grant will look back at his 50+ years in OEE and share stories and insights about establishing the conditions for such “chance” encounters and how to capitalize on them. This session will be broadened and deepened by participant recollections of their own awe-some encounters.
Inclusive reflections – a “maker-space” crafting workshop
Erin Farrow, The Riverwood Conservancy
This will be a crafting-based workshop where participants will create their own “see yourself in nature” campaign sign—an idea implemented at The Riverwood Conservancy. Crafters will be introduced to the topic of the campaign, look at examples and then given the time to create their own “you belong here” mirror sign.
Place-based education as a foundation for teaching
Gary Pluim, Lakehead University
Hot off the heels of an intensive, Lakehead University faculty of education course that relied on canoeing, cycling, and hiking to learn about the histories, geographies and cultures of Simcoe County, this presentation will juxtapose the learning outcomes of students in this place-based education (PBE) course against the objectives of the instructor who designed the course. Taking a critical approach to PBE, the discussion will look at the strengths and limitations of PBE, how this pedagogy fits within the context of outdoor, adventure, and land-based education, and how PBE might be integrated into conventional public school learning situations. The presentation we will provide an overview of the course, highlights of the two-week experience, transformative learning moments, and selected curricular areas that have particular potential for place-based pedagogies.
Wrapping ourselves in sustainability
Zabe MacEachren, Queen’s University
From birth to death, we humans are wrapped in cloth made from fibers harvested from the earth. The material we use to tan, felt, weave or knit our clothes are having an impact on the climate—some say up to 8% of our yearly CO2 emissions are due to the fashion industry. In this workshop you will be exposed to a wide variety of hands-on activities that connect clothing and fashion to the land and environmental issues and recognize how weaving lead to all computer programming. You will leave understanding that learning how to make cordage was a moment comparable to when fire by friction was first made. Expect to be provided with many practical ideas to connect fibre-based activities (and your own wardrobe) into your outdoor curriculum. Treat your fingers to some digital stretches and workouts while simultaneously massaging them with sensual earthy fibres.
Nature knows no limits: Promoting inclusion and accessibility in outdoor education
Lauren MacLean, School District No. 43 – Coquitlam, B.C.
Join us for an inspiring and informative workshop where we will explore the transformative power of outdoor education in promoting inclusion and accessibility for all students. In this workshop, we will delve into the realm of limitless possibilities that nature provides, regardless of physical abilities. Through engaging activities and captivating storytelling, we will highlight personal experiences working with students in wheelchairs. Discover how a year of learning outdoors can be successful and enriching, no matter the challenges or limitations faced by students. Participants will have the opportunity to gain practical insights and strategies for incorporating inclusiveness and accessibility in their own outdoor education programs. From adapting activities for students with physical disabilities to fostering a sense of belonging and empowerment, we will explore creative ways to make the great outdoors accessible to all.
Role play pedagogy: Bridging the relational space with the natural world
Lee McArthur, Trent University
This workshop will give practitioners and participants the opportunity to experience role-play pedagogy, through engagement with the more-than-human in the environment. This pedagogical strategy involves the activation of evolved, imaginative, ecological engagement and thinking-with or being-with the ‘other.’ The objective of this pedagogical approach is the development of relational awakeness and the building of relational bridges between children and the ‘other’ in our common worlds.
Pine River Institute – Wilderness Therapy
Jake MacPherson, Pine River Institute
A brief look at the program, as well as how the lens in which we view our work allows us to be more flexible and accommodate more needs in a wilderness environment – lowering the barrier to entry for clients. We will take a look at Mental Health needs, Physical, Religious, Demographic and Funding restrictions, and discuss what options are available to bridge those gaps.
Rooting yourself in your senses
Sabrina George, Peel District School Board
“Children are born with a sense of wonder and an affinity for nature. Properly cultivated, these values can mature into ecological literacy and eventually into sustainable patterns of living.”- Zenobia Barlow. With that in mind, we will start by grounding ourselves in nature, by engaging our 5 senses. Utilizing plants, we will explore ways to make curriculum and outdoor learning opportunities more meaningful. We will investigate how 4 seasoned pollinator “rewilding” gardens and citizen scientist opportunities can deepen our understanding of the interconnectedness of the world. In the end, we will ground ourselves once again in a reflective exercise. Participants will be gifted with start-up kits that include indoor and outdoor mini plants, seeds and virtual resources.
Multi-sensory programming: How to engage the senses
Emily Harrison, CNIB Lake Joe
Our exposure to public spaces involves several senses like sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. These senses work together to create a robust experience of our environment. Consider the space of an amusement park; there is sounds of roller coasters going by, sights of flashing lights and brightly coloured rides, smells of park food, the smooth touch of railings leading you to the front of the line and so on! When considering the importance of building multi-sensory experiences, the impact of emphasizing and streamlining certain senses can elevate a program to a more accessible space. With a focus on the partially sighted, and blind experience, examples offered will consider the removal of sight for other senses to be more intentionally activated. Folks outside of the partially sighted and blind community, will benefit from the intentional discussion and group activity planned. No requirement of clothing or footwear, low activity level.
Opening doors to the outdoors with children’s literature
Kimberly Squires & Kim Barton, University of Guelph
Books can offer important invitations to discover, learn about, and discuss diverse perspectives. Have you thought critically about the books that you are bringing into your work with children? Who is represented within the books available in your classroom? In this workshop, we will explore some of the opportunities offered by children’s literature with regards to bringing diverse perspectives into outdoor experiences, take a closer look at some examples of children’s literature, and discuss tools that can help with selecting children’s literature that supports and comes from a variety of perspectives.
True Colours
Brian Vrouvas
Have you ever done a personality test that tried to put you into a box? True Colours is a personality test that sees all of you! With True Colours, you can better understand yourself in different situations as well as better understand your interactions with the people you work with or your clients. Learn the different wants and needs of the Colours and work toward creating stronger teams today!
Teaching with pride – How to support 2SLGBTQIA+ participants
Fiona Warde
This presentation will provide both a primer for folks new to working with 2SLGBTQIA+ participants in their outdoor education programs, as well as more advanced knowledge regarding specific considerations for supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ participants in back country tripping scenarios. It will begin with a lecture/slide-show component with questions welcome throughout, then be followed by small group discussion and debrief to finish.
Mindfulness outdoors – how a slower connection opens more doors
Jen Wills, Finding Your Way Adventure Company
Come explore the outdoors in a truly connective way. Using all of your senses, immerse yourself in nature and learn how to build a relationship with all of life as you walk and contemplate our deeply rooted connection to the Earth. Learn techniques that will help folks to see themselves as part of the story that nature holds, along with mindful practices that will give them joy as they realize that anyone can be a part of the narrative of creation. As this workshop is meant to provide opportunities for anyone to participate, it will not be physically demanding, and Jen (the facilitator) can also make adaptations for other needs folks may have. Please let Jen know so she can prepare. Concepts focus around forest therapy and mindfulness practices, which means a slow and immersive experience. These practices can be used in all settings including outdoor adventures such as backcountry tripping, outdoor classrooms and schoolyard exploration. Traditional, high paced adventures are not the only way to trip anymore! This workshop is held outdoors rain or shine, so please dress accordingly.
…And much, much more!