Many of us have a favorite outdoor place and wonderful memories of playing outdoors as children, whether it be at our local park, in our own backyard or at a family vacation spot. But today, an increasing number of kids aren't able to build these kinds of memories and will never have a favorite outdoor place.
It's not just TV and video games that are disconnecting kids from nature; access to safe outdoor areas is also a factor. In the 2011 "America's Great Outdoors" report, young people noted many challenges that made outdoor recreation difficult or inaccessible to them, including the feeling that parks are uninviting or irrelevant because they or their families lacked environmental knowledge and/or the means to travel to them. They also noted that there isn't enough outdoor education or recreation in schools to make them feel comfortable in nature.
At the Fund, we believe kids have the right to a healthy childhood and that a healthy childhood includes being outdoors. That's why we work to save lands where kids can play outside and learn about the nature. Check out some of the great projects we're proud to be part of:
In Plymouth, Vermont we helped negotiate a land preservation agreement on more than 440 acres of private forest land that guarantees the land will continue to be used for educational and recreational activities during summer camps. Proceeds from the sale of this conservation easement will allow the Farm & Wilderness Foundation, the organization that currently runs the summer camps, to strengthen programs, improve buildings and offer more financial aid to campers across the country.
We can do more. Your support will help us continue to protect lands where kids can experience the outdoors and build a lasting relationship with nature.
Photo: Yenwen_Lu (top); The Farm & Wilderness Foundation (bottom)
In April of 2010, President Barack Obama announced the America's Great Outdoors Initiative to help reconnect Americans to nature. More than 100,000 people provided their input, which was synthesized in President Obama's recently released America's Great Outdoors Report.
Of particular interest to the administration was the relationship between children and nature, warranting a separate report of responses gathered during 21 youth listening sessions.
Young people showed a strong desire to spend more time outdoors, and talked about the challenges that made outdoor recreation difficult or inaccessible to them. Some saw parks as uninviting or irrelevant because they or their families lacked environmental knowledge or lacked the means to travel to parks. They worried about the safety of parks or how they could even reach one and noted that there isn't enough outdoor education or recreation in schools to make them feel comfortable in nature. Also of concern was the difficulty in finding government jobs in conservation and that applying to these positions is daunting.
Young people offered suggestions for improving their experience with nature:
The next step of the initiative is to work with a range of partners to implement the recommendations of the report. To read the America's Great Outdoors report, click here.>>
At the Fund, we believe kids have a basic right to a healthy childhood.
With major advances in medicine, education and other fields, kids today should enjoy a higher quality of life than ever before. But children are developing chronic health conditions, such as obesity and depression, earlier and more frequently than ever before.
Researchers suggest that the decline in children’s health is linked, in part, to their growing disconnect from nature and outdoor activity.
Children’s disconnect from nature, if left unchecked, shortchanges their health and happiness now—and creates a future generation of adults who are less healthy. At the Fund, we also believe that young people who grow up without experiencing nature are much less likely as adults to be strong champions for protecting the outdoors.
You can learn more about the relationship between American youth and nature in America's Great Outdoors: A Promise to Future Generations.” Released in early 2011, the report is part of President Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative, which aims to reconnect Americans to nature. A separate Youth Report was produced based on responses gathered during 21 "youth listening sessions." In these sessions young people voiced a strong desire to spend more time outdoors and talked about challenges that made outdoor recreation difficult or inaccessible to them. Read more about the report > >
The Fund's mission to protect America's favorite places includes conserving parks, trails, and recreational areas where families can enjoy the outdoors. Read about some of our recent projects in Colorado, Delaware and Vermont.
We also have been a leader in bringing together corporations, educators, community planners, government officials and others to join us in our efforts to get kids outside.
Outdoor Nation grew out of the National Forum on Children and Nature, an initiative the Fund helped lead. The summits are an opportunity for young adults to meet and find solutions to the challenges that are keeping people indoors.
| The Fund's CEO, Larry Selzer, gives an inspiring talk to attendees at this year's Outdoor Nation Summit in New York City about the importance of their work to save outdoor space. Click on the video to play, double click to enlarge to full screen. |
Last year, we were a sponsor of the Outdoor Nation Youth Summit in New York City and contributed $50,000 in scholarships for youth leaders to move to the next level in their efforts to reconnect children with nature. This summer Outdoor Nation will conduct regional youth summits in New York, Denver, Minneapolis, San Francisco and Atlanta. The Fund is providing $10,000 to each summit to help support the ideas generated at each gathering.
Outdoor Nation also offers other youth grants and resources to connect children with nature. Learn more >>
The National Forum on Children and Nature was a groundbreaking effort led by the Fund in collaboration with Rich Louv, author of "Last Child in the Woods" and head of the Children and Nature Network. The 54-member Forum was made up of a diverse group of public and private leaders dedicated to improving children’s health and overall well-being, while encouraging them to rediscover America's outdoors.
In 2008, the Forum endorsed 30 demonstration projects nationwide that creatively reconnected kids with nature. These projects shared relevance, impact and an ability to be replicated, among other features.
Would you like to help us protect land so kids have access to the outdoors? Make a donation today.
In 2008, the Forum endorsed 30 demonstration projects nationwide that creatively reconnected kids with nature. These projects shared relevance, impact and an ability to be replicated, among other features.
The projects are grouped into three categories: Technology, Education, and Community. Click on the links below to go to the organization's website.
From iPods to Facebook, kids today are plugged in more than ever before. Rather than view technology as a barrier to nature, the National Forum on Children and Nature endorsed projects that tapped technology as a tool to get kids back outdoors.
Project: EarthTeam Eco-Stewards
Organization: EarthTeam
Location: Berkeley, CA
Project: Outdoor Spaces for Children: Exposure West Atlanta
Organization: West Atlanta Watershed Alliance
Location: Atlanta, GA
Project: Sesame Street: “Connecting Preschoolers with Nature”
Organization: Sesame Workshop
Location: New York, NY
Project: The Birds & The Bees Challenge
Organization: Cornell University Lab of Ornithology
Location: Ithaca, NY
Project: Trees for the 21st Century
Organization: ERTHNXT
Location: Philadelphia, PA
During the average week, kids spend more time at school and after-school programs than at home. The National Forum on Children and Nature endorsed the following projects, which weave nature directly into educational experiences:
Project: Connecting Kids to the Nature of Wyoming
Organization: Teton Science School
Location: Jackson, WY
Project: Going Wild
Organization: Association of Children’s Museums
Location: Washington D.C.
Project: Kids in Nature
Organization: North Carolina State University Natural Learning Initiative
Location: Raleigh, NC
Project: Pathway to Nature
Organization: Children’s Investment Fund, Boston Nature Center
Location: Mattapan, MA
Project: Pittsburgh Outdoor Promise
Organization: Sustainable Pittsburgh
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Project: Science & Spanish Club Network
Organization: Gulf of Mexico Foundation
Location: Corpus Crisit, TX
Project: Secondary Environmental Education Collaborative
Organization: The Nature Conservancy, Friends of The High School for Environmental Studies
Location: New York, NY
Project: Teaching Kids About The Environment
Organization: Pinnacle Partners and Clemson University Youth Learning Insitute
Location: Pickens, SC
Project: Fairchild Challenge
Organization: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
Location: Coral Gables, FL
Project: The Nature of Learning
Organization: Expeditionary Learning Schools/Outward Bound
Location: New York, NY
To reconnect kids with nature, a community needs all hands on deck. The National Forum on Children and Nature endorsed projects, which focus on neighborhood design, access to green space, innovative recreation programs and more.
Project: Child-Friendly Communities
Organization: Intl. Making Cities Livable, National Town Builders Assoc.
Location: Carmel, CA
Project: Green Infrastructure Vision
Organization: Chicago Wilderness
Location: Chicago, IL
Project: Green Stops Partnership
Organization: New York Restoration Project
class="floatLeftClear": New York, NY
Project: Nature Connection
Organization: Denver Housing Authority
Location: Denver, CO
Project: No Child Left Inside Initiative
Organization: Connecticut Dept of Environmental Protection
Location: Hartford, CT
Project: Nuestra Naturaleza, Nuestra Communidad
Organization: Audubon Society
Location: New York, NY
Project: Outdoor Connections for Inner City Youth
Organization: Jr Anglers & Hunters of America
Location: Houston, TX
Project: Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors
Organization: Pass It On
Location: Wichita, KS
Project: Prescribing Nature
Organization: National Environmental Education Foundation
Location: Washington, D.C.
Project: Project Ecopolis
Organization: American Community Gardening Association
Location: Columbus, OH
Project: Bikes Belong
Organization: Safe Routes to School National Partnership
Location: Fairfax, CA
Project: Teens Outside
Organization: The Outdoor Foundation
Location: Boulder, CO
Project: Wise Kids® Outdoors
Organization: Sajai Foundation
Location: Hamel, MN
Project: Spring Break Back to Nature
Organization: YMCA of Greater Seattle
Location: Seattle, WA
Written by Therese Iknoian
A movement began June 19-20 in New York City’s Central Park when 500 enthusiastic youth from across the country gathered to talk about how to get their peers outdoors and more active.
Spawned by ongoing industry discussions and pushed into action by the board of the Outdoor Foundation, the first Outdoor Nation Youth Summit went beyond adults telling young people to go outdoors or even how or where to go outdoors.
What began as just a brash idea nearly 18 months ago came to fruition when the youth delegates, packed under a tent in the park, divided into groups and brainstormed ideas in six topic areas: careers, diversity, media, recreation, activity and service. And, in the true spirit of democracy, each group came up with its top ideas, presented them to the entire gathering, which then voted on-the-spot for its favorites.
“I am so overwhelmed with the response from the young people here, and that they just keep coming back to work because they feel they are making a difference,” said Christine Fanning, executive director of the Outdoor Foundation, who brought the board’s concept to reality. “This is a great first step in the right direction.”
A diverse gathering representing teens to 20-somethings, from towns large and small, from all 50 states, the youth seemed to know something big was happening: “I like thinking of ways to get people outside and getting them away from their Xboxes and other technology,” Nicole Price, 17, from the Bronx borough of New York, told SNEWS®. “This is such a grand idea. It’s so diverse.
“We’re so different, but we’re so collectively thinking together,” she continued. “It’s surprising how kids my age all have the same ideas.”
Getting 500 youth from all walks of life into one place wasn’t easy but happened quickly for such a large undertaking. About 18 months ago, the board of the Outdoor Foundation realized the way to get youth more involved was to create a peer-to-peer movement, said Jay Steere, chairman of the Outdoor Foundation and Timberland vice president of global product management for outdoor performance. And “convening,” as he described it, was a vital part to enable face-to-face discussion, not just online chat.
As executive director, Fanning was given the task to make it happen. It just so happened that tagging onto Backpacker’s annual event Adventures NYC was the perfect timing, allowing both sponsors and brands as well as youth delegates and organizers to move from one event to the other. The North Face stepped up as presenting sponsor, and Larry Selzer, CEO of the Conservation Fund and a foundation board member, moved into a joint organizing role. Also partnering with them was the New York Parks and Recreation department, a partner on the Adventures NYC event, and Mobilize.org. A long list of brands, organizations and retailers came on board to help sponsor one or more youth delegates to get to New York City, as well as to nominate ones they knew. (Click here to see our story June 21 for a list of the sponsors as well as a video of the event and photos.)
“Our job was to put out the bread crumbs,” Steere told SNEWS of the foundation’s role. “Let the youth decide where they want to fly. This is the ultimate challenge old white guys in the outdoor industry face.
“The outdoor experience has to be redefined,” he added. And Central Park was the perfect setting for the redefinition, he pointed out—a park setting in a huge urban city like New York where residents ran, biked, threw Frisbees or picnicked in the meadow across from the event’s tent.
Voting and tallying, including polling on the group’s demographics, were done on-the-spot using Chris Bui’s OptionFinder mobile technology with hand-held transmitters that look like the handset of a household portable phone. In terms of diversity, for example:
In a final evaluation, 93 percent of youth delegates said they felt the summit should be an annual event. The foundation, the board and event sponsors will now look at what is possible, from an annual event to regional events. Grants announced by The North Face ($250,000) with partly matching funds from The Conservation Fund ($50,000) and a grant program from Camelbak ($5,000 and 1,000 reusable bottles) will help spur the next steps.
“When these young people commit to change,” Fanning said, “we are committing resources.”
Part of the next step also belongs to the youth who left feeling fired up about what they could do in their own cities. Said 87 percent of the attendees, “I am excited about bringing this work/these ideas back home to my community/ongoing work,” while 86 percent agreed with the statement, “We are on the right track.”
Even more potent perhaps was an 81-percent agreement with the statement, “I felt heard.”
“What made it work and what is going to make it work,” said Steere, "is this idea of it being a movement as opposed to being an initiative or a program. “Hopefully," he said, "we’ll inspire the youth and give them confidence they can go back to their neighborhoods to get their peers outdoors.”
Dexter Lacke, 22, from New York's Brooklyn borough, doesn’t have far to go to get home from Central Park, but said he forsees participants going home and talking about what happened.
“It’ll snowball,” he said. “There are 500 people in this room, and if each person right here goes and talks to another person and those people talk to another person, it’ll just snowball.”
The Fund is dedicated to reconnecting kids with nature. Here’s a story from Mike Kelly, our Great Lakes Office Director, about teaching kids his favorite activity: fishing!
On a perfect day this past May, I watched as boat after boat sailed down the Saginaw River. They were arriving for the 2nd annual BayFest at Veterans Memorial Park in Bay City, Michigan. Bay City was the first stop on a professional walleye fishing tournament circuit that winds through the Midwest. This year I was serving on a small committee to organize activities just for kids. Our goal was to get Michigan kids excited about a variety of outdoor activities. I couldn’t wait to spend the day teaching them about my personal favorite—fishing!
A spectacular way to experience the great outdoors, fishing was a major part of my childhood growing up in Michigan. Now with kids of my own, I treasure every opportunity to get out on the water with my family and friends and enjoy the natural beauty of our home state. Unfortunately, fishing—along with lots of other outdoor activities—has waned in popularity since I was a kid.
That day at the BayFest, the kids learned the basics: how to bait the line, how to cast and how to release the fish back into the water. They were challenged to “Name That Fish,” minnow races, and an action-packed kids-only fishing tournament. We also talked to them about the importance of the Saginaw River and its famous walleye fishery that attracts anglers from all parts of the world.
At the end of the day, many of these kids went home with their very own fishing rods and reels. Seeing kids—many of whom had never held a fishing pole before this event—laugh, play and enjoy themselves as they learned was rewarding for me both as a fisherman and a conservationist.
One of the projects I’m working on with The Conservation Fund is to protect a vital Saginaw Bay tributary at the city of Frankenmuth in Michigan. We’re aiming to reconnect more than 75 miles of prime spawning habitat for walleye and lake sturgeon. If we’re successful, it’ll be one more victory for Michigan!
Hopefully, events that expose children to ways they can experience the outdoors, like Bayfest, will inspire them to spend more time in nature and soak up all the adventure that Michigan’s world-famous lakes and rivers have to offer.
We work to ensure that the natural wonders in our country are preserved so that our children can appreciate and enjoy the outdoors when they get older.
It's easy to introduce children to the natural world. Take them outside to a local park or your own backyard and introduce them to the wonders of the "unplugged" world. Bestselling author Richard Louv offers a field guide full of tips for getting kids outside in his book, “Last Child in the Woods.”
Here’s are our favorites:
10. Be a cloudspotter. Go “clouding” – no equipment required.
9. Revive old traditions. Collect lightning bugs, leaves and stones.
8. Engage grandparents. Who has better memories of playing outside?
7. Adopt the “sunny day rule.” When the sun’s out, unplug. (Works for rainy days, too.)
6. Go birding. Urban or suburban, rural or wilderness. Who are your feathered neighbors?
5. Got dirt? Let little kids dig with plastic shovels and pails.
4. Adopt a tree. Take pictures of your favorite tree in different seasons and around different family events. How does it change?
3. Go harvesting. Take kids to pick apples, blueberries or corn.
2. Camp in the backyard.
1. Keep a “wonder bowl.” Kids fill their pockets with acorns, rocks and leaves. Empty those pockets into a bowl, so kids can linger over their treasures.
Top ten list adapted from LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS by Richard Louv, © 2008. Reprinted by permission of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. www.lastchildinthewoods.com Richard Louv is head of the Children and Nature Network.
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