Event News
International
Children and Nature Movement Gaining Momentum Worldwide
The children and nature movement received a major global boost recently at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s World Conservation Congress in Barcelona. [+]
International
Royal Roads University – November 23, 2008
Children and Nature Forum Coming to British Columbia
The Children & Nature Network is co-sponsoring Get Outside! It’s in Our Nature, an international conference on children, families, and nature taking place next March in British Columbia. The forum will offer an opportunity for academics, educators, researchers, and youth to learn, share, and contribute to developing a strategy and action plan for British Columbia and its people. [+] [PDF]
Local
(Memphis) Daily News – October 17, 2008
Memphis Groups Focus on Getting Kids Outside
By Rosalind Guy
The Conservation Through Art initiative in Memphis is hosting the series of events October 19-25 that share the mission of getting more kids outside to experience nature. A family day with fishing, art activities, outdoor conservation and recreation games, and duck-calling lessons is part of the festivities, and Richard Louv will be in Memphis to deliver the keynote address. Conservation Through Art was started three years ago by ArtsMemphis and Ducks Unlimited.
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State
(Minneapolis) Star Tribune – March 27, 2008
Minnesota Arboretum Hosts Children and Nature Conference
By Heron Marquez Estrada
Spurred by Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods, the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is hosting a one-day conference the first week in April designed to provide participants with ways to increase children’s exposure to nature on a daily basis. Entitled Nature, Children, and Families: A Necessary Connection, the conference is expected to attract more than 200 professionals from around the state.
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SECTIONS | State
The Union Leader - New Hampshire – November 09, 2007
New Hampshire takes a leading role in the nationwide effort to reconnect children with nature
By Rob Burbank
The national Children and Nature Network, the Sierra Club and the New Hampshire Children in Nature Initiative brought Richard Louv to New Hampshire on Tuesday, Nov. 27, for the New Hampshire Leave No Child Inside Forum. “New Hampshire is taking a leading role in this nationwide effort to make a difference in the lives of children, families and communities by reconnecting them with nature. From my own work with child health issues, I know how important it is for families to get outside, get moving and learn about the natural world, to lay a foundation for healthy, active lives.” stated New Hampshire First Lady, Dr. Susan Lynch, Honorary Chairperson for the forum.
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International
Anchorage Daily News – December 10, 2008
Our view: C’mon out and play—God didn’t make Alaska to celebrate the great indoors
Officials from local, state, and federal organizations gathered in Alaska recently for the Get Outdoors, Anchorage! summit to discuss nature-deficit disorder and its causes. The summit offered participants an opportunity to learn about successful efforts to reconnect children and nature and to identify opportunities in the region to engage children with nature. [+]
National
California Biodiversity Council – September 25, 2008
Nature-Deficit Disorder Focus of Biodiversity Conference
The California Biodiversity Council’s next meeting will focus on nature-deficit disorder, a condition the council says is now “running rampant.” The meeting, scheduled for October 8, will look at how member land management agencies can and should address nature-deficit disorder, and feature presentations from organizations that are having success reconnecting kids with nature. [+]
State
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Texas State Parks Host Outdoor Family Workshops
Recognizing that many Texans today lack the camping skills and experience of previous generations, the state’s parks and wildlife department is offering a new series of weekend workshops for families. The workshops, sponsored in part by Toyota, offer a supportive environment where families can learn how to pitch tents, cook outdoors, fish, kayak, and even geocache. [+]
Local
Marketwire – May 16, 2008
BioBlitz Takes Aim at Los Angeles Children
The National Park Service and the National Geographic Society are joining forces to host the Santa Monica Mountains BioBlitz the last weekend in May. Part scientific endeavor, part festival, and part outdoor classroom, the BioBlitz will draw together scientists, naturalists, community leaders, and more than 1,400 Los Angeles schoolchildren for a 24-hour race to discover and record as many plant and animal species as possible. [+]
State
Denver Post – April 01, 2008
Colorado Earth Day Forum to Focus on Kids and Nature
By Charlie Meyers
In anticipation of the Colorado Earth Day Forum, entitled “Connecting Kids to Nature,” Denver Post columnist Charlie Meyers encourages parents to read Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods. Our growing disconnect from nature, Meyers writes, is “a separation that robs us both of physical exertion and a certain spiritual link that sweeps cobwebs from our souls.” The forum will be held April 22 at the Denver office of the EPA.
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Allies
National Recreation and Park Association
National Summit to Consider Environmental Stewardship
The first National Summit on Environmental Stewardship for People, Parks and Public Lands, scheduled to take place the first weekend in May, will bring together advocates from across the country to address the challenges of building environmental stewardship. One of the areas of focus at the summit will be how to foster this stewardship in future generations. Gina McCarthy,
Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection; Larry Selzer, President and CEO, The Conservation Fund; and Richard Louv, Author of Last Child in the Woods, will be among the featured speakers.
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C&NN has designated April "Children & Nature Awareness Month." As part of this effort, we invited network members (like you) to list their April programs and share their strategies for building public awareness. Find out what's happening in your community on the C&NN Movement Map.
As part of our ongoing efforts to build the movement, the Children & Nature Network has published two new resources for leaders, organizers, and participants at the local, national, and international levels:
An annotated bibliography of 20 premier studies focusing on the children and nature connection.
