Kerry Crofton, PhD, is a public health educator, corporate wellness consultant, yoga and Chi Gong instructor, and mindfulness teacher. She is the author of Less Screen More Green - Finding Freedom with The Mindful Tech Plans™ – foreword by Dr. Jane Goodall – and the founder and CEO of the Canadian nonprofit Global Health Alliance and the consulting company WellBeing International Ltd. Kerry is honoured to be a "Fellow Traveler" with Harvard's Digital Wellness Lab.

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Jacqueline L. Scott is a scholar, writer, and consultant on race and nature. She is a postdoctoral fellow at Queen’s University. Scott’s PhD thesis is called Being Black and Outdoors: The Perception of the Wilderness in the Canadian Imagination. She is a former fellow at the Safina Center, and a past community director at the Institute for Public Art and Sustainability, Evergreen Brickworks. Scott volunteers as a land steward, and as a hike and bike leader with outdoor clubs.

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To open the National Outdoor Learning Conference in May, we had a thought-provoking panel discussion on land-based learning from three Indigenous educators. The panelists (who introduce themselves right at the start), are deeply engaged in this work, and explore the full spectrum of land-based learning, highlighting its key components and significance.

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James Bartram - Chair for the Forum Advisory Committee:

Building on three national environmental learning consultations - what we heard, a youth report and Indigenous consultation - 100 intergenerational representatives from environmental education organizations (formal and non-formal), government and philanthropic foundations joined educators, practitioners and youth, as well as expert panelist and astronaut David Saint-Jacques, to consider an emerging National Framework. This framework is intended to help mainstream environmental learning for learners coast to coast to coast.

The packed schedule took advantage of the Canadian Museum of Nature's grounds, intertidal touch tanks, and a remarkable butterfly exhibit, with sessions including Indigenous Land-Based Education, Youth Perspectives, Global Perspectives, Learner Outcomes, Research, Policy and Practice, Capacity Building & Exchange, Career Pathways and Greening Learning Spaces.

Participants workshopped and discussed what brought us here and how we can more effectively work collaboratively for a Team Canada approach. The forum was a key milestone after four years of consultations, pilot programs and research.

The Draft Framework envisions an ecosystem where stakeholders come together and harmonize our collective effort for the benefit of all.

Vision: At the centre is the framework’s guiding vision or compass, which is a Two-Eyed Seeing approach to braid together Indigenous and western perspectives on environmental learning. This vision is the foundation of the framework and radiates outwards. It influences all other aspects of the framework.

Pillars: Moving outwards, the growth/action areas that we need to prioritize to increase high-quality environmental learning in Canada include Learning Spaces, Data & Research, Green Skills, Learning Communities, and Educator Capacity.

Challenges: The three biggest threats to our planet and ourselves include Climate Change, Pollution and Biodiversity Loss. These are what we need to address through environmental learning in ways that advance knowledge, agency and hope in our children.

Societal Benefits: These benefits include Planetary Wellness, Healthy Humans and a Strong Economy. These are overarching outcomes that come from prioritizing environmental learning.

Willow McGrath - Grade 11 and attends Malachy’s Memorial High School in Saint John NB.

The national forum for environmental learning was a wonderful and empowering experience for myself and other youth representatives. From talking to adults, who never ceased to be encouraging; to hearing from other youth about their initiatives; it served as an idea centre for things I could bring back to my own school.

Being in an environment swelling with interest and enthusiasm, I felt enabled to make change in my school once I got back. The best focus in my opinion was on outdoor, hands-on learning. This is effective because it provides an educational experience that is significantly more engaging. It creates links to tangible local experiences, serving as a valuable enrichment experience unparalleled by classrooms.

To protect the environment, you need to love it, and to love it you need to experience it. This is the irrefutable and unique benefit provided by outdoor learning.

To ensure environmental education (EE) is implemented into school systems there are several things we must do. The first is directed towards youth. Pressure your systems! People listen when change is called for especially if hailed by youth. Another note is that people must embrace and recognize EE’s meaning. There are plenty of resources for students, teachers or administrators trying to implement environmentally based learning.

An emphasis must also be placed on removing the stigma surrounding taking students outside for a class as this is often seen as a waste of a class. Even still, the wide range of opportunities related to this topic should be taken advantage of. EE has the potential to be integrated into practically every subject which is a unique advantage. What we must do is ensure EE becomes a standard in education by applying pressure to every level of the system. Once the demand is there, faculties will implement EE.

Rasulan Q Hoppie - Superintendent of Education for the Peel District School Board in Ontario.

At the Forum for Environmental Learning that took place in Ottawa during March this year, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) introduced a draft National Framework for Environmental Learning with the goal of creating a unified approach to environmental education across sectors and implementation through cross-sector partnerships.

This framework presents several potential benefits for local school districts, but it also presents a series of challenges with direct implications operationally and politically. A framework such as this could offer school districts access to new national funding streams and professional development opportunities focused on climate literacy.

This would enhance local school boards’ ability to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary for an increasingly green economy. However, there would also be operational and political challenges.

As education remains a provincial responsibility, school boards would need to carefully navigate their obligations under provincial curriculum while considering voluntary alignment with a federal framework. Without clear provincial endorsement, adopting federal resources could create tensions around jurisdiction, funding priorities, and accountability.

A federal climate change education framework offers significant potential to enhance climate literacy and prepare students for a sustainable future. For meaningful impact at the district level, implementation must be supported by targeted professional development, cross-sector partnerships, and curriculum that reflects local realities.

Given that education is under provincial jurisdiction, successful integration requires a flexible approach and respectful coordination with provincial authorities. Long-term success will depend on aligning national objectives with provincial curriculum frameworks, ensuring coherence, collaboration, and respect for legislative boundaries.

Take Me Outside will continue to provide updates on this framework and the implications it may have on Outdoor and Environmental Learning.

Dear readers,

Take Me Outside has put out a monthly newsletter for several years. We share relevant and useful updates each month, but we’re wanting to create a space to do deeper dives into topics you keep asking about.

Once or twice a month, you’ll receive in-depth perspectives from Take Me Outside that we hope you’ll find engaging, inspiring and useful. We’ll have guest writers, special reports, podcasts and thought pieces we think you’ll enjoy, and potentially want to share with others. We’ll talk about outdoor learning, yes. But we want to address other subjects too, like the role of technology in society and education, our own connection to the outdoors (not just students), the future of education (more broadly speaking) and how we find ways to become better citizens and stewards of this planet.

We have a diverse and broad audience - more than 50,000 of you - comprising teachers, educators, parents, aligned organizations and individuals who are interested in the work being done. We want to grow this community of people who care about making the world a better place. I know it sounds cheesy, or lofty, or both. But it’s important work, particularly in the time we’re living through right now. We really hope you’ll join us, and others, in thinking about some of these issues. And in doing so, helping to figure out how we can find common ground and common goals in this increasingly divisive and polarizing world.

Take Me Outside has recently launched a podcast, and we thought it was a perfect piece to share as we start this new venture. In this episode, I chat with Dr. Astrid Kendrick about teacher wellbeing. We have heard about the growing number of educators who are experiencing fatigue and burnout. This conversation explores some of the research and work being done, and dives into the importance of the time we spend outside. It’s not just kids who need to be outdoors - adults need it too.

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So let’s get this conversation going and we look forward to sharing more soon.

Colin Harris
Executive Director

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